In 1936, a young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his missing German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.
An American goes to Germany to find his mother and discovers her in a concentration camp. With the help of a German countess he engineers her escape.—Herman Seifer <[email protected]>
After discovering that his mother, a renowned German actress (Nazimova), is being held in a Nazi concentration camp, her American son, Mark Preysing (Robert Taylor), heads to Germany to track her down. While Mark initially finds little help, he is eventually aided by the empathetic American expatriate Countess Ruby von Treck (Norma Shearer) and a German doctor (Philip Dorn), and a bold plan evolves to smuggle his mother out of the camp and to the United States.—FilmsNow
American Mark Preysing is in Nazi Germany looking for his German national mother, Emmy Ritter, a renowned stage actress. All he is able to learn is that she has been imprisoned somewhere in the country for treason against the German state for harboring German fugitives while she lived in the United States. A non-political but nonetheless outspoken person, she views her actions as humanitarian ones of helping German refugees in their time of need. What Mark does not know is that she is slated for execution at the end of the week. During his search for her, Mark meets some people who seem to know what is going on with his mother but won't tell him and won't help him for fear for their own safety from the Nazis. These include Fritz Keller an old friend from the United States, Dr. Berthold Ditten and Countess Ruby von Treck. The widowed Countess is a born and bred American who married into her title and has decided to stay in her adopted home country following the death of her German husband. The Countess has managed to live outside of the political fray of the Nazis, despite her somewhat romantic friendship with General Kurt von Kolb, who, despite not being in the army, is privy to the goings-on of the party. Mark has to convince these in the know to help him, all the while keep the truth behind his actions from the Nazis.—Huggo
Emmy Ritter, once a popular German actress in her youth, returned to Germany to sell her old family home. She was arrested, sentenced to be executed and sent to a concentration camp. Her attending physician in the camp, Dr. Ditten, had been a fan of her and helped her sent a letter to her son Mark Preysing.
Mark rushed to Germany after receiving the letter and sought the assistance of police, locals, family friend Fritz Keller, and Countess Ruby von Treck; all refused to help and told him to go back to the United States immediately. Having inherited his mothers outspoken, free-spirited ways, a frustrated Mark soon aroused the attention of the Gestapo.
Mark ended up meeting Dr. Ditten through Ruby, who recognized Mark and sympathised with him. He poisoned Emmy, causing a death-like coma sleep, so that Mark would need to make arrangements to claim his mothers body and get her out of the camp. Fritz, not knowing that Emmy was alive, agreed to help.
Mark and Fritz got Emmy out but she was too weak and needed rest, so Mark brought her to Ruby, who turned her mansion into a girls finishing school after her husband died. Ruby took them in for the night, but refused to offer more help; as her survival depends on her relationship with General Kurt von Kolb, an older man insanely jealous of any man around Ruby.
But seeing the mother reunited with the son woke the American in Ruby, adding to the attraction already growing between Ruby and Mark; she finally decided to not only help Mark and Emmy, but leave with them.
Mark, Frtiz and Emmy headed for the airport first, Ruby was about to join them when General von Kolb returned, having sensed that Ruby was helping Mark. Torn between her patriotism towards both Germany and the United States, she decided to stay and hold off General von Kolb, so that Mark can get on the airplane safely.
