Die Hose (1927)

In a small German town during the imperial era, the petit-bourgeois, staid married couple, the Maskes, lead an inconspicuous, thoroughly bourgeois life without highs or lows. Then, of all people, the still-young Luise Maske suffers a great mishap. At the very moment when the Prince drives through the central marketplace on a Sunday and accepts the homage of his subjects, Luise loses her trousers in front of the sovereign’s eyes. While the woman in question is deeply embarrassed by the misfortune, the newly exposed sight of the pretty young woman’s legs immediately arouses the desires of two other gentlemen: the hairdresser Mandelstam and an elegant man of the world named Scarron. While Theobald Maske remains trapped in his role as a supposedly respectable average philistine who upholds moral values, the other men now have far less honorable intentions. Each considers how he might win the attractive Luise for himself and take her away from her pompous, tedious husband—at least for a brief, intimate tête-à-tête. While Theobald, in his double standards, tries to satisfy his secret desires with the neighbor across the street, his rivals try to outdo one another, but fail miserably—because of their own shortcomings. In the meantime, even the Prince has taken an interest in Luise. He has her brought to his castle and gets her drunk there, hoping to improve his chances with her. But Luise, a thoroughly dutiful wife, is unaccustomed to alcohol and falls blissfully asleep on the Prince’s couch.