A young shoemaker is arrested for stealing a small amount of money, and is jailed for fifteen years. Upon his release, he wants to get a permit to get a job and start anew, but finds that without a job he can't get a permit, and without a permit he can't get a job. Ensnared in the absurd net of Prussian bureaucracy, he can't see any way out. That is, until he enters a thrift shop and spots a Prussian officer's uniform that fits him like a second skin...
Heinz Rühmann
as Wilhelm Voigt
Martin Held
as Dr. Obermüller
Hannelore Schroth
as Mathilde Obermüller
Willy A. Kleinau
as Friedrich Hoprecht
Leonard Steckel
as Adolph Wormser
Friedrich Domin
as Zuchthausdirektor
Erich Schellow
as Capt. von Schlettow
Walter Giller
as Willy Wormser
Wolfgang Neuss
as Zuchthäusler Kallenberg
Bum Krüger
as Schutzmann Kilian
Joseph Offenbach
as Wabschke
Ilse Fürstenberg
as Marie Hoprecht, Voigts sister
