Italienreise - Liebe inbegriffen (1958)

A tour group travels by bus from Berlin to Italy. Among those on board, besides the tour guide and art historian Robert Florian, are the mannequin Ilse Knopf, the long-married couple Kätchen and Karl, plumber Mr. Kümmel, accountant Primus, and unmarried Marianne Herzberg. Shortly after the bus sets off, Ilse’s fiancé, veterinarian Hans Fichte, follows it by car—he had missed Ilse at the bus parking lot. He tosses her a package of travel provisions, but is then stopped by the police for various traffic violations. In Munich, Ilse’s younger brother Herbert boards the bus; Hans has hired him to keep an eye on his fiancée. Ilse is displeased, especially since she has already taken a fancy to the tour guide, Robert. The group’s first stop is Venice, where Kümmel treats everyone to a romantic gondola ride. Robert and Ilse kiss beneath the Bridge of Sighs. The trip continues to Florence and Rome, where Hans, who has caught up with them, is always by Ilse’s side. He reacts with varying degrees of jealousy, though most often he is looking for a room for the night. Robert continues to make advances to Ilse, which she sometimes rejects and sometimes accepts. She is torn between two men, particularly since Hans proposed to her in Berlin in an unromantic way, and she turned him down. Marianne Herzberg cannot understand Ilse’s indecision; she would marry the first man who proposed to her. The journey continues to Naples. Hans and Herbert are traveling together by car when, on the way, they meet the American Helen Parker, whose car has run out of gas. They help her out with the gasoline in their canister and, in return, receive an invitation to her villa in Sorrento. Hans and Herbert skip the stop in Naples and go straight on to Sorrento. Meanwhile, in Naples, Ilse worries about Hans, whom she had long expected to be with her. In Sorrento, Herbert catches up with the tour group and tells Ilse that Hans is no longer interested in her, since he even gave a bracelet to the American woman they had met. Robert thinks his chance has come and flirts intensely with Ilse. Earlier, he had visited Hans and told him that Ilse had chosen him. Hans plans to leave the next day, while the tourists are going on to the island of Capri. When Robert tries to escort the hesitant Ilse to the boat and tells her about his meeting with Hans the day before, she makes up her mind. She leaves the tour group and goes back to Hans. Together, they set off on the return journey and enjoy Italy’s beauty at their leisure.