Das Haus an der Küste (1954)

The widowed Anna lives with her daughter Marina on the Dalmatian coast in what was then Yugoslavia. The smuggler Beppo, a rather rough character, is determined to marry Marina, who has fallen in love with the doctor, Dr. Branko Illic. Anna, too, has her eye on the handsome physician. Before long, mother and daughter are at odds over the coveted doctor. One day, Anna and Beppo go out to sea together in a boat, but the middle-aged woman never returns. Apparently, it seems, the crude smuggler has murdered Anna, but he cleverly shifts suspicion onto Marina, whom he cannot have as his wife. Anna’s daughter is brought to trial and convicted of murder, even though Anna’s body is never found. When Marina returns to the house on the coast after serving her sentence, she is utterly surprised to find her supposedly dead mother alive and well. Marina has been the victim of a plot by her own mother. A loud argument breaks out between mother and daughter, during which Anna falls onto the tracks in front of an approaching train, which runs her over. After Anna’s death, Marina and Dr. Illic can finally begin their life together.