A tragic love story set against the always volatile and oftenviolent backdrop of Shanghai during the Japanese occupation and at the opening of the Pacific Theater of the Second World War. A nightclub singer becomes involved with both a member of the Chinese resistance and an officer of the Japanese army.

Jenny Wu is a singer who charms the well-to-do Peter Chen, but his parents object to a union between their only son and a lowly cabaret singer. He ignores their advice and marries her anyway, and for a time, they find some manner of wedded bliss. But the years are not entirely kind. He works hard to make ends meet, but his health pays the price.