Curd Jürgens

Cliff is down on his luck when he decides to become a gangster. In order to get rich and impress his girlfriend he befriends two crooks and begins to plan a heist that involves setting up a fake film company.

Dr. Kessler, a lawyer in poor health, actually just wanted to take a dose of morphine to get fit for his court appearance. But the necessity turns into an addiction. It is only when Kessler falls in love that he goes into rehab. However, it is not long before temptation takes hold of him again and the morphine threatens to destroy Kessler's life and his new love for good.

In order to impress a socially superior woman with money, an unsuccessful insurance agent commits sophisticated fraud: he concludes contracts with fictitious people and collects the insurance sums after their "death". However, his first fictional persona is his downfall.