Ja, ja, die Liebe in Tirol (1955)

Peter Lenz is a musician, but he loses all his jobs as a bar pianist because he is always flirting with the female customers. When he has to give up his last engagement too, he turns to his best friend, Hans Bondy, who hires him as a salesman for his slimming pills. Hans has no luck with women, and the young Bibi only wanted to go to Tyrol with him because he owns a red convertible. On the spur of the moment, Hans drives to Tyrol with Peter, who is supposed to sell more slimming pills there. In the mountains, they meet the young Gretel, who is carrying a heavy suitcase and is delighted when the two men offer to drive her and her suitcase home. She lives at the Almrausch mountain hotel, and Peter quickly sees through her: the suitcase contains nothing but bricks, and her job is to use this trick to attract customers, since her father, Ignaz Musbauer, is having money troubles. Business at the Almrausch is rather slow, and most of the young men come to the hotel only to flock around Gretel. But she cannot marry, because her late mother stipulated in her will that Gretel’s sister Liesel must marry first. If Gretel marries, she forfeits her claim to her inheritance, which amounts to 30,000 schillings. Liesel, meanwhile, is a nasty, loud, unattractive woman. Peter and Hans both fall in love with Gretel, who likes Peter. Gretel turns down Hans’s hasty proposal, citing the will. Hans therefore comes up with a plan: he will marry Liesel, then treat her badly to bring about a quick divorce. Afterward, he will ask Gretel to marry him. Meanwhile, Peter is to keep Gretel company and fend off any rivals for Hans. Peter readily agrees, and they put the plan into action. Liesel is delighted that a man apparently loves her, and marries Hans after just a week. His subsequent bad treatment of her—his complaints about her laziness and refusal to share a bed with her—greatly softens her own nastiness. The worse he treats her, the more she loves him. Nevertheless, one day he leaves without warning to consult a divorce lawyer. Liesel is devastated, and Peter, feeling guilty, has a female friend give her a makeover. With a new hairstyle and dress, Liesel becomes an attractive woman, and when Hans returns, he spontaneously falls in love with his wife. The divorce lawyer is sent away, and at Hans’s request, Peter is now supposed to comfort Gretel, since Hans can no longer marry her. Peter has already proposed to Gretel, and she has accepted, so this task is quickly resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Ignaz Musbauer’s money troubles are also eventually settled: Peter organizes a talent contest at the Almrausch, showcasing the region’s up-and-coming performers and broadcasting the event on television. The crowds turn out in force, and Ignaz Musbauer, much to the director’s dismay, extensively advertises his hotel on camera—his debts are now a thing of the past.