A young waitress, Dana, works in a roadside motel. She longs for the big, distant world, for beautiful things, and perhaps even for love. But her life is filled with various short-term relationships, her lover is a passing truck driver, a rich, elderly stranger, and random acquaintances who give her gifts. The girl does nothing to fulfill her dreams. Coincidence brings a group of students to the motel, and one of them, Martin, takes a liking to the waitress. A relationship develops that could perhaps lead to sincere love, to the fulfillment of her wish for a new life...

It doesn't help to have an exacerbated situation like a family losing their only son - killed in a motorcycle accident. His parents, however, don't know the girl who survived, now being treated at a local hospital. Especially the honest and principled father, presented as a model worker and responsible official, cannot come to terms with her superficiality and carelessness, with her dubious life values...

Jack Duluth, together with Ronald Sheldon, is the owner of a wealthy publishing house and considers his co-owner to be his best friend. That's why he is greatly upset that his son Bill has fallen in love with Ronald's young new wife Jean. Jean and her poor, eccentric family are completely financially dependent on Sheldon. Especially her father, an unrecognized writer who expects the publisher to publish his controversial writings. However, the young people's mutual romantic attraction soon becomes apparent, and Sheldon explodes. He intends to sever his friendly ties not only with Duluth and his son, but also to expel his wife and her family from his home. The next day, however, the servant finds him shot dead. Bill is arrested, having taken the murder weapon.

Father Harpagon is a terrible miser, for whom money is the greatest joy, it is closer to him than his own children. His son would like to marry Mariana, a girl from the neighborhood, while his daughter has fallen in love with Valéro, a young man who is Harpagon's steward. But Harpagon has decided to marry Mariana himself and choose rich counterparts for his descendants. So the servant who steals Harpagon's money box must do the young people a favor...