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.
Werner von Basil, a Austrian intellectual, was captured by the Nazis in 1938. They want to break him to confess smuggling. Without any mental sustenance, the only thing left to keep his mind busy is an old tactics book for chess.
Produced by the Nazis in honor of the 150th anniversary of Mozart's death: a celebration of his music, as the film shows him traveling to Prague for the Don Giovanni premiere and inspired by his wife to compose the finale.
