Robert und Bertram (1915)

This is the well-known, lighthearted story of two good-natured vagabonds, Robert and Bertram, who escape from a prison tower and then roam the countryside. During their stay in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, their amusing schemes and pranks entertain the townspeople and keep the local authorities busy. But the pair do more than tease those around them: the raffish duo are also skilled at begging and can wheedle the occasional meal out of people. Robert and Bertram work perfectly in tandem—for example, when Robert pretends to have a severe toothache and Bertram plays the miracle healer, relieving the sufferer’s pain with his special “healing pills,” which are nothing more than little balls of rolled-up bread. In the final act, Ernst Lubitsch makes an amusing appearance as the shrewd clerk Edelstein, who exposes the two vagabonds and carefree adventurers as crooks after they have made themselves at home in the house of a commercial councillor as his guests, in order to impress his sweetheart.