Berlin, 1923. Following the suicide of his brother, American circus acrobat Abel Rosenberg attempts to survive while facing unemployment, depression, alcoholism and the social decay of Germany during the Weimar Republic.
An attempt to mimic the artistic success of Urlaub auf Ehrenwort and zwei in einer großen Stadt though it's neither romantically nor in a patriotic way as involving. Three soldiers on very short home leave visit Berlin. One isn't from there and runs around with his guide book being perplexed by all the things that are different now. Another visits his wife and his baby. And the third enters a romance due to a mistaken identity which at the end provides a tiny bit of drama in a film which otherwise bends over to show how happy the home front is and supportive of its soldiers. Some nice location shooting, but neither story nor stars amount to much.
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 and "Akrobat schööön" can finally make his grand entrance.
A player on a soccer team, where everyone matches together just perfectly, has fallen out of a championship tournament due to illness; which leads to a big problem: who would be the perfect man to replace him? Werner Fehling appears to be the perfect replacement for the sick man. The problem is, he's a bitter rival of the goalkeeper, Jupp Jaeger. Both men love the same girl, Grete Gabler. Grete is the daughter of a senior member of the sports club, which is why she feels doubly under pressure not to do anything to jeopardize the success of the team.
This is the war and everybody in Germany should beware : the enemy is listening. One family in particular had better be even more careful than the average citizen of the Reich : the Kettwigs. Indeed they own an armament factory and their engineers, technicians, workers and of course themselves belong to a highly sensitive sector. They are under the constant scrutiny of those who want to get hold of the secret weapons devised in the plant, notably of a wire which, when attached to a balloon, may become the most effective anti-aircraft ever. For sure, they should distrust everybody. Isn't Nolte, the waiter, an enemy agent? Should young Bernd Kettwig allow himself to be seduced by this pretty woman ? As for Bernd's secretary, is she right when she lets this handsome man woo her?
