Der Maulkorb (1958)

The film is set in the residential capital of an unspecified small German principality toward the end of the nineteenth century. An isolated incident prompts the ruling prince to issue the following decree: “Anyone who spreads statements or deeds by crowned heads or statesmen that could damage the reputation of the ruling house shall be punished with imprisonment.” The decree stirs tempers at the regulars’ table in Tigges’s wine tavern. The more heated the discussion becomes, the more the drinking increases. It is late at night before the friends finally go their separate ways. The last to leave is State Prosecutor von Treskow, accompanied by his dog. The two stroll leisurely across the market square, past the monument to the sovereign. The next day, State Prosecutor von Treskow wakes up with a terrible hangover and learns that the prince’s monument was defaced during the night. According to a newspaper report, an “unpatriotic fellow” had “adorned” the ruler’s likeness with a dog muzzle. The task of investigating and prosecuting the case is assigned to the small country’s most zealous prosecutor, Herbert von Treskow. He soon uncovers the following clues: a torn-off coat button, a dog hair and, of course, Exhibit No. 1—the muzzle. A jealous woman who often models for the artist Georg Rabanus accuses him to the police of having witnessed the crime. Rabanus is immediately summoned to the police station, where he gives a precise description of the culprit for the record. He is then brought face to face with the prosecutor handling the investigation. Suddenly, Trude von Treskow bursts into the proceedings—the prosecutor’s daughter, whom the artist has had his eye on for some time. This throws Rabanus into such confusion that he contradicts himself during questioning and is consequently arrested. A very large reward is offered for the apprehension of the culprit. The police determine that the culprit must be the last guest to leave Tigges’s wine tavern. So all they need to do is ask the landlady who that was. Every clue points to State Prosecutor von Treskow. But just in time, a stroke of luck comes to his rescue: when Wilhelm and Karl, two work-shy fellows, hear about the reward, Wilhelm turns in his friend and collects the money. The trial, however, does not go as planned: Karl suddenly cannot decide whether to confess or retract his confession. Then a brilliant idea occurs to him: in his drunken state, he had thought the monument was of Goethe, Schiller or some other great mind—so this can no longer be considered an insult to the sovereign! The result is a lenient sentence. In recognition of his services in solving the case so quickly, State Prosecutor von Treskow is awarded a decoration; his daughter Trude is allowed to marry the artist Rabanus, and the sovereign now has no reason to feel that his honor has been insulted.