The Swedenhielms are an aristocratic but impecunious family whose hopes for the future are based upon the belief that the father, Rolf, will win the Nobel Prize for chemistry. The children - Rolf Jr., Julia and Bo - have all borrowed money from money-lenders and when it appears that their father is not going to get the Prize they are disraught. Bo feels that under the circumstances he cannot marry his wealthy girl friend Astrid (Ingrid Bergman), because it would be dishonourable to do so when he is poor. In fact, all the Swedenhielms suffer from an exaggerated sense of honor, which is shown to be falsely based when the housekeeper reveals that she has been borrowing money for years to keep the household in a state of respectability, When all these confessions have been made, the story ends happily when it turns out that Rolf Swedenhielm has the Nobel Prize after all. The Swedenhielms are an aristocratic but impecunious family whose hopes for the future are based upon the belief that the father, Rolf, will win the Nobel Prize for chemistry. The children - Rolf Jr., Julia and Bo - have all borrowed money from money-lenders and when it appears that their father is not going to get the Prize they are disraught. Bo feels that under the circumstances he cannot marry his wealthy girl friend Astrid (Ingrid Bergman), because it would be dishonourable to do so when he is poor. In fact, all the Swedenhielms suffer from an exaggerated sense of honor, which is shown to be falsely based when the housekeeper reveals that she has been borrowing money for years to keep the household in a state of respectability, When all these confessions have been made, the story ends happily when it turns out that Rolf Swedenhielm has the Nobel Prize after all.