该片描绘了抗日战争后国统区小资产阶级以及底层人民的生活，虽然以小职员胡智清一家生活变迁为中心内容，却是当时社会的一幅缩影。

This tale of familial warfare and sacrifice takes place in hard-pressed Shanghai at the end of the 1940s. Hu Zhiqing can barely support his wife and children, and his situation is worsened by the unexpected arrival of his mother, brother and sister-in-law. When he is fired by his unscrupulous boss, the whole family becomes embroiled in one emotional/economic struggle after another.