In London at the turn of the century, underworld kingpin Mack the Knife marries Polly Peachum without the knowledge of her father, the equally enterprising 'king of the beggars'.
At a mine on the shared edge of France and Germany, an underground explosion leads to the entrapment of a group of French miners. In an effort to save the trapped Frenchmen, German miners Wittkopp and Kasper take it upon themselves to traverse a crumbling war tunnel leading down into the mines....
Diederich Heßling is scared of everything and everyone. But as he grows up, he comes to realize that he has to offer his services to the powers-that-be if he wants to wield power himself. His life motto now runs: bow to those at the top and tread on those below. In this way, he always succeeds: as...
Vienna during the fin de siecle. Farmer's daughter Anuschka has to sell the farm after her father's death to the rich but mean farmer's wife Nowarek and her friendly son Jaro. Anuschka goes to Vienna and starts to work as a housemaid until she is wrongly accused of theft.
After World War II, scores of refugees leave in search of a new home. They now stand in the hall of a large mansion, waiting to receive their deeds of ownership for sections of land that the lord of the manor had left behind after he fled. Among them is young Jeruscheit who, during her travels, had...
Elisabeth is subject of a girl's boarding school run by the nuns. The village idiot Michele adores her and is particularly drawn to her organ playing. In his madness, he kills the girl's father and tries to lay the blame on the organist.
Charlie, a very gifted, young acrobat, cannot find employment. A dancer and colleague, whom he trained, has gotten him a job as a stagehand at a vaudeville theatre. After a number of chaotic events and some highs and lows - none of which ever discourage him - his hour arrives: an act can't go on...
A young actress places a misleading newspaper ad: "Hans, come back! Am so lonely and unhappy!" As a result, she is besieged by a crowd of unmarried cavaliers, all pretending to be her Hans.
