Ludwig Donath

Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman), an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. He takes a cruise ship to Copenhagen along with his assistant and fiancée, Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews). Armstrong tells Sherman that he did not want her to come along, and en route to Copenhagen, he receives a radiogram to pick up a book once in Copenhagen. The book, allegedly a first-edition of one of Armstrong's book, actually contains a message that says, "Contact in case (of emergency.)" He tells Sherman he is going to Stockholm, but she discovers he is flying to East Berlin, and she follows him there. When they land, he is welcomed by representatives of the East German government, and Sherman realizes that Armstrong has defected to the other side. Sherman, however, is extremely uncomfortable with this move, realizing if the apparent defection is in fact real, given the circumstances of the Cold War of the period, she would likely never see her home or family again. They are constantly accompanied by Professor Karl Manfred (Günter Strack), who took part in arranging Armstrong's defection to the East. The next day, Armstrong sneaks out of the hotel in East Berlin of his temporary residence, visits a local art museum and sneaks out of a side door to prevent himself from being followed. He takes a taxi to the countryside outside the city and to a local farm where he visits a contact, a 'farmer' (Mort Mills), where it is revealed that his defection is in fact a ruse to gain the confidence of the East German scientific establishment in order to learn just how much their chief scientist Professor Gustav Lindt (Ludwig Donath) and by extension, the Soviet Union, knows about anti-missile systems. While Armstrong has not informed the U.S. government of his plan, he has made preparations to return to the West via an escape network, known as (Pi). However, Armstrong is followed to this farm by his official body man, Hermann Gromek (Wolfgang Kieling), an East German security officer assigned to him. Gromek realizes what is and that Armstrong is a double agent when he sees the Pi symbol in the dirt outside the front door that Armstrong made. A Gromek is calling the police to report his suspicions, a tortuous and violent fight scene commences that ends with Gromek being killed. So as to not arouse the suspicion of the taxi driver who brought Armstrong to the farm, a gun is not used to kill Gromek, but instead he is choked, stabbed, hit with a shovel, and, ultimately, gassed to death by Armstrong and the farmer's wife (Carolyn Conwell). Gromek and his motorcycle are then buried by the 'farmer' and his wife, while Armstrong's blood-stained coat is burned. Armstrong then takes the taxi waiting outside the farmhouse back to East Berlin and to his hotel. However, a few days later, the taxicab driver (Peter Lorre Jr.) who drove Armstrong to the farm, reports Armstrong's behavior to the police when he later sees Gromek's missing person ad in the newspaper. The local police and a team of volunteers search the farmhouse, and begin to dig up the grounds around the farmhouse. The remains of Gromek are found; the fate of the farmer's wife is not shown. Meanwhile, Armstrong visits the physics faculty of Karl Marx University in Leipzig, where his interview with the scientists is abruptly ended when he is questioned by security officials about the missing Gromek. At the same time, the faculty try to interrogate Sherman about her knowledge of the American "Gamma Five" anti-missile program, but she refuses to cooperate and runs from the room even though she had agreed to cooperate and defect to East Germany. At this point, Armstrong secretly confides to her his actual motives, and asks her to go along with the ruse. Desperate and aware that time is running out for him, Armstrong finally goads Professor Lindt into revealing his anti-missile equations in a fit of pique over what Lindt believes are Armstrong's mathematical mistakes. When Lindt hears over the university's loudspeaker system that Armstrong and Sherman are being sought for questioning when Gromek's body is found, he realizes that he has given up his secrets while learning nothing in return. Armstrong and Sherman escape from the university with a little help from of the university clinic physician Dr. Koska (Gisela Fischer). They travel to East Berlin, pursued by the Stasi, in a decoy bus operated by the escape network, led by Mr. Jacobi (David Opatoshu). Roadblocks, highway robbery by Soviet Army deserters, and bunching with the "real" bus result in the police becoming aware of the decoy bus and everyone flees off the bus and scatter in the streets. While looking for the Friedrichstraße post office, the two encounter the exiled Polish countess Kuchinska (Lila Kedrova) who leads them to the post office in hopes of being sponsored for an American visa. The police find Armstrong and Sherman at the post office, and Kuchinska throws herself in front of the police so they can go to their next destination, a travel agency. That evening, when Armstrong and Sherman arrive at the travel agency, however, the police were performing a raid. Two men from the travel agency walk up to them on the sidewalk - one is the 'farmer' - and give them tickets to the ballet, with the plan being to travel with the troupe to Sweden later that night. While they are attending the ballet and waiting for the pick-up, they are reported to the police because they were spotted by the lead Russian ballerina (Tamara Toumanova), who bears a bit of a grudge; Earlier in the film, she flew to East Berlin on the same airplane as Armstrong, and mistakenly believed the press were there to greet her, rather than Armstrong. Armstrong and Sherman escape through a crowded theater by shouting "fire". With the help of the escape network, Armstrong and Sherman hide in a crate of props belonging to a traveling Czech circus troupe. They cross the Baltic Sea to Sweden on a freighter. The ballerina makes a mistake in uncovering where Armstrong and Sherman are hiding on the ship, and the wrong crates are fired on when already dangling over the pier (thus, Swedish crane operators technically have control over the property once it was off an East German boat), and Armstrong and Sherman are able to escape by jumping overboard and swimming to a Swedish dock, safe at last.

A cynical American expatriate gets involved in smuggling and gun-running for the rebels during the 1925 Syrian insurgency against French occupation. In 1925 Damascus Harry Smith runs guns to the rebels under Emir Hassan. Harry meets and develops a relationship with Feroud's, a French intelligence officer's mistress. The French arrest him along with others and to save himself he agrees to arrange a meeting between Feroud and Hassan. —Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu> In 1925, in Damascus, the patriotic rebels of Syria are fighting against the invading French forces. The weapons smuggler Harry Smith is an amoral businessman taking advantage of the situation. He meets Violette, the mistress of the idealistic French Col. Feroud in a restaurant. Feroud is trying to make a deal with the rebel leader Emir Hassan, and under threat of execution for weapons smuggling he forces Harry to be his liaison and arrange a meeting with Hassan. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) is in Buenos Aires playing dice with locals. Soon someone holds a gun to his head, but a man with a snappy cane helps him out and also tells him about a casino on the other side of town. At the casino, Johnny makes sure he looks his best and enters the gambling room. He watches a short man win with a late bet at the roulette table. He goes to the blackjack table and wins several hands after requesting each time to cut the deck. Two tough guys says the casino director wants to see him; Johnny tries to fight them, but fails. The director turns out to be the man with the cane and goes by the name of Ballin Mundson (George Macready). Johnny admits to cheating, but instead of being thrown out he manages to persuade Mundson to hire him. Soon World War II ends, and there is a party at the casino. Mundson is due to leave town and leaves Johnny in charge; they have gained each other's trust. When Mundson returns he has Johnny come to his house. Mundson has brought home a woman, Gilda (Rita Hayworth), as his wife. When Johnny and Gilda see each other it's clear that they know each other, though they don't tell Mundson. That night at the casino Johnny sees the man from earlier winning at roulette again in suspicious manner and learns that it is Mundson's way of bribing those that allow his casino to continue despite gambling being illegal. Johnny has dinner with Mundson and Gilda. When Mundson leaves the table to meet with some German men, Johnny blames Gilda for marrying Mundson for the money. Gilda dances with another man, Capt. Delgado, and even gives him her phone number in front of Johnny. Later that night Mundson reveals his suspicion to Gilda that she knows Johnny from before and warns her that she should not make any missteps. Another night at the casino we see the man from before looking for his bribe at the roulette table, but his bet is turned away. Soon Johnny finds Mundson in his office talking to the same man; the conversation is about tungsten trading, Mundson telling the man he should not be selling the metal according to their agreement. Johnny goes downstairs to get Gilda out of the way, who is again enjoying herself with another man, and he and Mundson have a drink in the bar. Suddenly there's a gunshot, it's the man with the tungsten who is out to get Mundson; he misses, but in the commotion goes into the washroom and shoots himself. Scared by the threat to his life, Mundson tells Johnny about the cartel that he runs to monopolize tungsten and control the world, and gives him the combination to the safe in his office. Later that night Gilda returns home from town with the young man, Gabe. Johnny knocks the guy over and has him leave and tells Gilda she should not make trouble with Mundson and that he will make things appear right even if she does continue to cavort with other men. One night Johnny wakes up by the sound of Gilda singing in the casino room with only the washroom attendant, Pio (Steven Geray), as audience. She's been out again. Johnny takes her home and they tell to Mundson that they have been swimming, together. Another night the casino is having a carnival party. Two Germans come to Johnny's office and demand to see Mundson; Johnny rings Mundson. Mundson talks to Gilda about being late for the party; tension runs thick between them. At the party Johnny and Gilda dance; Gilda comes on to him, but he refuses. A man, Obregon (Joseph Calleia), who's been hanging around the casino for weeks, tells Johnny there might be trouble. Johnny gets a message that Gilda has left and wants him to pick her up later. Soon a man is revealed to be dead behind his mask, and there is commotion. Johnny finds Mundson in his office and warns him he might be in danger. But Mundson tells Johnny to go find Gilda, then calls an airfield and makes some arrangements. Johnny picks Gilda up, and they go to the house. Gilda suggests they make use of the time alone. He goes to her room to throw her out, but ends up kissing her. They hear a sound and Johnny sees Mundson leaving the house: he has seen them. Johnny goes after Mundson in a car, and so do the police, headed by Obregon. They follow Mundson to an airfield and watch him take off in a plane and crash down into the ocean, assuming that he is dead. However, we soon see Mundson being picked up by a boat, revealing that he had indeed intended to escape from the police investigation. With everybody thinking Mundson is dead, Gilda inherits his fortune, and Johnny takes over the casino and the cartel. Gilda and Johnny get married, and he takes her to a new home. Gilda is happy, but Johnny does not intend to live with her; instead, he makes sure she cannot have contact with anyone. One of the Germans from the cartel comes to see Johnny and tells him that Mundson held the tungsten patents unrightfully. Now he wants them and the cartel leadership back. Gilda comes to see Johnny, wanting a reason for his treatment of her. He blames her for cheating on Mundson and wants to punish her. Seeking company, Gilda starts going out with other men, but Johnny has them disappear one by one. Realizing Johnny wants to keep her in cage, she runs. We see her as a club singer in Montevideo with another man, Tom. He persuades her to go back to Buenos Aires to get an annulment of her marriage. But when they arrive, it turns out Tom is on Johnny's payroll, and Gilda is back in her cage. Obregon talks to Johnny, wanting him to reveal the names of the cartel members, Johnny says he knows nothing about it. Gilda starts singing and dancing in the casino and flirts with the men. Johnny doesn't like it and hits her. Obregon comes again, closes down the casino and puts pressure on Johnny. Johnny gives him what he wants. Obregon tells Johnny that Gilda is waiting in the casino. Johnny overcomes his pride and asks Gilda to take him with her back to America. Suddenly Mundson appears from his office, explains how he is not dead afterall and announces his intention of killing them both. But before he can, Pio stabs Mundson with his own cane. Obregon comes in seeing what's happened, but lets them go, saying afterall a man can only die once. Gilda tells Johnny, "Let's go home."

After the Japanese invade China in WW 2, a young woman leads a band of partisans against the occupying troops. In Japanese-occupied China, Madame Kwan Mei is the leader of a resistance organization based in a rural village. When two American airmen are shot down near the village, she makes plans to rescue them and have them help her organization. Then, when Japanese General Kaimura arrives in the village, she realizes that a major operation is imminent. She decides to impersonate an aristocrat, in order to win the general's confidence and learn his plans. —Snow Leopard