After ten years of detention in Russia as a prisoner of war, Franz returns to his native Vienna. When he saves a child from drowning his photo gets onto the title page of the newspaper and is seen by Frieda, an elderly shopkeeper whose son is a missing person in the war. The lady thinks she recognises Franz as her son and is overjoyed. However, Franz' real mother died a few years earlier, but the young man - though he is an honest character - doesn't find the courage to tell the lady that he's not her son. Meanwhile, he develops a real liking for Anny, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and so his 'mother' makes some risky moves to allow them to become a couple...