Zwischen Nacht und Morgen (1931)

Paul Manthey, a young student, has gambled away his father's money and is consequently thrown out of his parents' home. Now he wanders aimlessly and hungry through the streets of the big city, where Emma, an aging prostitute, picks him up in the red-light district and takes him into her apartment. Over the years, she has grown hardened and disillusioned, resigned herself to her fate, and let herself be exploited without complaint by her brutal pimp, the burly Anton. Meeting the innocent Paul awakens her spirits for the first time in a long while. She gives him a place to stay and something to eat, and the exhausted young man immediately falls into a deep sleep. Paul seems to Emma like her last chance, and she devotes herself completely to him with a mother's love. The aging prostitute jealously makes sure that no woman gets too close to her young protégé; even Clarissa, a young chanteuse, is not allowed to visit him. Emma sacrifices herself for Paul and even tries to mediate with his parents, but the attempt fails because of his stubborn father's entrenched views. Emma increasingly hopes for a better future, which she plans for herself at Paul's side. She wants to leave her past behind and make a radical break with everything. She is even prepared to buy her way out of Anton's control for 300 Reichsmarks in order to get rid of the greatest obstacle. But Paul is unable truly to appreciate all her efforts, which spring from her love for the young man. Instead, he is deeply repelled by the milieu in which Emma has moved until now. Meanwhile, Emma's plans for the future take ever clearer shape. She has bought two train tickets for a trip to Copenhagen with Paul. But she has no idea how determined Anton is to win Emma back. Since Paul is the only thing standing in the way of this, Anton promptly introduces him to Clarissa, Emma's biggest rival. His plan succeeds: Paul falls in love with Clarissa, who deliberately seduces him with her charms. For Emma, this is the worst blow of all, one she can no longer bear. Now all restraint falls away: she urges Anton to murder Clarissa at the Bimbam tavern between her performances. When she realizes—too late—what she has done, Emma turns herself in to the police.