A poor boy is about to be executed for a crime he didn’t commit. Just when all hope seems lost, a rich stranger steps in to save him. But helping the boy puts everything the man owns and his life at serious risk.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

During the First World War, a French fighter ace named Jo goes up against a German counterpart named Gunther. Jo eventually tricks Gunther and starts shooting him from behind while some German soldiers watch them from the battlefield. Since Gunther appears to be losing the battle, a lieutenant named Rosenblum tells a corporal named Hitler to load his machine gun for him so he can try to shoot down Jo’s plane.

In the process, Hitler makes a mistake, and Rosenblum insults him and complains about how he has never liked the corporal. He eventually gets pissed and walks away, and Hitler looks disappointed by this. Meanwhile, Jo shoots Gunther’s plane repeatedly, and the German fighter ace struggles to keep his plane in the air.

Just before he lands, he throws a net on the blade of Jo’s plane, and this stops it from working. The two soldiers eventually land their planes, and they appear to be unhurt. As Jo then paints a plus sign on his plane to imply that he won the battle, Gunther seems pissed because he thinks he eventually got the upper hand.

After they argue about who won the battle, Gunther pulls out his gun and says that he’ll take Jo as his prisoner. Jo is surprised by this, but he eventually knocks the gun out of Gunther’s hand. As Gunther tries to fight with his fists, Jo warns him to be careful because he’s a boxer.

Gunther doesn’t seem to care, but Jo ends up punching him a few times. Just before Jo hits him again, he sees a bomb about to land next to them, so he grabs Gunther and jumps into the dirty pool of water so that they won’t get hit. Gunther thanks him for this, and they both look happy to have survived the attack.

Twenty years later, Jo becomes the boxing coach for the French Olympic team. During a qualifying match, Jo encourages one of his boxers, Micholo, to fight well to knock out his opponent. After one of the rounds, Jo tells Micholo to keep following his instructions so he can win the match.

As he then tries to pour some water on Micholo to keep him energized, it accidentally splashes on a lady in the audience named Gaby. She seems pissed by this, but Jo says sorry for what he did. As she walks away, some men at the match make fun of her, and she looks pissed.

After a while, the boxing match continues, and Micholo beats his opponent and qualifies for the Olympics. Much later, Jo goes to a nearby restaurant to celebrate the win with his friends and some members of his team. As he then jokes about how Micholo won the match, he accidentally moves his chair back, and it hits Gaby, whose face gets slammed against her plate of soup.

Jo immediately apologizes for this, but Gaby seems pissed that this is the second time he’ll get her dress soiled. Jo says sorry again, but Gaby still seems really pissed. Jo and his friends then make fun of her and laugh about what happened. After this, Gaby suddenly raises her glass and proposes a toast to all foreign sportspeople who have refused to attend the Olympics in Berlin. She adds that those people are brave because they won’t be parading for Hitler and doing the Nazi salute.

One of Jo’s friends says it’s an Olympic salute, but Jo mentions that he and his boxers won’t be parading for Hitler. As Jo’s friend tells him not to mix sports with politics, Gaby suddenly starts writing something on a piece of paper. Jo then tells his friend that the French Olympic Committee should’ve refused to participate in the Olympic games held in a fascist country.

Jo’s friend says it’s not really a big deal because many other countries will be participating in the Olympics. He adds that the Germans even have Jews on their team, but Jo still complains about this. As Gaby finishes writing on the piece of paper, she tears it off and leaves the restaurant.

She then calls someone, who tells her to go to Berlin because Hitler is ready to let her interview him. Gaby looks quite happy and tells the person that she has already written a perfect story about Jo’s opinion on the Berlin Olympics. Interestingly, it turns out that Gaby is a journalist, and she had actually started up the conversation about the Olympics just to get Jo’s opinion.

Days later, the French Olympic Team leaves for Berlin by train, and while Jo is talking to some of his boxers, a boy named Simon walks up to him to ask for his autograph. Jo assumes that Simon wants an autograph from one of the boxers, so he tells Micholo to sign Simon’s book. Just then, one of the coaches on the team, Lucien, shows Jo a newspaper article about his comments regarding Hitler and the Olympics.

Jo looks surprised by this, but Lucien scolds him because the story could affect how the team is received in Germany. Jo then sees that the story was written by someone named G.B. As he asks his boxers if they know the person, they say they don’t, but Jo mentions that he can’t wait to find out who it is.

Almost immediately, he sees Gaby reading the newspaper inside the train. He then sits with her and tells her not to take the story seriously because it’s fake. As Gaby puts down the newspaper, Jo asks if she’s going to Berlin for the games, but she says she isn’t.

Jo then tries to find out why she’s going there, and he eventually realizes that she’s heading to Berlin to see someone. During their conversation, Simon interrupts them and asks Jo for his autograph again. Jo tells Simon to come back later, and he then asks Gaby if she’d like to go on a date with him when they get to Berlin.

Gaby doesn’t seem interested in this, and she walks away from the table while Jo looks disappointed. Shortly after, while he’s with his team, Simon comes over to meet Jo again to sign his book. As Jo decides to sign it, he sees that Simon has some of his old pictures from when he was in the military.

Jo admires them, and Simon says he has always been a big fan of Jo’s work. Jo then asks if Simon is French, but he says he’s German. Just as Jo signs the book, some Gestapo officers on the train start checking everyone’s tickets. Almost immediately, Jo reads something in Simon’s book and realizes that he’s a Jew.

As the Gestapo officers hear this, they look at Simon strangely, and Jo seems worried about this. Shortly after, the train arrives in Berlin, and as the French athletes enter a bus taking them to their hotel, Jo sees Gaby standing alone with her bags. He then ditches the bus and goes to meet Gaby to ask if he can help her get to her hotel safely.

Gaby says he doesn’t have to worry about her because someone will be picking her up at the station. Jo looks disappointed by this, but Gaby tells him to help Simon instead because it seems he’s all alone at the station. Jo doesn’t seem interested in doing this, but Gaby convinces him to change his mind.

After her ride arrives, she leaves the station, and Jo asks Simon about his parents. Simon says they’re dead, but Jo asks if there are other people who have been taking care of him. Simon says that he has been staying with his grandparents, and that they can go to his grandfather’s bookstore to look for him.

Following this, Jo and Simon enter a cab heading to the bookstore. Just as they get there, Jo sees some people inside, but Simon says it’s the Nazi police. Jo soon realizes this and tells the cab to stop. He then tells Simon to wait with the bags while he goes to the bookstore. As Jo gets there, he sees that the Gestapo officers are scattering the store because Simon’s grandfather is a Jew, and he’s also selling some books written by Jewish authors.

Jo seems pissed by this, and he provokes the men to fight him. As they do this, he beats them up, and Simon looks happy while watching from outside. Suddenly, his grandparents and other family members show up in the area and get him to quickly join them in a car. Jo sees this and looks confused, but he eventually runs away from the Gestapo officers, who keep following him. Before they can catch him, he changes his clothes and grabs the Olympic torch from a runner so that he can get away easily.

Just then, the Gestapo officers find his clothes and see his ID card, which shows who he is. Elsewhere, Gaby arrives at her hotel and meets two of Hitler’s associates, who tell her that she’ll have to meet with Hitler in his private suite. Gaby doesn’t feel comfortable about this, and she lies that she has a date with someone.

As the men look confused, Jo enters the hotel, and she runs to meet him. She then claims that Jo is her date, and he plays along quite well. After the men leave, Jo and Gaby laugh about this, but before they head to their respective rooms, Simon shows up with Jo’s bags. Jo then asks where he went, and he says that he was with his family members. He adds that they’re currently outside because they have nowhere to stay.

Jo then secretly brings them into the hotel so that he can get his boxers to share their rooms with Simon’s family. Interestingly, Simon’s grandfather happens to be Rosenblum, and on the way to the room, he tells Jo that he used to be Hitler’s superior during the First World War, but that the country is no longer safe for him. After Jo gets Simon and his family members to share rooms with his boxers, he goes to see Gaby in her room.

As he enters the room, she gets a call from someone who calls her GB. Jo sounds shocked to hear this, and Gaby quickly ends the call. She then tries to explain herself, but Jo says she wasn’t supposed to write the story because he was only talking to his friends.

After he says that she’s a champion at conning people, he mentions that even though he had planned to beat up the journalist who wrote the story, he’ll just leave her alone. The next morning, as the French athletes leave the hotel with Simon’s family, who also wear the team’s uniform, Gunther arrives, and Jo looks happy to see him. Jo then asks if Gunther brought his car, and he says he did.

After Jo collects the key, he holds it behind his back and signals Simon to take it so he can leave with his family. As they do this, the Gestapo officers from the previous day show up at the hotel to accuse Jo of beating them up. Gunther now happens to be a General in the army, and he tells them not to talk to his friend like that.

The Gestapo officers don’t seem happy with this, and they complain about what Jo did the previous day. They also seem pissed that they can’t do anything to him because of Gunther, but they imply that they won’t forget what happened. After they leave, Gunther complains about them, but Jo just hails his friend as a war hero.

Gunther also talks about disliking Hitler, and Jo tells him to move to Paris. However, Gunther says he can’t leave the country because he’s German. Jo then tells him to try to kick Hitler out of office, but Gunther says it’s hard. He adds that many people believe Hitler is doing a good job, and that’s why they voted for him in the election. After they leave the hotel, Gunther realizes that his car is missing, and Jo explains that he gave it to Simon’s family to help them escape from Germany because they’re Jews.

Gunther seems pissed by this, but Jo tells him that Simon’s family will leave his car at the Austrian border when they get there. He adds that Gunther shouldn’t be pissed because they’ve just helped some good people. Gunther then asks if Jo will attend the parade for Hitler, but he jokes that he can’t see himself doing the Nazi Salute.

The two friends laugh about this, and the French team eventually leaves for the opening ceremony. Shortly after, all the teams parade for Hitler, and he also gives a speech at the ceremony. Days later, while Jo is training his boxers for their upcoming matches, Gunther comes over to see him.

The men then leave together, and Gunther eventually shows Jo one of the modern planes they now have in Germany. Jo looks impressed, but Gunther complains that Hitler doesn’t really like the new planes. Jo then suggests taking the plane out for a while, but Gaby suddenly approaches them with her car.

As Jo wonders what she wants, Gaby tells him that Simon’s family has been arrested, and he’s currently 200 kilometers north of Munich. She adds that Simon’s grandmother said something that got the family arrested, but Simon was already in the toilet at the time. As she mentions that Simon is waiting for Jo, he sounds pissed and says that he doesn’t even know the boy very well.

He adds that he’s the coach of the French boxing team, and not a nanny. He also says that his boxers have two important games the next day, and he won’t be going to Munich because he wants to see his team win gold medals. As Gaby wonders what they’ll do about Simon, Gunther asks where he is.

After Gaby says his exact location, Gunther asks if she has used a parachute before. Gaby says she hasn’t, and Jo then volunteers to help Simon because it will give him a chance to fly the modern plane with Gunther. Following this, Gunther and Jo leave for Munich with the plane, and after a while, they see Simon waiting next to Gunther’s car.

Jo eventually uses a parachute to land safely, and Simon runs to hug him. Jo then asks how Simon planned to get to Austria, and he mentions that his sister is supposed to pick him up at a hotel in the country. After this, Jo says he’ll take Simon to his sister so that he can return quickly to watch his boxers.

Elsewhere, some Gestapo officers interrupt the French team’s training to ask why some jews were caught wearing the team’s uniforms. Lucien tries to avoid the question, but one of the players then informs him that Jo wants to speak to him on the phone. As Lucien goes to answer the call, the chief Gestapo officer snatches the phone and hears Jo saying that he’s 200 kilometres north of Munich, and that he’s helping Simon cross the border to get to Austria.

The Gestapo officer remains silent throughout the call, and Jo suspects that something is wrong. He eventually ends the call, and the Gestapo officer orders his colleagues to start looking for Jo and Simon around Munich. After a while, Jo leaves the hotel where he made the call and tells Simon that they need to continue their journey.

On the way, he then teaches Simon how to drive, but as he suspects that they’re being followed, he takes over the steering wheel and makes a turn onto a road leading to the woods. After a while, they stop to rest, and Jo tells Simon about how he ruined his boxing career. Simon doesn’t really seem interested in this, and he asks Jo what the police will do to his family.

Jo says they’ll likely be interrogated and released after the police realize that they haven’t committed any crimes. Simon doesn’t believe this, and he mentions that he once had a friend whose family were never seen again after they got arrested by the police. Jo says they probably travelled away from the country, and he tells Simon not to be worried about it.

He also prepares a place for them to sleep, but before Simon lies down, he hears a strange sound in the woods. As he complains about it, Jo laughs loudly, and Simon looks confused. Jo then says he did that to scare whoever is in the woods away.

After they eventually fall asleep, a baby bear approaches them and eats some of their food. The next morning, when Jo wakes up, he sees the bear sleeping next to him, and he quickly wakes Simon up. Almost immediately, a bigger bear starts walking toward them, and Jo quickly packs up his things so that he can leave with Simon. Interestingly, the baby bear follows them, but Jo doesn’t complain about this. After a while, Jo sees a roadblock ahead, and he looks worried that the police will arrest Simon.

He then tells Simon to hide under the parachute while he tries to get past the police. As the cops stop him, they ask for his ID, and he shows them that the car belongs to his friend. One of the officers then says that they’re looking for a young boy, but Jo pretends not to know what he’s talking about.

As the officer then takes up the parachute, he sees Simon hiding under it, but before he can do anything, Jo destroys the barriers on the road and drives away. The officers immediately chase the car with their bikes, but Jo eventually gets Simon to drive while he tries to take them down. He eventually removes the spare tires from both sides of the car and throws them at two of the officers to knock them down.

Jo then takes back the wheel, but two officers still continue chasing the car. Suddenly, the parachute falls out of the car and obstructs the men, and this gives Jo an idea. As he then releases the parachute, it blocks the officers, and they crash into a tree. After a while, Jo decides to ditch the bear and the car. Simon doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but Jo says they can’t take the bear any further because it’s dangerous.

Jo also mentions that the cops have seen the car, and it’s best to move on without it. Simon still seems worried, but Jo says that the bear is better off with his family. Simon doesn’t think the bear will meet with his family again because he’s far away from home, but Jo believes he’ll adapt to the circumstances.

Much later, while Gunther and Gaby are together, a soldier comes over to inform the General that the person who stole his car has been arrested with a young boy. Gunther realizes that Jo and Simon have been caught, and Gaby suggests going to help them. Gunther says he’ll go alone, and he tells the soldier to inform Hitler that he’ll be late for the state meeting that night.

Shortly after, Jo and Simon are taken to a police station, and there, they see Simon’s family. Simon looks happy to see them, and as one of the cops confirms that he’s related to them, he tells the family to stay together in a nearby room while Jo is taken to meet their boss. Interestingly, Gunther is already in the office of the chief of police, and he mentions that Jo borrowed his car.

The chief of police says he didn’t know that, but he sounds concerned because he thinks Jo is dangerous. Gunther says he’s not, and he mentions that Jo is his good friend. As Jo gets to the office, he snatches Gunther’s gun and requests to be uncuffed immediately.

Gunther looks shocked and says that he was about to get Jo released. Jo doesn’t seem to care, and he says that he won’t leave Simon’s family behind. Gunther doesn’t get why he’s so interested in helping the family, but Jo insists that he can’t leave them.

After using the gun to scare the cops in the building, Jo leaves with Simon’s family, and Gunther drives them away. Almost immediately, the Gestapo officers arrive at the scene, and they ask for Jo and Simon. After hearing that they’ve escaped, the officers enter their car to chase them.

Much later, Jo asks if Gunther can help him get a plane back to Berlin after he drops Simon’s family off at the Austrian border. Gunther says that Jo can’t go back to Berlin because he’ll be arrested for helping the jews escape. Jo seems pissed by this, but Simon’s aunt convinces him to come with them to Austria because it will be safer there.

After Gunther drops them off by the road, he tells them where to pass so they can get to the border quickly. Jo then tells Gunther to help him apologize to Gaby for the things he said the other day. Gunther says he’ll deliver Jo’s message, and after this, Jo leaves with the family.

Before they go too far, they see the Gestapo officers still far behind, but Jo tells Simon and his family to move faster. Meanwhile, a farmer accidentally turns the sign pointing toward Austria. When Jo and Simon’s family reach the junction, they end up taking the wrong turn, which leads back to a town in Germany.

As the Gestapo officers get closer, Jo sees them and turns the sign again. Interestingly, the Gestapo officers fall for this, and they end up going to the Austrian border because they believe that’s where Jo is headed. Meanwhile, Jo and the Jewish family reach a fence, which they believe is the Austrian border, and they start trying to find a way to get to the other side.

Elsewhere, Gaby interviews Hitler just as planned, but she finds him to be a weird man. Shortly after, Gunther arrives at the residence, and Hitler welcomes him. Gunther also sees Gaby and greets her. Just as rain is about to start falling, Hitler’s sister, Angela, comes outside to give her brother his jacket. The rain eventually starts, and everyone enters the house.

As Gaby then secretly asks Gunther about Jo and Simon, he says that they’re already in Austria, and this makes her happy. Shortly after, Jo and Simon’s family get past the fence and see a nearby house. Since they’re supposed to wait in a hotel in Austria for someone to pick them up, they assume that they’re in the right place, but unfortunately, it turns out to be Hitler’s residence.

Coincidentally, the Gestapo officers have just arrived in Austria, and they see some Austrian musicians who are headed to Germany to sing at Hitler’s residence. The chief Gestapo officer then calls Angela to confirm this, but before she says anything, Jo and the others enter the house, so she assumes that they’re the musicians. After she ends the call, she welcomes the family to the house, but as Jo asks if she has a radio, she looks confused as to why there’s a Frenchman in the band.

Jo just ignores the question and asks for a radio, and Angela says that her brother has one in his office. Jo then taps her cheek, and Angela seems impressed by this. She then takes him to her brother’s office while Simon and his family are taken elsewhere to get new clothes. On the way to Hitler’s office, Angela talks about how her brother’s astrologer recently told her that she’d soon meet her soulmate. As she implies that it could be Jo, he just ignores her, and she shows him where the radio is.

Jo thanks her for this, and Angela says she’ll tell her brother that he has a guest. Jo then listens to the commentary of Micholo’s match, and he seems quite nervous as he punches the air. Suddenly, Hitler enters the room and looks confused when he sees what Jo is doing. Just as Micholo is announced as the winner of the gold medal, Jo sees Hitler in the room and looks shocked. Hitler doesn’t seem to care about him, and he just heads to his room.

Jo then jumps out through the balcony before anyone figures out who he is. Unfortunately, one of the soldiers at the house catches him and asks who he is. Jo doesn’t know how to respond, and the soldier decides to take him inside.

On the way, Simon trips the soldier, and Jo knocks him out before taking him into a storeroom to remove his uniform. Jo also tells Simon to get one of Gunther’s business cards from his car. After a while, Jo enters the house while Hitler is giving a speech at the state meeting. Almost immediately, Gunther sees Jo and looks shocked because he thought his friend was already in Austria. Jo then blames Gunther for leading him and Simon’s family to the wrong place.

After the meeting, Hitler enters the living room to greet Simon’s family because he thinks they’re the musicians scheduled to perform for him. As Simon’s grandmother sees him, she faints, and Hitler looks confused. Someone then mentions that she was likely just too excited to see Hitler.

Interestingly, Hitler doesn’t recognize Rosenblum, and he just tells the family to start playing the music. After initially looking confused, they eventually start playing the instruments badly, but before Hitler realizes this, he hears a better song from some of his citizens who have come to greet him. Elsewhere, Simon slips Gunther’s card under Angela’s door, and it turns out that Jo has written on it that Gunther loves her and would love to run away with her.

Angela seems happy about this, and she starts packing her things. Meanwhile, Gunther seems pissed that Jo might put him in trouble, but the French coach tells him that he already has a plan. He then says that he plans to use Hitler’s car to escape with Simon and his family.

Gunther doesn’t seem to get this, but Jo mentions that his friend has to leave with Angela in his car. Just then, Angela calls Gunther and tells him that she’s ready to leave. Gunther then realizes what Jo has done, but he plays along and asks if Angela has a car.

Angela says she uses Hitler’s Mercedes, but Gunther mentions that he prefers taking his car instead. Following this, Gunther leaves the house with Angela, and Jo looks happy about this. Coincidentally, the real musicians arrive, and Jo manages to sneak Simon and his family out of the house along with Gaby.

As they leave with Hitler’s Mercedes, Hitler looks confused, but one of his soldiers tells him that Angela is the one leaving the house. Hitler seems pissed and says that his sister can’t leave. He then enters a truck with his guards and chases after his Mercedes.

Luckily, Jo drives past the gate without being noticed, but Hitler eventually catches up to the car. He then orders them to stop, but Rosenblum reveals himself and asks if Hitler doesn’t recognize him. As Hitler remembers who Rosenblum is, he looks pissed and tells Jo to stop the car. Jo doesn’t listen to him, and he eventually knocks Hitler and his guards off the road. The truck then crashes, and Hitler gets pissed as he enters a pool of water with ducks inside.

Jo and the others laugh about this, and they soon get to the Austrian border. Instead of waiting to get checked in, Jo breaks the barriers and speeds into Austria. One of the soldiers at the border then alerts his colleagues that Hitler is invading Austria. After a while, Jo stops the car and gets down with Simon to celebrate their freedom. As they hug each other, they see the baby bear from earlier and seem happy to be reunited with it again.

Even though Jo goes to Berlin to coach the French boxing team to win several gold medals, he ends up meeting Simon, who happens to be a Jew. Since Jews aren’t safe in Nazi Germany, Jo leaves his team in Berlin and travels across the country to help Simon and his family get to Austria. They don’t really enjoy a smooth journey, but with help from Gunther and Gaby, they’re eventually able to get to Austria safely. Sometimes, doing the right thing involves making sacrifices, even when it’s difficult.

Ace Of Aces 1982.