John Van Laer is the overseer of a vast rubber plantation in the Dutch East Indies. His new wife Renee joins him at the plantation, but the monotony of her existence and unbearable heat soon drive her to distraction. One of Van Laer's workmen takes advantage of the boss' absence to seduce Renee.

Bert Verbloeme has survived the war but lost the love of his life. Now he suffers from a depression and has to learn how to live a meaningful life again.

After building a dam, closing off the Zuiderzee from the sea, it effectively turns the former sea into a lake and the fishermen call it "dead water". They desperately attack the dam with spades and even explosives, culminating in tragedy.

An out of work engineer is hired as the private chauffeur of a rich playboy, and has to drive to Vlissingen to pick up the latter's fiancée. On the way back from Vlissingen, the car breaks down and the engineer and the fiancée travel to Rotterdam to get some spare parts -- a trip full of amorous entanglements and mistaken identities.

On his wedding day, mere hours before the statute of limitations for his crimes expires, revengeful mobsters abduct former criminal Jean Verdier. The gang leader's daughter - who's still in love with Jean - tries to stall the police until the clock strikes twelve and he can no longer be prosecuted.