The film is based on a true story, concerning a series of robberies on the highways of Germany. At the time of the actual events, there was a controversy over whether or not highway patrolmen should be given permission to use firearms against perpetrators.

"Who Drove the Grey Ford?" ("Wer fuhr den grauen Ford?") is a 1950 West German crime film directed by Otto Wernicke, marking his only directorial effort, and starring Wernicke as Kriminalkommissar Thieme alongside Ursula Herking, Hilde Sessak, and Wolfgang Neuss. The movie was filmed at numerous original locations in post-war Mannheim. It draws directly from a real-life 1949 post office robbery in Mannheim, exploring the social dislocations of the era through a documentary-style depiction of petty crime and moral dilemmas among young survivors of World War II. The plot centers on three young men scraping by through car stunts and minor cons in the uncertain landscape of Nachkriegsdeutschland, where one sensitive outsider, Peter "Penny," seeks to leave the life behind for love but is coerced into participating in a high-stakes robbery of a money transport. The heist unfolds according to plan, but Penny's well-intentioned yet careless action alerts the police...

The adaptation of the eponymous play by Carl Zuckmayer tells the story of renegade general Harras of the German Luftwaffe, who during WWII openly criticizes the Nazi regime. As a consequence, he is put under surveillance, and even imprisoned for a brief period of time. Still remaining outspoken, Harras realizes the horrific dimensions of this hopeless and injust war waged by Germany.