Eigil's family is in a dire situation, as they must raise 500,000 kroner by the end of the month in order to remain in their home. This is where the story begins, as Snøvsen and Eigil set out into the wide world to earn money. This takes them to Federico's circus, where the shady director tries to cheat Snøvsen out of his wages. They end up in the big city, where they make lots of new friends and have lots of fun adventures before they all meet up at Tivoli Gardens for a final joint attempt to save their home.

This is a film about the stuff dreams are made of, yet, there is nothing elevated in this concept, on the contrary. The characters around the bar Strudsen (the ostrich) are doing what ostriches do, hiding themselves from the threats of life and keeping their dreams to themselves. Scriptwriter Benny Andersen being a poet is rendering a loving portrait of a number of persons, who fail to try to make their dreams come true, possibly not being sufficiently dissatisfied with their life after all. The manager would like a bar of his own but dare not admit to it, the butcher would like to be an opera singer, the window cleaner (sorry, window polisher) is secretly in love with the bar lady, but dare not show it and the pianist willingly listens to all the different dreams being presented to him. This film was the best accomplished movie from Henning Carlsen since his debut with 'Sult'.