The hero of the film, János Kiss, a Kossuth Prize-winning cylindersmith, is about to be visited by an old Italian friend. Comrade Kubik from the Ministry of Heavy Industry, having assessed the Kisses' impossible living conditions, tries to transform them into a Westerner's home for one evening during the visit. This then becomes the source of a whole series of satirical situations during the evening, in order to recreate the Kisses' familiar, bleak home the next day.