Das Rätsel der roten Quaste (1963)

Secret agent Richard Warren, posing as a journalist to maintain his cover, travels to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to sell a secret uranium formula for $100,000 to a wealthy buyer. At the bar in the Hotel Excelsior, the attractive stripper Sylvia, star of the nightly entertainment show, approaches him. She supposedly wants to give him an important message, so she asks him to visit her room after the show. But, Sylvia says, he should be very careful. When Warren enters her room, he finds her dead. He gets the impression that she was shot, and beside her lies the red tassel that gives the film its title. Fearing that he will be suspected of murder, Warren flees over the balcony. He takes refuge in the music shop across the street, where a Danish woman named Regina works. She is helping out at the record shop, which belongs to her sister. Regina believes he is innocent and is willing to help Warren, even to lie to the police if necessary. But is she really as harmless, honest, and innocent as she seems? A commissioner named Dr. Bordeaux takes up the investigation and hunts for the murderer, whom he believes to be Warren. Naturally, he also stops by the music shop near the hotel and questions Regina. She gives false testimony for Richard’s sake. Regina and Richard fall in love and spend a brief happy time in Regina’s apartment just above the record shop. But soon Warren begins to doubt his new flame: he discovers a revolver with a tassel attached in Regina’s drawer. A shot has been fired from this gun. Suspicion begins to grow in Richard: could Regina have shot the stripper? But what would her motive for the murder be? After discovering who Sylvia’s supposed killer is, Richard also learns that a spy ring from the opposing camp around the supposed Commissioner Bordeaux is interested in the uranium formula as well. To reduce the risk of being discovered, he tells Regina the formula. She now embarks on a dangerous game and tries to sell the valuable formula on her own. This puts her in mortal danger.