The widower and famous chemist Rolf Swedenhielm lives with his adult children Rolf Jr, Julia and Bo in a big apartment in Stockholm. The self-image of the Swedenhielm family is one of noblesse, grandeur and idealism, but in reality the family is bankrupt. All their hope is centered on the father winning the Nobel Prize, which would save their economy, but this seems unlikely at the moment. The one who keeps the family going is the housekeeper Marta Boman, who does the cooking, the cleaning and even effects financial transactions in the background. Rolf Swedenhielm is proud of the high and unwavering standards of the family. When a usurer reveals to him that his signature has been forged on several bills, and one of his sons is suspected of the crime, his world collapses and he sinks into a heavy gloom.
—Maths Jesperson {maths.jesperson1@comhem.se}