Zwei Bayern im Urwald (1957)

The African emigrant and young master brewer Toni Gschwendner and his soon-to-be fiancée, Ria Huber, have a problem: The beer Toni brews on location in Zibasso, “Alligator-Bräu,” simply doesn’t taste right. Ria suggests inviting Jonathan Ratzensteller, Toni’s former master brewer, from Upper Bavaria to find out what is wrong with the beer. The whole thing is to be financed by Ria’s wealthy father, Xaver Huber, the brewery owner, who, ever since he was bitten by a “laughing snake” in Africa, can’t stop laughing, even in the most inappropriate situations. Toni and Ria have no idea that the devious, oily Mr. Jawassis—who is also constantly pursuing Ria—has a hired local regularly pour a white powder into the brewing vat, making the Alligator beer undrinkable. Back home in Bavaria, Jonathan Ratzensteller and his best friend, Michl Moosrainer, quarrel so often with their wives that an invitation to Africa comes at just the right time for them. The two true-blue Bavarians secretly slip away from a folk festival and set off on the sea voyage to Africa. On board, they meet the capable Prussian Lilo Knopke, a supposed slave trader, who makes the two seasick men swallow two pills. However, the pills make Jonathan and Michl turn blue in the face. Meanwhile, Jawassis takes steps on the ground to prevent Ratzensteller from reaching the brewery—and then tracing the trouble back to him. As soon as they disembark, the two Bavarians, surrounded by short-statured locals and dressed in their traditional lederhosen outfits, look like absolute oddities. Jawassis has already arrived at the harbor, too, and is making his sinister preparations. Meanwhile, Moosrainer proves to be a true sales genius, palming off on the Black locals products that nobody here actually needs. With a hearty “Grüß Gott, Mr. Negro,” Jonathan greets the local who is evidently supposed to take him to Alligator-Bräu. The two simple-minded Bavarians have no idea that Monsieur Jawassis is behind it all and has them promptly kidnapped. In the middle of nowhere in Africa, the Black driver pretends the car has broken down, preventing them from going any farther. Jawassis appears out of nowhere and supposedly offers “help.” He says he can provide a donkey caravan to take them to the brewery. Four Black Africans have to carry the portly Ratzensteller in a palanquin. The two simpletons, who keep talking about Bavarian food, don’t notice at all that they are being carried back and forth across the savannah. After a snack, the Bavarians fall into a deep sleep and fail to notice that, in the meantime, their carriers have taken off with the little donkey. Now the Bavarians are completely alone in the jungle and have to fend for themselves. By now, Ria and her Toni have set out to search for the two missing men. Meanwhile, the men wander through the wilderness and encounter crocodiles and lions, a venomous snake, a cheetah, and an ostrich. After a while, the two wanderers come upon a kraal and its inhabitants. But trouble awaits them here, too, as they are tied to a stake. Jonathan and Michl fear they will end up in a cannibals’ cooking pot, but they have merely become part of a tourist show devised by Lilo Knopke, their Berlin acquaintance from the ship. They receive help from a native woman who speaks Bavarian and sends a telegram to the Alligator brewery by bush drum. Eventually, Toni, driving toward them in a jeep, picks the two men up on the road. At the brewery, Michl discovers insect powder and suspects it was mixed into the beer. The trail leads to the slippery Jawassis, whom they catch in disguise at the airport as they are leaving. Toni gives Jawassis a thorough beating, and the homesick Bavarians return to their beloved homeland and to their wives, who have been eagerly awaiting them.