Das Herz von St. Pauli (1957)

In Hamburg, former captain Jonny Jensen runs the bar “Das Herz von St. Pauli.” He is popular with the regulars, whom he entertains on the accordion, but business is not going well—Jensen already owes the tax office 6,000 marks. His son Hein urges him to take on “Jabo” Jabowski as a business partner. Jabowski has Hein under his thumb because Hein smuggled stolen goods to Denmark for him. Hein persuades his father to accept Jabowski’s offer. Hein’s brother Fiete is a senior sergeant in the Hamburg police. He thinks he recognizes Tanne, Jabowski’s partner, but cannot place him. In fact, Jabowski plans to use the bar’s rum cellar as a depot for smuggled goods. While driving, he picks up 17-year-old hitchhiker Helga Neumann and promises her a job at “Das Herz von St. Pauli.” Meanwhile, Tine Jensen is trying to get her boyfriend, Harry Pingel, to finally propose to her. His snobbish parents, who run a furniture factory, want nothing to do with a marriage between him and an innkeeper’s daughter. After the renovation, Captain Jensen discovers that Jabowski has turned the place into a nightclub, where he plans to present Jensen as “the last folk singer of St. Pauli.” Jensen initially refuses, but his family convinces him to go onstage. His performance is a huge success, but Jensen feels that he has been sold out. His daughter Tine is unhappy too, because that very evening her boyfriend Harry visits the bar with his parents. His mother in particular is less than impressed by the scantily clad girls onstage. Meanwhile, Jabowski tries to seduce Helga, but she refuses his advances, so he fires her. In tears, she tells her story to Trudchen Meyer, a friend of Jensen’s. Jensen makes it clear to Jabowski that Helga will not lose her job simply because she refuses to sleep with her boss. Helga is taken in by the Jensens. Mia, Jabowski’s lover, has discovered that Helga is only 17 and is therefore not yet allowed to work in a nightclub. Jealous of the young woman, she tips off the police. The next day, at his daughter’s request, Jensen takes a day trip to Heligoland. He quickly discovers the reason: members of the Association of German Furniture Manufacturers are aboard, including the Pingel family. Since he is wearing his old uniform, they take him for the captain. Mrs. Pingel, who had left the bar the previous evening before Jensen performed, is delighted by him. Now nothing stands in the way of Tine and Harry’s wedding. Meanwhile, Tanne and several hired burglars have robbed a jeweler’s shop in Bremen. The loot is hidden in rum barrels and stored in the bar’s cellar. Fiete follows up on the tip that a minor is working at the bar. Jabowski now claims that he fired Helga because she was not yet 18 and that Jensen had ignored this. Fiete tells Helga to leave the bar. An argument breaks out between him and Hein, who is now in a relationship with Helga. Jensen arrives just in time to prevent a fight. He confronts Hein, who confesses that three years earlier he had taken a package of stolen watches to Copenhagen. Disappointed and furious with his son, Jensen throws him out of the house. Hein and Helga move into a cheap lodging house together, but, with no money, Hein plans to sign on to the freighter Orion. However, the police have traced the stolen jewelry to Hamburg. From a photograph, Fiete recognizes one of the suspects: he had seen him with Tanne. The police then search the bar’s cellar and find the stolen goods. When Hein learns that his father is to be placed under arrest as an accomplice, he turns himself in to the police and tells them everything about Jabowski. Jabowski has gone into hiding with his accomplices and plans to cross the border using a forged passport. As he tries to escape on a launch, Jensen manages to sneak aboard and overpower him.