Der kühne Schwimmer (1957)

Lingerie manufacturer Otto von Senff is persuaded by his friend, veterinarian Dr. Hans Sommer, to finally take a vacation. Although the two of them plan to go to Venice with Otto’s sister Ulla, Otto decides he would rather spend his vacation at their summer house in Bavaria. The house borders a campground that is packed with people. After a short time, Otto wants to leave for Venice, but changes his mind when he meets the attractive American Gaby Marshall, who is traveling with her friend Karin Biedermann. The two women have parked their caravan at the campground. Gaby had actually been expecting her fiancé, Fritz, but accepts Otto’s invitation after he tells her he saw Fritz flirting with a female camper. Meanwhile, Ulla meets Dr. Richard Möbius, who is vacationing at the campground with his dachshund Hector. Richard is less interested in Ulla than in her dachshund Susi, since he wants Hector to have puppies. After an evening of heavy drinking, Otto learns the next morning that Gaby has gone swimming. He finds her in the lake, but she is close to drowning. Otto cannot swim, so he stops local man Xaver Kraxentrager, who is on his motorcycle on the way to the clinic. Only the promise of good pay persuades Xaver to pull Gaby out of the water. He receives 20 marks and drives on. When Gaby comes to, she believes Otto rescued her. She is now so taken with him that she wants to marry him. Otto agrees and secretly tries to learn to swim with Hans. He becomes desperate over his lack of progress and eventually keeps the wedding party small so that no guests who know he cannot swim will show up. Meanwhile, Xaver tells his regulars at the pub that he rescued a woman and received 20 marks for it. Because the sum is so small and Xaver cannot produce a rescue medal, his friends do not believe him. Xaver therefore announces that he will visit Otto on the wedding day to discuss the whole matter again. At the wedding, Otto is awarded the rescue medal. He makes Hans promise to keep Xaver away from him. Hans, in turn, thinks Fritz is Xaver. Together, they go over the incident again, including the important detail that Otto cannot swim and that this could jeopardize the wedding in the end. After the civil ceremony, Xaver is the first to arrive and demands more money from Otto. Once he realizes that the truth could destroy Otto’s marriage, he extorts ever more money from him and also gets the medal. Fritz arrives at the wedding shortly afterward and exposes the deception. Gaby is outraged and wants an immediate divorce. Hans’s attempts to persuade Xaver to give false testimony also fail. In the end, everything comes down to whether Otto can swim or not. Although Hans is convinced that he cannot, Otto proves to be a good swimmer when Gaby’s aunt falls into the water and has to be rescued. Otto and Gaby stay together. Hans and Karin fall in love, and Ulla and Richard have also become a couple through their dachshunds.