Der fröhliche Wanderer (1955)

Axel Wendt works in a small town as the director of the children’s choir and occasionally composes. He has long been trying to finish his song “Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann” (“My Father Was a Wandering Man”), but he can write only when he is sad. He has no reason to be sad, since he is attracted to the teacher Toni Peters and loves his work. His friend Heini Krops knows how well Axel can sing and tries to promote his talent wherever he can. One day, the famous chamber singer Rita Mehling arrives in the small town to get away from the hectic life of a singer. Heini introduces her to Axel, and the two become a couple. In the end, Axel goes with Rita to the big city, leaving Toni behind, sad. Only the teacher Kurt Henner, who takes over from Axel as choir director, is relieved, since he himself has long been in love with Toni. Axel gets to audition in the city, but is extremely nervous. Despite his poor performance, he is hired because the opera director would grant his star, Rita, any wish. Axel studies eagerly, attending rehearsals and taking singing lessons. Along with the gossip around town that Rita wants to turn a lover into a great singer after every vacation, usually without success, Axel is also troubled by his health. His eyesight keeps getting worse, and the eye doctor eventually finds a clouding of the vitreous humor that cannot be cured with medication. Depressed, Axel finishes “Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann” in this state and sends it to Toni. The children’s choir learns the song, which is to be performed publicly for the first time at the small town’s millennium celebration. During a performance of the opera Rigoletto, the singer in the lead role is taken ill with the flu after the second act. Since the second tenor is also absent, Axel has to step in at short notice. Although his eye problems are bothering him, he performs flawlessly, and the audience goes wild with enthusiasm. The newspapers are full of praise, and Axel is hailed as the new star. But he is depressed because Rita no longer loves him. Lost in thought, he crosses a street and is hit by a bus. His minor injuries are treated in hospital, but Axel refuses surgery for his eye condition. Rita is the one who persuades him to take the risk of undergoing the operation, which has never been tried before. The operation is indeed successful, and Axel can see clearly again. However, he has to turn down a career alongside Rita, since any great excitement or glaring light could jeopardize the success of the operation. Axel returns to his small town, where Toni is marrying Kurt the next day. Axel sings with the children’s choir at their wedding, having accepted that he has returned too late. At the request of his former choir members, he is reinstated as choir director and travels with the children to the great cities of the world. In London, the Märchensänger (“Fairytale Singers”), under Axel’s direction, even win first prize with “Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann.”