The Swedish officer Mikael Bourg has served with the French army in Africa. When he returns to Sweden after many years abroad to recover from malaria, he meets his son, a student who prefers partying with his frat friends instead of his bank job; a disappointment in his father's eyes. He also meets a young librarian, Ebba Garland, which makes him feel young again and distracts him from the sickness.
Paradiset is a boarding house in the archipelago of Stockholm, run by the strict Elvira Pettersson, and with a large variety of guests. Her maid Lotta quits her job but when she leaves she accidentally forgets to turn off the iron. However, her brother Julle sneaks back one night to turn it off. When he is discovered, he tries to make them believe that he is the great Argentine opera singer Don Carlos they have been waiting for
An intense love affair develops between a married concert violinist (Gösta Ekman) and his daughter's music teacher (Ingrid Bergman).