The murderer "Boss" Huller - after having spent ten years in prison - breaks his silence to tell the warden his story. "Boss", a former trapeze artist, and his wife own a cheap side-show that displays ''erotic sensations''. But he longs for his former glamorous life in the circus. When he meets the orphan Berta-Marie, he falls under her spell and leaves his wife and young son behind. He makes Berta-Marie his partner in a new trapeze number. One day, the famous trapeze artist Artinelli takes note of them and engages them for his trapeze show in Berlin. Their salto mortale becomes an immediate sensation. Calculatedly and cold, Artinelli seduces Berta-Marie and destroys "Boss'" happiness.
In Heliogabale, the dissolute Emperor Heliogabalus dresses as a woman, and looses lions among his guests.
THERE IS A NEWSREEL ALONG WITH THE FILM, JUST AS GERMAN AUDIENCES MIGHT HAVE SEEN WHEN THE MOVIE WAS FIRST SHOWN (except this newsreel may not be contemporary to when the film was released).
DVD-R's FIRST FILM IS SILENT WITH ITALIAN INTERTITLES AND SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES:
· Sharpness of picture? - Dropouts, snowy, fading of picture at times. Overall, quite decent
· Other notable issues? - no sound
LENGTH OF FEATURE FILM: 77 mins.
DVD-R's SECOND FILM IS SILENT WITH GERMAN INTERTITLES AND SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES:
· Sharpness of picture? - Color tinted film has very good quality overall, though there are pixellization issues
· Other notable issues? - no sound
LENGTH OF FEATURE FILM: 9 mins.
LENGTH OF NEWSREEL: 23 mins