Margit Symo

An Old Heart Becomes Young Again

All throughout his entire life, Friedrich Wilhelm Hoffmann let his career run roughshod over his personal life. He had no wife, because he was married instead to his chocolate factory. Now he’s old and gray, and his relatives, who are greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket so they can get their hands on his worldly goods, keep their distance from him. Then one day, an astonished Hoffmann is visited by a young woman named Brigitte, who asserts, that she’s his granddaughter. Suddenly, it all comes back to the old man: as a young man, he had a short, but intense, love affair, which he had to end on the insistence of his father.

Gypsy Ways

Silo is a bum; but he's a bum whose beloved by all and one day, he is found wounded on the banks of the Theiss. Fishermen take him back to the village and Maria, Alexander Renka's young wife, cares for him until he gets better. Silo's wound heals, but he decides to stick with the fishermen to find out who the intended target for the stabbing knife really was (for who would stab a beloved bum?). Maria's husband is acting really strange. He is away from home often and can be found very often near the hut of the gypsy Panna, who can allegedly bewitch any man she pleases. Maria is convinced from her womanly intuition -- never mind asking -- that her husband is doing the dirty with the gypsy and decides to abandon him and the town she lives in. With her brother, she returns to her homeland, the steppe. That same morning, Alexander Renka is found dead on the riverbank and he's been stabbed, too.

Comedy Times Three

Art student Ulla lies to her older sister Ilse, claiming to be posing for sculptor Professor Viktor Arnim. To confront him, Ilse visits him that very evening. In her excitement, she forgets her handbag, which the professor immediately notices. Ilse clearly doesn't dislike Viktor and no longer wants to appear as the strict sister. So she lies to Viktor and his friend Philipp Geiger, who is also present, telling him that her handbag was stolen by a man named Meier. Viktor and Philipp immediately offer to retrieve it. Sure enough, the famous boxer Willi Meier lives in the neighborhood. Viktor and Philipp also find a woman's handbag in his apartment, which they secretly take with them.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.

Einmal der liebe Herrgott sein

Karl Geschwandtner, a porter in a large hotel, has only one wish: one day, he'd like to be the lord and master, as the saying goes: to be the porter and 'ruler' in the hotel. And luck helps him to temporarily fulfill his dream. But Karl doesn't just take over running the hotel, he feels the need to stick his nose in the life of his hotel guests, too. There are couples, who don't want to be put together or apart. When a valuable jewel goes missing, he plays detective and only succeeds in helping the thief to rob the hotel guests at his leisure. Pretty soon, chaos reigns at the hotel; there's massive confusion. Even the newspaper seller, Wally, whom Karl secretly loves, is slowly starting to mistrust him. When the director of "Hotel Europa" finally returns, he throws Karl out, who thereupon simply rents a room as a guest.

Der Unwiderstehliche

I Often Think of Piroschka

Andreas, a young German student comes to Hungary on an exchange programme. In the Hungarian village he falls in love with the stationmaster's daughter Piroschka and spends much of his time with her. They have an enchanting summer until Andreas gets an invitation to join another young woman at a nearby resort. Piroschka is jealous and follows him there, causing trouble. It takes a long time for Andreas and Piroschka to even talk to each other again. When Andreas has to leave Hungary at the end of his holiday, he is determined to return some day.

Gypsy Blood

Princess Stauffenstein has arranged a marriage for her grandnephew Poldi and orders him to meet his unknown bride Steffi. But he falls for alluring dancer Ilonka while his uncle Leopold, sent to reason with him, is enchanted by Steffi.