Kurt Seifert

Sergeant Hans Albers, the terror of Chicago gangsters, is transferred South of the border to deal with bandidos.

Whenever Pastor Piepenbrink gets his “deputatsrabbit”, there’s a frenzy in Pumpelshausen. For every time the rabbit is hung on the gable of the parsonage, every man in the village has the ambition to kidnap it. For that reason, the field watch Fuchtel is going to guard it with his pistol. Gustav Rabbit is to be kidnapped once again this year; but Marianne, the beautiful daughter of the town elder, is determined to save it from this fate and convinces a holiday guest, the singer Kasimir Haase, to pull down the rabbit. And it just so happens that the pastor’s house is attacked from several sides. The next morening, the rabbit is still on the gable … but stuffed. The storm begins; who has the real rabbit?!?

A travelling cinema arrives in a small, Italian town. The only place suitable for the screenings is the inn run by Mirandolina, a woman with an impeccable reputation. Tino, who works for the cinema, becomes enamoured of Mirandolina but finds his advances to her hindered by her upright reputation and the rivalry of local figures.

It can hardly be said that things are peaceful in the Berlin apartment building where the film's story takes place. There are constant clashes between the residents – and sometimes that's quite literal: for example, when the widow Bock hid some explosives among the bricks, which detonated when the building's thieving doorman lit them in his stove.

'Love and the First Railway' is what this movie's title would mean in English. This is one of those films that depicts fictional characters participating in an historic incident. The actual first railway was built in England, of course. But according to this movie, the first railway (in Germany, at least) was built from Berlin to Potsdam, in 1838. I haven't the faintest idea if that's correct, but the people who made this movie do seem to take a great deal of interest in historical accuracy, so I'll take their word for it. Anyway, a title at the beginning establishes that this movie is set in 1838.

The composer Hans Helmer can really count his happy blessings: he is married to a wonderful woman, who also happens to be a celebrated operetta star. But Hans is suffering from the success of his wife and is constantly in her shadow. He also doesn't want to profit from her reputation when he tries to get his play, "Husband of the Famous Singer" published. Hans wants to be recognized for his own achievements. So he decides to submit his latest composition under the name of his best friend, the painter Willi Kenter. The director is thrilled with the work, but there are some unforseen complications. Hans' wife Maria hears about the operetta and is likewise very impressed; but also sees through her husband's little deception. She tells him that she is determined to play a part in the performance of the work. That's something Hans wants to prevent at any price.

The painter Hans Hauser falls head over heels in love with the "Black Forest girl" Bärbele Riederle. He travels to her home village and soon the two realize that they are made for each other.