Somewhere in the American countryside, reporter Ellis Yester and his wife Paula live in a tranquil country house. When one day Yolande and Edmund Clenz move into the neighborhood, the lives of both couples change abruptly. The unemployed journalist and the attractive neighbor fall in love with each other. This happens because both are dissatisfied with their respective spouses. Ellis and Yolande begin to plot a murderous plan...
Director Wolfgang Staudte who left East Germany in 1953 to make movies in West Germany, takes a few swipes at the West German judicial system in this fairly effective courtroom drama about the murder of a four-month-old baby. Police almost immediately arrest the mother Ingrid who is the mistress of the father, a rich business VIP married to another woman. His position and wealth keep him insulated from suspicion. A hot-shot lawyer has to overcome the unaccountably biased perceptions of the police, the judge, the prosecutor and almost everyone else in the judicial system. The defence lawyer, driven to an extreme, knows he has to find the real killer or his client will be convicted.
