Das haut hin (1957)

Toni Matthis is a zoology student, but he is studying not out of personal interest, but at the urging of his aunt Annemarie, who expects him to find a solution to the phylloxera infestation at her vineyard. Toni, however, pays little attention to his studies. He would rather party with his friends in the apartment his aunt has provided for him, along with a minder and servant, Hassler. When Toni is expelled from university after missing yet another exam, his aunt loses her temper. She insists that he must now earn his own living and suggests he marry one of the Blank sisters, who are not very attractive but are rich. Reluctantly, Toni gives in and, to choose between them, fires at their portraits in the garden. But his shot misses the portraits and hits Bianca, a beautiful trapeze artist, who fortunately is unharmed. The two fall in love and want to marry. However, Zaretti, the circus director and Bianca’s father, will give his daughter in marriage only to a circus performer, in keeping with family tradition, and Carossa, the lion tamer, would also like to be her groom. With Hassler’s help, Toni now does everything he can to become a circus performer. He rehearses all kinds of acts with Hassler, but every one of them goes wrong. When Carossa is unable to perform as lion tamer, Toni is supposed to prove to Bianca’s father what he can do. Hassler devises a way out: having clowns dressed in lion costumes perform in the ring. But the jealous Carossa, who gets wind of the plan, foils it, and so, without even knowing it, Toni ends up singing “I Do It All for Love” in the ring amid real lions, before an enthusiastic audience. His greatest reward, however, is that Zaretti no longer objects to his daughter marrying him.