Year: 1958
Runtime: 101 mins
Language: German
Director: Rolf Thiele
Based on true events, the film follows a young woman known as Rosemary, who rises in 1950s West Germany as the nation becomes an economic powerhouse. Ambitious and charismatic, she seduces members of the industrial elite, extracting confidential business information and passing it to French rivals. When her espionage is exposed, Rosemary discovers she cannot outmaneuver the authorities.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Rosemary (1958), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
In a basement in Frankfurt, two petty criminals, Horst Frank and Jo Herbst, recruit Rosemarie, Nadja Tiller, a pretty but penniless blonde, to be their bait for day jobs as street musicians.
When she enters the lobby of a smart hotel, hoping to pick up a businessman, she is kicked out by the concierge. She does, however, catch the eye of a group of businessmen who meet there, and one of them, Hartog, Carl Raddatz sets her up in an apartment.
While Hartog is away at an exclusive equestrian event, Rosemarie picks up Fribert, Peter van Eyck, a wealthy Frenchman who, to Hartog and his family’s horror, brings the uninvited Rosemarie to the event.
Hartog pays her off with cash, a reward that she immediately sinks into a new life, buying a flashy convertible.
Fribert’s plan is not sex but image-building: he wires her apartment so that she can coax businessmen into her bed and extract their conversations, turning Rosemarie into a vehicle for industrial espionage.
The arrangement works at first, but Rosemarie realizes she can use the tapes herself and craves recognition among the rich rather than merely sleeping with husbands for cash.
She triggers another scandal by showing up uninvited at a party attended by most of her clients and their wives, where two women are enticed by the promise of a cash payout to dive into the pool fully clothed as the other guests crowd around.
Fribert understands she is becoming a liability, and both he and his circle begin to distance themselves as she grows bolder.
One night, while the men are enjoying themselves in a nightclub with resident escorts, she arrives drunk and, back at her flat, finds the assassin waiting for her.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 09:21
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