Kurt Paetz

Bumerang

The paths of three men cross for a short time in post-war Berlin. Robert and Willy are unattached and unemployed, Georg has joined them from Hamburg, he has a family and occasionally does something crooked. That's what the three of them are up to together: A safe is to be cracked, the plan comes from Robert. Then Else shows up, a former girlfriend of Robert's who now lives with his buddy Willy. She is interested in Robert again, but he turns her down. Blind with jealousy, Willy nevertheless feels betrayed and rats out their joint scheme to the police. As they stand in front of the strongbox, they are surrounded by police officers. One of them, Inspector Stern, suddenly recognizes in Robert the man who saved his life during the war.

Verspieltes Leben

Germany, 1914: The bourgeois austerity of the small, northern German town in which Ulyssa lives conflicts sharply with her desire to flirt with and be ensnared by charming, young men. That she's married is irrelevant; it's a marriage which exists only on paper. Among all the men Ulyssa flirts with, there is one for which she has genuine affection: Stefen Marbach, an upright and sincere man, far superior to her other men. And, indeed, the two are honest with one another about their feelings, but the outbreak of the First World War separates them. Sometime later, Ulyssa finds out that not only her husband, but Stefan, too, has fallen in battle. The news of this disaster leads her to reconsider and eventually give in to the constant urgings of the Viennese merchant Reindl. Ulyssa joins Reindl in Vienna and lives a life of wealth and comfort, until one day, Stefan shows up.

Under the Bridges

Two barge skippers fall in love with the same woman.