Heimatlos (1958)

The Tyrolean farm girl Barbara Kirchner accepts the marriage proposal of Franz Leitner, the owner of a sawmill. He jealously keeps watch over his beautiful girlfriend and is far from pleased when she flirts with Konrad Fürst, a man from Munich who arrives in the village in an expensive car. Barbara decides to spend a few weeks with her friend in Munich. On the bus, she runs into Konrad again, and he flirts with her as he accompanies her to her friend’s house. It turns out that her friend is away, so Barbara actually intends to return to her village straightaway. However, at Konrad’s request, she takes a room at a guesthouse for one night. They go out together that evening. Franz calls Barbara and learns that she is not staying with her friend. He travels to Munich and finds Barbara at the guesthouse. When Konrad shows up at Barbara’s shortly afterward, Franz suspects that the two are having an affair and breaks off his engagement to her. When Barbara hurriedly returns to the village, Franz has already told her father about her “immoral behavior,” and her father is furious. Feeling misunderstood, Barbara returns to Munich with Konrad, disappointed. They move in together and plan to marry after just two months. What Barbara does not know is that Konrad makes his money smuggling stolen cars across the border into Italy. Franz happens to see Konrad changing the license plate on a car shortly before it reaches the border, and goes to Munich to warn Barbara. When Franz and Konrad get into a fight, the police are called. During a passport check, Konrad is identified as a wanted criminal, and he is shot dead while fleeing afterward. Barbara is left behind in Munich. She goes into debt and starts working as a barmaid in a nightclub. Her only confidant is Freddy, the bar’s singer. Things become more complicated when Barbara realizes she is pregnant by Konrad. The village priest, the only person in her hometown who suspects that many people have wronged Barbara, visits her in Munich and promises not to tell anyone in the village about her pregnancy. Years later, Barbara lives in Munich with her young daughter, Hannerl. She has built a new life as a dressmaker and has found a good friend in Freddy. He has landed his first recording contract and, overcome with emotion, proposes to Barbara. However, shortly beforehand, after a long time apart, she has seen Franz again in Munich and realized that she still has feelings for him. Franz, too, has learned from his past mistakes and become a better person. Barbara turns down Freddy’s proposal and starts seeing Franz again, but does not tell him that she has a daughter. For that reason, she cannot enter into a relationship with him. However, the village priest accidentally lets slip to Franz that Barbara has a child. Franz accepts Hannerl as his daughter, and he and Barbara finally become a couple.