Der Würger der Welt (1919)

Professor Georg Melville is a respected medical researcher. During his experiments, he has encountered a deadly bacillus which, if injected subcutaneously, could wipe out all of humanity in no time. Melville himself becomes its first victim, and his assistant McLean and his daughter Eugenie then try to take the murderous substance out of circulation. But the substance is stolen. Detective Max Landa is then asked to help. He tries to secure the vial containing the bacillus so that it does not fall into the wrong hands. But the dangerous opponents, known as nihilists, want to use the deadly weapon to bring chaos and destruction upon humanity. Soon, a race for life and death unfolds between the detective and the nihilists’ leading representative, the Russian Boris Alschkin. Caught between the two sides is Alschkin’s beloved, Sonja. The detective receives support from his assistant Barnes and the student Iwan Newela. At first, the nihilists prevail and use their deadly weapon to blackmail the American business magnate Selkirk, who made his immeasurable fortune in the sugar trade. There are nerve-racking chases, during which Landa manages to wrest the deadly weapon back from the villains and free the world from the grip of evil. In a one-on-one aerial duel, the detective kills Aleschkin.