Maria Kamradek

Reinhold Schünzel plays the rigid representative Traugott Bellmann, who publicly condemns the low morals of the night life. Although Belmann's stance is supported by his wife, he is strongly opposed by his father-in-law, a champagne manufacturer. But when he inherits 500 000 Marks in cash and the infamous nightclub "Der Himmel auf Erden" ("Heaven on Earth") from his deceased brother, Bellmann really gets himself into trouble: In order to fulfil his brother's will - and to get hold of the money - , he has to be at the club every night at 9 pm.

Rupp (Jannings) is a former butcher, made rich in the meat packing industry as a result of the reversal of fortunes brought on by WWI. He is crude, uncouth and uneducated. His son, Fred, is the apple of his father's eye and is an auto enthusiast. The widowed Rupp falls in love with a former aristocrat, Helen, now down on her luck and pawning her last heirloom. He proposes marriage and she accepts in order to save her ailing mother who needs a monetary influx to avoid death. Her former boyfriend, Platen, warns Helen against Rupp's intentions - he and Rupp are enemies, Rupp having caused his being fired for protecting a chorus girl against Rupp's unwanted advances. Meanwhile, Graf, a shyster, arranges purchase of a near bankrupt auto manufacturing firm, Phoenix, to Rupp's great advantage with practically no monetary recognition to Graf, who swears revenge. Rupp comes upon his son begging Helen not to marry his father but to return to Platen.