Drei schräge Vögel (1960)

The Devil himself has decided to pay Earth a visit at very short notice, and unexpectedly emerges from the depths through a manhole cover in the middle of Switzerland. There, the ill-tempered Lord of Hell discovers that three carefree rogues on the road—Barbarossa, Dürst, and Clown—live each day with such cheerful abandon, taking no notice of what is going on all around them, that his mood sours even further. To draw out the mean, greedy, villainous side of their characters, the Devil plans to lay a trap for them and expose them to temptation. He does so in the form of a wallet stuffed with banknotes, which the three idlers are bound to stumble across. And sure enough, it suddenly awakens desires they had never even known they possessed. First, Clown, Dürst, and Barbarossa can’t get enough and decide to increase their money by visiting the casinos in Konstanz and Campione. There, they really do win a small fortune, which they immediately put toward a delicious meal under the Ticino sun. But then, much to Satan’s delight, dark urges to cheat and swindle one another are stirred up. Barbarossa, Dürst, and Clown try to rip each other off and give themselves over entirely to their own desires. While Barbarossa tries, unsuccessfully, to pick up women in his stylish Cadillac, Dürst, also with little success, tries his hand at property speculation and comes a cropper when he buys a villa. Clown, meanwhile, whose name is no accident given that he was once a performer, wants to fulfill a long-cherished dream and finally own his own circus. But his talent is gone; no one laughs at his jokes anymore, and laughter can no more be bought than happiness. The three failed good-for-nothings realize they cannot manage in the new world they have chosen for themselves, and decide to return to their old world, where they were poor but much happier. They give the money left over from their casino winnings to Elke and Jürgen, a young couple who had fallen out and just broken up, and who get back together thanks to the three men’s good deed. The Devil had been enjoying a good laugh thanks to his diabolical schemes, but this final turn of events leaves him furious. Still, the generally deplorable state of the Earth soon cheers the infernal grouch up again.