Enzo Morelli is a former opera singer who gave up a promising career on the stage to support his family. To honor a promise to his dying wife, he sold his house and car, cashed in his pension and now lives in the slum area which he sweeps in order to pay for his son's tuition at Harvard. The son, thinking his scholarship paid the way, comes home after graduation with an attitude and a rich girlfriend, only to learn the real lessons of life.