Champagner aus dem Knobelbecher (1975)

France during World War II. The two German soldiers Ede Lang and Anderl Breitner, one from Berlin and the other from Bavaria, have made themselves comfortable in German-occupied France in 1944. In Normandy, on the Atlantic coast, they are living it up; the fighting seems far away. But suddenly the Americans and British land on the coast, and their dolce vita is over. When the GIs first take “their” village and then occupy “their” farm, the two soldiers decide to get out as quickly as possible. But how can they get away? The best thing is to get hold of two U.S. uniforms and simply “requisition” an American tank, since, as the two see it, the enemy has more than enough of them. Their opportunity comes when a U.S. tank stops in the middle of an open field during the advance because a horse-drawn cart carrying German prostitutes is coming toward it. While the Americans enjoy themselves with the women in the meadow, Ede and Anderl steal the tank and drive off. Now, however, the two Germans are generously supplied from the air by the enemy, who mistake them for Americans, and the French they encounter during their retreat no longer take them for the hated “Boches,” but for liberators. Accordingly, Ede and Anderl are cheered and fed by the French. Once again, a sweet life of wine, women, and song seems to lie ahead for Anderl and Ede, complete with willing (now French) prostitutes and champagne drunk from their jackboots.