Orientexpress (1927)

Peter Karg is the stationmaster of a railway station on the route taken by the famous Orient Express. The somewhat stout, slightly awkward railwayman has always dreamed of the great wide world, which the Orient Express symbolizes for him. But the train never stops, and his dreams vanish as quickly as the train rushes past his little station. One day, against all expectations, the Express actually does stop, and a lady from that “great wide world” is put to bed in his quarters, apparently requiring several days of strict bed rest. The grand lady is the elegant Beate von Morton, whom he cares for as best he can. After a few days she is feeling better, leaves the small, inhospitable station residence, and returns to her own glamorous world. Karg then feels utterly alone, especially since he has promptly fallen in love with the aristocratic woman, and he begins to drink. He no longer performs his duties by the book and lets himself go. Driven by overwhelming longing, he leaves everything behind and follows the woman he cannot get out of his mind to the big city. When he arrives at Beate von Morton’s house, her wedding is being celebrated there. He is allowed in, but in his clumsy, ponderous manner he seems like a lumbering bear who does not belong in this upper-middle-class glittering world. Profoundly disillusioned, Karg realizes that this is not his place and decides to return at once to his own little world, the idyllic village.