Der Sträfling aus Stambul (1929)

The Levantine Thomas Zezi had to spend a year and a half in prison for smuggling. Now he is released and returns home. But there he discovers that his old pal Manopulos has made himself at home in his apartment. To make matters worse, during Zezi’s time behind bars Manopulos also became the lover of Zezi’s girlfriend Jola, who has since disappeared. Furious, the returning convict promptly throws the sleazy Manopulos out of his home. Zezi is more certain than ever that something in his life has to change, and that he must give up his old, cherished habits. As a first step, the burly ex-con decides at last to become an honest man and lead a respectable life. A little later, Zezi meets the demure Hilde Wollwarth, a young, emaciated vacuum-cleaner saleswoman who scrimps and saves every penny. To him, she represents exactly the chance he has been waiting for to change his life from the ground up. With the help of a crooked lawyer, Zezi arranges forged documents to acquire a new identity and be listed on paper as unmarried. Now he can marry Hilde, with whom he has fallen in love at first sight. But Zezi tells her nothing about his dark past or his first marriage to Jola, his missing, still-undivorced wife, a woman of highly dubious reputation, whom he believes may no longer be alive. The crooked lawyer and Manopulos, however, know that Jola is very much alive. They prepare anonymous blackmail letters to fleece Zezi, who has become fabulously wealthy through his shady dealings. Zezi now tries to free himself from Jola by arranging a lightning-fast divorce ahead of schedule. But the other side makes sure that he cannot keep his double life hidden from Hilde for long, and tells her all the sordid details. Hilde thus learns about her husband’s past, his time in prison, and his first wife, Jola. Deeply shocked, she takes her own life by turning on the gas in her kitchen, in order to protect her husband from the legal consequences of his bigamy and all the other hardships.