After convincing two strangers, Jerome Arbutny (Sydney Greenstreet) and John West (Peter Lorre), to come to her apartment, Crystal Shackelford (Geraldine Fitzgerald) explains that at the stroke of midnight her statue of the goddess Kwan Yin will open its eyes, look into the souls of three strangers and grant their deepest wishes. The trio jointly invests in a sweepstake ticket, then separate, only to have their true natures demolish the possibility that Kwan Yin will fulfill their dreams.