Harry Kahn

After the tragic death from malaria of her beloved husband his rich widow Helga Vanroh travels restlessly around various Mediterranean countries. In the luxurious surroundings of a hotel in Monte Carlo Mrs. Vanroh keeps apart from society, until one evening she decides to visit the casino. There a young man attracts her curiosity and compassion.

In the lead-up to the First World War, a French military attaché falls in love with the wife of a prominent German in Stamboul in the Ottoman Empire.

The story is about Conrad Veidt as military attache in Turkey where he learns to know an English consul (Heinrich George) and his attractive wife who is treated badly. They begin an affair and soon the husband proves to be an obstacle that has to be disposed of.

A navy lieutenant contemplates suicide in his despair but then meets a beautiful stranger, who turns out to be a princess.