Three Comrades

On the last day of World War I, Erich Lohkamp, Otto Koster and Gottfried Lenz share fatalistic outlooks about the future. They soon decide to open an auto-repair business, but they struggle to earn a living.

Several years later, while driving to a country inn, they meet Pat Hollmann and Breuer, an older, wealthy fascist sympathizer. Pat is an impoverished aristocrat who intrigues the group with her worldly charm.

Pat is drawn to the innocent Erich, and they begin a romance. They soon realize their feelings are stronger than any social difference.

At the opera, they encounter Breuer again, who invites them to a fancy nightclub. Erich leaves feeling ashamed of his status, but Pat convinces him that their love transcends class.

Gottfried pushes Erich to marry Pat, while Otto urges Pat to marry Erich. Pat reveals that she has tuberculosis.

On their honeymoon, Pat collapses on the beach. Erich learns of her illness, and Otto fetches her specialist Dr. Jaffe, who saves her but warns she must be admitted to a sanitarium by October.

Gottfried is torn between his devotion to his friends and Dr. Becker’s pacifist teachings. On the day Pat must leave for the sanitarium, a thug kills Gottfried while attempting to slay Dr. Becker.

Otto and Erich spend the following months tracking the murderer; at Christmas, Otto trails the killer to a church and shoots him dead.

Pat must have an operation to collapse her lung; doctors warn she must remain bedridden and completely still for two weeks or risk death.

Erich agrees to proceed with the operation despite costs of more than 1,000 marks. Otto sells his car to cover the medical expenses.

Pat speaks to Erich and expresses her desire to escape to Rio with Erich and Otto. Otto encourages her to focus on her recovery.

Pat walks to the balcony, a move she knows will end her life. Erich rushes to her side and hears her final words of love.

Pat's funeral is held as fighting between fascists and protesters rages outside. Otto and Erich decide to move to South America to escape the political turmoil.

As they leave the cemetery, the spirits of Gottfried and Pat walk beside them, offering a final sense of companionship beyond death.