A group of people are having a party. The host has invited concert pianist Johan van Spek to perform one of his own compositions, which leaves the piano in such a state that a tuner arrives shortly to care for it.
Respected banker Karel Brand is seen as a marketable emblem of probity. When he loses 350,000 guilders, his reputation is tarnished – without the respect attached to it, he loses his job. Brand becomes unemployable, and his creditors suddenly start calling in their debts. His young daughter Willy suffers the same fate.
