Tante Wanda aus Uganda (1957)

Karl von Zeller, an unsuccessful inventor, lives apart from his wife Rosa with their daughter Lilli. Lilli is in love with Jonas Edelmuth, a young shop assistant, but Karl flatly rejects him, believing Lilli deserves a better match. One day, Karl receives a telegram from his sister Wanda, who married a very wealthy man in Uganda, announcing that she is coming to visit. Karl is desperate: for years, he has been pretending to Wanda that he and Rosa have not only Lilli but another daughter as well as twins, Max and Moritz. He told her that they all live together in a villa because Karl is the director of a thriving factory. Wanda has regularly sent money for the children for years, and lately it has been the only thing keeping Karl from going completely bankrupt. Now he is in a tight spot, especially since he has no money. As Wanda is supposed to leave her three million dollars to the family eventually, Karl quickly joins forces with Rosa, who owns a restaurant. Using Rosa’s money, they rent a lavish villa with staff. Out of necessity, Karl agrees to let Jonas pretend to be his son Max. Rosa, who had actually wanted to divorce Karl, plays the happy wife. The family meets Wanda at the airport. She has brought all her servants with her, and they all settle into the rented villa. The absent family members are quickly accounted for: the second daughter supposedly ran off with a whaler, while Moritz, the family’s black sheep, turned to crime and now works as a professional wrestler. The family supposedly disowned him. Wanda is satisfied with the explanations and generously hands out the gifts she brought. Jonas receives a watch that plays a special tune at the push of a button. The first night in the villa is uncomfortable, since Wanda’s servants have taken over all the bedrooms, forcing the von Zellers to sleep on the couch or even out on the terrace. The next morning, Wanda decides to reconcile the family with Moritz. Jonas has to step in, and at Rosa’s restaurant, in front of guests who are in on the act, he puts on a show of being a tough guy. He behaves disrespectfully toward Wanda, dances wildly with her, and eventually accidentally sets off the tune on the watch she gave him. Wanda pretends she didn’t hear anything. She hires a private detective, who soon lays out the family’s true circumstances for her. Wanda wants to get even with the von Zellers. She insists on seeing Moritz in a wrestling match. Through Rosa’s connections, they find a wrestler who trains Jonas and agrees to lose to him after a short time in a staged match. Shortly before the match, however, the wrestler is arrested, so a real wrestler takes his place, unaware of the arrangement. Jonas manages to prolong the match, but Wanda begins offering extra prize money to the winner. Karl secretly matches her offers and drives the prize higher, so Jonas and his opponent take turns gaining the upper hand. In the end, though, Wanda raises the prize to an amount Karl can no longer afford. She only stops when Karl admits to the deception. The match, however, ends in chaos and a mass brawl. The von Zellers have retreated to Karl’s apartment. They are sure they have fallen out with Wanda, but at least Rosa now plans to return to the family. She also insists that Jonas be allowed to marry Lilli. Aunt Wanda arrives and tells the family that she will only reconcile with them if Jonas is allowed to marry Lilli, since he was the only one who lied purely for love and not for financial gain. She also liked the rented villa so much that she bought it. And so everyone gets a happy ending.