A Norwegian scientist builds a device that can convert sound waves into electrical energy. However, the machine is stolen by the scientist's wife and assistant, who head across the frozen tundra towards Russia. A police inspector and a local girl team up with the scientist to help recover the device.
A radio commentator is sent to a village to broadcast a bell-ringing team. Meanwhile a property speculator tries to buy a plot of land for less than it is worth.
Set in the austere post–World War II British world of rationing, Cyril dreams up an ode to an imaginary character named Merlin Mound who can provide anything one can wish. Merlin becomes real and grants his host's wishes; not by conjuring the items out of thin air, but depriving them from other people's ownership, which leads to trouble.
Four people with very different backgrounds meet by chance at an English pub and gradually become carried away in a bout of thrill-seeking. When their spree gets out of hand, each person faces a moral choice with lasting consequences.
