The adaptation of the eponymous play by Carl Zuckmayer tells the story of renegade general Harras of the German Luftwaffe, who during WWII openly criticizes the Nazi regime. As a consequence, he is put under surveillance, and even imprisoned for a brief period of time. Still remaining outspoken, Harras realizes the horrific dimensions of this hopeless and injust war waged by Germany.

Mike Hilton served eight years in prison for being innocent. When he is released from prison early, he wants revenge on the men who were responsible. But the ex-commissioner in charge at the time, Jack Bellamy, has given in to drunkenness. And Mike's lawyer Cunningham continues to make crooked deals. He holds the key to solving the case. When Bellamy picks himself up again, he and Hilton are able to bring Cunningham and the gangster Whity to justice.

April 1945. Because he stole two bars of chocolate, the soldier Rudi is sentenced to death by the court-martial judge Dr. Schramm. Rudi manages to escape from the firing squad at the last minute, and since the end of the war has been making a meager living as a street peddler. Years later, Dr. Schramm is now a respected public prosecutor. By chance, he runs into Rudi one day on the street. Afraid that Rudi will blow the whistle on him, Dr. Schramm wants to scare him out of town. He has Rudi arrested and bullied by the police.

Old Karl Knesebeck has long been head waiter and rules his waiters with an iron fist at the hotel. When the business passes into the hands of the heirs after the owner's death, he's in a difficult position. The unscrupulous Alwin makes advances toward Niddy, the owner's daughter, whose well-being Knesebeck watches over like a father. Alwin demotes the old man to toilet attendant — a tragedy that Knesebeck tries to salvage, especially since Niddy is about to marry Alwin and another man would actually be better for her...

1959 film by Wolfgang Schleif

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.