Deutsches TV-Drama

East Germany's contribution to the 1957 Cannes Film Festival was the wartime melodrama Betrogen bis zum Juengsten Tag. Had the film been released in the U.S., the title would probably have translated to Duped Till the Last. The film condemns the Nazi mindset by concentrating on a particularly odious cover-up. When his son is involved in the accidental killing of a girl, a Gestapo general pulls strings to save the boy from prosecution. The general manages to pin the blame for the killing on a group of Russians, whereupon he gives the men under his command carte blanche to round up and execute as many innocent Russians as they wish. This act of brutality is contrasted with the pangs of guilt suffered by the son and his co-conspirators.

Russia, 1905. Tuvia is the only Jew living in the village of Antevka. He is very poor but things change when, as a token of gratitude for a service rendered, he is given a cow and some food. Now, his wife, his seven daughters and himself have access to a better life. Tuvia sells his milk and his butter. Moreover, he is now able to give his daughters a dowry and marry them. But you can't buy happiness...

It's Friday evening. The lift repairman leaves the building and wants to finish his work on Monday. But he doesn't know there are four men in the building. They use the lift but stay in it about 100 meters from the floor. They have little oxygen and must survive…