Lumpen und Seide (1925)

At the center of this social satire are Irene and Erik, a couple who are both wealthy and bored. When Erik meets Hilde, who comes from a humble background, at a fancy club one evening, he sees an opportunity for the couple to spice up their relationship, which has been languishing in a rut, and escape their marital routine through a ménage à trois: rags meet riches. But with Hilde, Erik and Irene suddenly have Max to contend with as well. He claims to be Hilde’s fiancé and quickly proves to be just as dissolute as he is disreputable—a smooth-talking charmer. They head to the couple’s elegant villa and plan to have fun with all kinds of experimental sexual escapades … if only Ulrike weren’t there. The family’s own housekeeper, she is determined to make sure the immoral quartet doesn’t get up to too much. In the end, Irene and Erik achieve exactly what they intended: they begin to rediscover one another and breathe new life into their marriage. What’s more, they manage to talk Hilde out of staying with her dissolute Max. For Werner, Erik’s younger brother, enters the picture as another member of the family. And he shows a serious interest in the kind-hearted Hilde.