Der Mann, der nicht nein sagen konnte (1958)

Thomas Träumer, who is married and has no children, works as a sales representative for kitchen appliances. Despite his wife Eva’s wish that he would have a more senior position, the good-hearted man is entirely satisfied with his personal and professional situation. One afternoon, he runs into his old school friend Alfons Ulrich, who confesses that he secretly keeps a second apartment for his mistress. He offers to let Thomas use it too, but Thomas initially declines, thanking him. On his way home, Träumer buys a little dog, Strupps, from a poor girl who practically foists it on him. Eva, who won’t tolerate animals in the house, is not pleased about the purchase. But when Träumer takes the dog for a walk, Strupps has already disappeared again. The girl who sold him has called him back. A little later, the girl, whose name is Bettina, is sitting at a police station. The officers accuse Bettina of selling the dog to several people. The girl, who ran away from her parents’ home a few weeks earlier, insists that this was the only way she could support herself. The cheated buyers agree that Träumer may keep the dog. To avoid another argument with his wife, he leaves the animal in Alfons Ulrich’s second apartment. Bettina eventually finds herself being transported to a care institution. She escapes along with two other girls, Marilyn and Hilde. The streetwise girls make up stories about the harsh conditions of their confinement and tell them to the gullible Thomas Träumer, who then puts them up in Ulrich’s apartment. In order to stay there longer, Marilyn, who was arrested for prostitution, tries to seduce Thomas. When the respectable man refuses to go along with it, Bettina pretends to have a severe cold. Then Alfons Ulrich turns up. He assumes the three runaways are Träumer’s lovers and throws a party with them that evening. He only leaves after Träumer tells him that the three girls have escaped from prison. In the meantime, Bettina has confessed to kind-hearted Träumer that their stories about their confinement were made up. He lets the girls stay in the apartment for one more night and promises to take them to the zonal border the next day. In fact, however, he intends to take them back to the care institution, a plan he confides to Bettina. Hilde does not believe Träumer. To get money, she breaks into a neighboring house through the roof. When Träumer goes to the apartment the next morning, the three girls have vanished without a trace. Instead, the police are waiting for him there. Since the girls are on the run, Inspector Kümmelmann arrests Träumer on suspicion that he might suppress evidence. Meanwhile, Strupps ends up in a dog kennel. The newspapers report at length on the “double life” and “love nest” of the “immoral Thomas Träumer.” His wife threatens him with divorce. The examining magistrate in charge rules out releasing him. Just then, Bettina and Marilyn burst into the interrogation. After learning from the newspaper that Träumer has been arrested, they have decided to help him and turn themselves in. The judge releases Träumer. Eva is already waiting outside the prison and, in the end, believes her husband after all. Together they go to the dog kennel to pick up Strupps.