In the tumult of Nazi-occupied Rome, a sympathetic bootlegger, already accustomed to living outside the law, opens her home to a trio of escaped Allied prisoners of war--an American, a Russian, and a Briton--jeopardizing her safety and that of her lover for the cause. Woven through the thin "war yarn" storyline is a democratic, egalitarian spirit similar to that of Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion," as the heroes of both films represent a range of social classes, and in this instance, nationalities.