Anita Pontoppidan

Consul Bergholtz is ill and will probably die soon. Family members gather at her bedside, each with the expectation of receiving a share of the impending inheritance. Among the heirs are her sons, the alcoholic editor Oscar and the homosexual lecturer Ejnar, as well as their pretty and recently divorced sister Esther. But when her grandson, the cunning and unscrupulous businessman Kurt, shows up, the intrigues are stoked. Kurt couldn't care less about good manners and cultural veneer; he simply takes what he wants.

1905. A couple of cheerful traveling salesmen, Hansen and Larsen, are on their last round of visits to customers before settling down in the big city to open their own business selling women's underwear. They hold a farewell dinner for one of their old customers in Lilleby. There is a ball at the hotel, and a couple of young ladies make the acquaintance of the two friends, which will have consequences in more ways than one.