Minister of Public Works (?) le Trocquer & Minister of War Andre Maginot inspect coal mines in Ruhr; during French occupation of that region of Germany; 1923. Germany.

Wide shot workers walking across open space; freight train sitting on track at foot of a big; long pile of rocks. Workers shovelling rocks (coal; presumably) / a conveyor belt carrying coal upwards to dump it into something. Group of men in suits; coats; hats standing together; train pulling out in background. 2 workers shovel rocks onto the conveyor belt. Visiting group watching workers while talking to French soldier. Brief shot man working. Le Trocquer; Maginot; etc. stand by railway tracks with giant rock pile at left. Next wide shot train passing at different location; in city with buildings; smoke stacks in background. Shots of group walking between train tracks. Titles in French say trains transport merchandise to non-occupied Germany; while trucks secretly bring deutsche marks. Shots of the French looking at carriages; then opening back of truck and looking in crates. Soldier showing vehicles chained together so they cannot be moved. Inspector checks contents of packages: he selects a couple from a stack. CU's of opened packages. MS young French soldier guarding stacks of packages.

The German economic collapse in the 1920s: deutsche mark falls lower & lower; prices in shops rise higher & higher. Shots of German stores showing the prices of goods (unfortunately many of the white price tags are washed out). Shot from street of people outside small grocery store. CU pile of nuts. CU oranges with sign 800 mk. CU walnuts. CU bottles on shelf (liquor?) with price of 10;000 mk. CU man's hat (bottom of) priced at 24;500 mk. CU umbrellas; at 28;500 mk. CU socks; 9800 mk. Nice MS display of shirts with ties. CU shirt with price 38;500. In 1923 the mark went from under 300 per dollar to over 1 billion! Then an unidentified item.