15 years ago Paul Jordan was a star in Hollywood musicals. But then he retired from showbiz and married the rich Joan. Now, after being dependent on his wife's money for many years, he's sick of it and wants to work again. A romantic affair with his stepdaughter, Shirley, gives him the guts to ask for a role. His former agent gets him one but it's with a small company in Vienna, Austria. The stress worsens his alcoholism; the tablets he takes to hide the effects lead him to hallucinations. When his wife and girlfriend appear at the same time, he's no longer capable of handling the situation.
Hamburgo, 1963. Después del suicidio de un viejo judío, su diario cae en manos de Peter Miller, un joven periodista freelance. Se trata de un testimonio de los inconcebibles y crueles crímenes cometidos por el capitán de las SS Eduard Roschmann, comandante del tristemente célebre campo de exterminio de Riga (Letonia). Al parecer, Roschmann vive en algún lugar de Hamburgo con una identidad falsa, pero Miller está decidido a encontrarlo como sea.
