Abenteuer in Bamsdorf (1958)

The siblings Toni and Rita arrive in Bamsdorf, where they plan to spend the holidays with their grandmother. Toni meets up again with his friend Klaus, who confides his latest discovery: he has found a cave. The two boys look over the cave, and Toni realizes that a passage leads farther inside, though it is blocked. Toni and Klaus decide to explore the cave thoroughly the next day. They have no use for little Rita. The next day, their grandmother also decides that Rita should play with another girl from the village instead. But when she goes to cook for the harvest workers, leaving Rita alone, Rita secretly follows the boys. As Toni descends into the cave, he lays out a rope so they can always find their way back to the entrance. Rita, however, takes the rope and winds it up as she follows the boys deeper into the cave. After a short while she wants to turn back, but a rockfall has now blocked the exit with huge boulders. Deep inside the cave, Toni and Klaus meet up with Rita. The boys react angrily, as their adventure has suddenly become serious. They cannot find the exit. Eventually the three make up, especially when Toni defends his little sister against Klaus, and they proceed methodically, searching every passage leading out of the chamber and marking those that are impassable. In the end, it is Rita who finds a way out at an unknown location. The three children emerge into daylight at the upper edge of a quarry. Klaus knows the way back to the village from there. On the way, they climb over a fence bearing a sign that says entry to the quarry is forbidden. The three return to the village together, with Klaus carrying little Rita on his back.