Heubodengeflüster (1967)

There is great commotion at the Himmelhof farm, where farmer Florian Maderer lives with his wife Genoveva and their daughter Hannerl. The brawny Bavarian never backs away from a fight. But this time, the authorities think he has gone too far: he must swap his comfortable bed for a hard prison bunk for eight weeks, after also deliberately ignoring various summonses. Then Genoveva comes up with a saving idea. Someone else could go to prison in his place and serve the sentence—someone who desperately needs money and is easy to manipulate! Florian’s cousin Blasius is the ideal fool for the job. They ply him with alcohol and promise him 1,000 marks if he pretends to be Florian Maderer for just over a week and serves the time in his place. The next day, Blasius begins his sentence. But the crafty scheme does not prove as harmlessly simple as everyone had expected. First, prison guard Gruber turns up and gives Blasius a thorough dressing-down; then, parliamentary representative Dr. Leo Dorn also arrives at the prison. The Federal President has tasked him with granting an amnesty to one of the inmates that very day. When Dorn learns that Maderer is the one in prison—and that he is currently running for mayor—the wrong Maderer is the one who benefits from early release. Dorn has spared himself the trouble of inspecting the candidate he is helping beforehand. He is not granting this favor out of pure compassion, however; following the principle that one good turn deserves another, he hopes to get something out of it himself. He wants to buy a plot of land from Maderer and hopes he will now lower the price. A little later, the real Florian Maderer, unaware of what has been going on in prison, picks up his attractive daughter Hannerl from the railway station and forbids her from having any contact with her childhood friend, whom she is in love with. After his “humanitarian deed” toward the false Maderer in prison, Dr. Dorn supposedly plans to go on a business trip. But his wife Trude does not trust her husband and hires a private detective, Hugo Zehe, to follow and spy on her possibly philandering spouse. Trude’s suspicions are not unfounded, since Dorn is traveling with his attractive blonde secretary, Dodo. Eventually, all the people involved converge at Florian Maderer’s farm. Hannerl’s friend, whom her father disapproves of, and the false Maderer, cousin Blasius, who still has a score to settle with Florian, also arrive. Soon, enormous chaos breaks out, and the chain of misunderstandings seems to have no end.