Wenn am Sonntagabend die Dorfmusik spielt (1953)

When the successful trumpeter Jonny is nearly stripped of all his concert earnings by the tax collector Weber, he has had enough: he grabs his trumpet and sets off for the Black Forest. On the way, he meets the musical vagabonds Tünnes and Nachtigall. He first gives them a lift, and after the police confiscate his car too, he walks with them to the village of Todtmoos. There he checks into an inn and promptly falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter, Rosl. Kati, the daughter of a stud farm owner, is also being courted—by two men. The lumberjack Martin is down-to-earth, but has no home and earns barely any money from his work. His rival is Bruckner, the owner of a sawmill, who has already proposed to Kati several times without success. Kati’s father, the estate owner Ertl, is in financial trouble because of his brother Franz, who has lost thousands of marks gambling. Ertl’s only hope is for his horse to win the Grand Prix of Baden in a week, which comes with prize money of 50,000 DM. If his horse loses, the stud farm will be in danger, since Ertl’s bank refuses to grant any further loans. Facing the threat of losing the stud farm, Kati agrees to marry Bruckner. Soon, however, she meets Martin again, the man she truly loves, and in doing so humiliates Bruckner, who turns away from her. At the Grand Prix of Baden, Ertl’s horse, which had originally been considered only an outsider, wins unexpectedly. This saves Ertl’s stud farm, but he soon learns that his brother Franz had doped the horse so that the prize money could save the stud farm and Franz could pay off his gambling debts with a sure bet on the race’s winner. Ertl keeps the tampering secret, but can hardly live with his conscience. He nevertheless agrees to Kati and Martin’s marriage. On the day of the bell-consecration festival for the church in Todtmoos, everything comes to light. Bruckner visits Ertl and tells him about the allegations of race-fixing; there will also be an official inquiry into the case. Ertl assures him that he will return the prize money, but shortly afterward leaves the house with his revolver. Kati and Martin learn of his state of mind and go looking for him. From Franz, Martin learns that it was Franz, not Ertl, who rigged the race by doping the horse. Kati finds her father in the stable with the horses and manages to stop him from killing himself. Bruckner also learns that it was Franz, not Ertl, who doped the horse. Ertl’s honor is thus restored, and Bruckner offers to help him with his financial problems. Meanwhile, Jonny’s concert agent Kubbitzky and his girlfriend Edith have arrived at the village festival to sign Jonny up for a new tour. There is a brief misunderstanding because Rosl thinks Edith is Jonny’s girlfriend. The confusion is quickly cleared up, however, and Jonny signs on for a new tour—with Rosl accompanying him as his future wife.