To get away from the boredom of the city, Henrique de Souzelas visits his aunt Doroteia, in a picturesque village in the North, where he becomes attracted to his young, beautiful cousin Madalena.
Newspaper reporter Nat Hearn returns home after serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II. When one of the paper's owners dies, the man's partner and son offers Nat a position as editor in return for his financial backing.
In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died.
A study of an amoral and sleazy defense lawyer who suddenly tries to "go straight" when he finds out that his tart wife is cheating on him; as well as the similarities he has in life with one of his clients.