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In this drama about an ambitious woman, Svetlana (Vera Alentova) is not yet married and soon to be 40, an unhappy state of affairs that she first thinks about remedying with a composer, but he is not quite ready for a serious commitment. Next, she sets her sights on Vladimir (Anatoliy Papanov), an agreeable civil servant who is attracted by her charms, and the two marry. Svetlana's ambitions far exceed his own, and she is not above visiting the office of his supervisor to promote her husband's talents. As aggressive as she is, her constant pressure works, and eventually her husband has risen in his career and also becomes the kind of man he may not have wanted to be. But just as Svetlana is all set to rest on her laurels, fate takes a giant step into the picture. Anatoliy Papanov departed from his usual comic roles to play Vladimir in this film, and Vera Alentova previously starred in the Oscar-winning Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears.