Vladimir Ivanoff (Williams), a circus saxophonist, defects from his touring troupe in Bloomingdale's in New York. He moves into the crowded Harlem flat of a black security guard and begins to adjust to life in the USA.

Nikolai Rodchenko, a Russian ballet dancer who defected from the Soviet Union years ago, finds himself back in the motherland--trapped--thanks to an emergency airplane landing. The Soviets do not imprison him, however; they hope to score a propaganda victory by 'persuading' him to become Russian again. That is why he is sent to Siberia, to Raymond Greenwood and his Russian wife Darya. Greenwood is an American tap dancer who defected to Russia in opposition...