São Paulo, 1945. A tenement in the Bixiga neighborhood centralizes the plots and characters. The cheerful Lalá is a former prostitute who got along with a senator of the Republic, her lover, who, when he died, left her in an excellent financial situation, since she had a daughter with him, Marialina. Lalá is courted by the simple Italian Antônio Sapateiro, a mature man in love with her. The Portuguese Manoel Vitor loves the Jewish Ruth, but her parents forbid dating because of religion.