Happy-End am Attersee (1964)

For several years now, the “Happiness in the Sun” program has been bringing West Berlin children to Austria in the summer as “holiday children,” where they can spend several weeks on vacation with a family. On the flight from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main, and from there on the bus to Salzburg, the children Willy and Bienchen become friends. They are sad when they have to part in Salzburg, since each is going to a different family: Willy has been assigned Stefanie Wendt, a director, as his “holiday mother.” She is wealthy and successful in her career, but cannot keep a man. Willy soon gets bored and is also critical of her Swiss fiancé, Dr. Otto Künzli. Bienchen was supposed to stay with the elderly but motherly Agathe Petermann, who has, however, died. She bequeathed her estate, Villa Waldfrieden in St. Velden am Moos, in equal shares to her brother Severin and her two nephews, Johannes and Walther—provided they all live there together for a year. All three are horrified, as their outlooks on life are completely different. Severin is a retired, pessimistic, misanthropic police investigator and court councillor; Johannes is an introverted geologist; and Walther is an arrogant, pompous conductor. They cannot stand one another. Nevertheless, because of the inheritance, they move in together, and suddenly Bienchen appears at the door. Johannes welcomes her into the group, while Walther and Severin reject the girl, though, like Johannes, they quickly grow fond of her because of her carefree nature. Before they parted, Bienchen and Willy had promised to write to each other. When Willy’s letter is returned to him because the recipient is supposedly dead, he becomes so worried that he sets off on foot for distant St. Velden am Moos. An argument with Stefanie and Dr. Künzli contributes to his decision. On the way, he meets Jerry Fink, a bad master of ceremonies who can nevertheless sing well. Tired of life on the road, Jerry agrees to smuggle a stolen religious statue to Graz. Since Jerry gives Willy a ride in his car in the direction of St. Velden am Moos, and Willy realizes that Jerry is actually a good person, Willy takes the statue and secretly places it in a chapel. After a search for the missing Willy, both of them are taken to the police station. Meanwhile, Bienchen has become ill from waiting in vain for news from Willy. Stefanie, who had actually wanted to present Willy to a journalist as her holiday child, notices that he is missing and sets out to find him, which takes her to St. Velden am Moos. There she also meets Johannes, with whom she was once a couple, but whom she left in favor of her career. Their concern for Willy brings them closer again, and they end up newly engaged. Jerry and Willy are eventually released because Severin puts his investigative and questioning skills to use at the police station and gets Willy to reveal the truth about the smuggling, which he never really intended to do. By the end, Walther has also become a better person and announces that from then on the villa will take in ten holiday children every year.