Robert und Bertram (1928)

Robert, from Munich, is a classic perpetual student. Together with his painter friend Bertram, also a confirmed bachelor, he lives hand to mouth as a carefree bohemian. Their fortunes seem set to improve when one day they meet Miss Evelyne Parker from the United States, who at first glance appears to be the very picture of a fabulously wealthy “dollar princess”—so wealthy that she even has a greenhorn of her own as a private secretary. Like Robert and Bertram, the young, capricious woman is eager for adventure, and she follows the two men by car on their rambling journey, which is supposed to take them to the Black Forest. Along the way, they have numerous adventures with eccentric villagers and briefly end up in jail because two genuine vagabonds have taken their money and passports, leaving them unable to pay the bill for the food they ate at an inn. During their escape from jail, the two wandering idlers are separated. The somewhat rough but kind-hearted Bertram runs into Miss Evelyne, who falls in love with him, while Robert drifts down a river and spots a girl sitting on the bank. Like him, she is on the run. Her name is Melontha, and she works as a circus rider in a small traveling circus, where its sadistic director torments her. The two head for the nearest town to rescue the young woman. Meanwhile, at Bertram’s instigation, the wealthy American has offered a substantial reward for finding Robert, who has gone missing. The reward is claimed by none other than a scruffy local official named Knurrhahn, after everyone has been reunited. Robert and Bertram return to Munich together with Melontha and Evelyne, where the four individualists become two happy couples.