In Chicago of the 1920s, crime gangs are fighting a bitter battle for power. Gangster boss Bill Cracker plans a bank robbery with his cronies in Bill's Ballhouse just as the ladies of the Salvation Army enter. Among them is the magical Lilian, who Bill immediately falls for. This has an impact on the planned coup. Shootouts, chases, and the fight for the big money are the ingredients to this comedy, whose famous songs Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill wrote.
Vienna, 1813-1819: Beethoven (played by Donatas Banionis) is at the peak of his fame. Orchestras all over the world play his music, but he lives modestly and is dependent upon private patrons. Nagged by his patronizing brothers, spied upon by officials for his republican beliefs and faced by his progressive hearing loss, the composer becomes more and more isolated. Seeman’s poetic film explores the joys, heartbreak and artistic spirit of the great composer as he works on his Ninth Symphony.
