The owner of a ramshackle traveling circus makes a desperate attempt to reunite with his estranged wife while his mistress, the bareback rider, suffers a humiliating affair with an actor. This bleak view of human relationships is mirrored in the film's striking use of shadows and darkness. Overlooked upon its first release, Sawdust and Tinsel has gained steadily in reputation over the years and is now regarded as one of Bergman's early masterpieces.