Known for Acting
Through an intrigue, Franz Moor manages to have Karl, his brother, disinherited and disowned. He then founds a band of robbers and becomes their captain. Franz wants to win over Karl's fiancée Amalia and fakes Karl's death, and later the death of his father, whom he has locked up in a tower. Karl has to answer for ever greater crimes committed by his gang and increasingly doubts his decision. Plagued by longing, he leads the gang to his father's castle, where he speaks to Amalia once again in disguise. He frees his father from the dungeon, but he dies of fright when he learns that his son has become a criminal. Franz commits suicide when the robbers storm the castle. As Karl has conspired to the death of his gang, a happy future with Amalia is out of the question; under these circumstances, Amalia wishes him dead. Karl kills her, renounces his gang and his life of crime and hands himself over to the law.
The Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.
Director Wolfgang Staudte who left East Germany in 1953 to make movies in West Germany, takes a few swipes at the West German judicial system in this fairly effective courtroom drama about the murder of a four-month-old baby. Police almost immediately arrest the mother Ingrid who is the mistress of the father, a rich business VIP married to another woman. His position and wealth keep him insulated from suspicion. A hot-shot lawyer has to overcome the unaccountably biased perceptions of the police, the judge, the prosecutor and almost everyone else in the judicial system. The defence lawyer, driven to an extreme, knows he has to find the real killer or his client will be convicted.
Aging Duke of Altair, a charming widower, plans a third marriage and enlists his son Edgar to choose among three noblewomen. Unexpectedly, Perpetua, young, spirited daughter of the late stewardб returns after a decade, instantly captivating both father and son. As their affections collide, the Duke realizes he cannot stand in his son’s way. In a moment of wise selflessness, he withdraws from Perpetua’s pursuit and instead courts Rosabel Fleming, honoring both tradition and his heir’s happiness.
Peter escapes a firing squad and leaves the island of San Quinto on a commercial flight to Bermuda. The plane is hijacked by a Nazi and San Quinto's Ex-General Cordobas who shoot pilot Pink and damage the landing gear of the plane.