A young journalist asks an old artist about the portrait of a naked Indian woman that he has in his study. The artist tells the story of Maria Candelaria, a young Indian woman who was rejected by her own people for being the daughter of a prostitute. She is protected by a young Indian man, Lorenzo Rafael, who has fallen in love with her.

In Mexican Revolution times, a guerrilla general and his troops take the conservative town of Cholula, near by Mexico City. As the revolutionaries mistreat the town's riches, Armendáriz falls for beautiful and wild Beatriz Peñafiel, the daughter of one of the town's richest men.

Mercedes (Marga Lopez) dances for money with the clients of Salon Mexico, a famous cabaret in Mexico City. Her younger sister Beatriz (Derbez) studies in an expensive private school, paid by Mercedes. Obviously, young Beatriz doesn't know about her sister's job. Troubles begin when Mercedes wins a danzon contest with Paco (Acosta), her...

A nightclub performer decides to raise the baby boy she found abandoned in a trash can, putting her job and social life in jeopardy.

Aurelio Rodríguez is released from jail, and tries to start a new life marrying Paloma and working his land. But the local landowners, the brothers González, interfere with his plans.