Frau Wirtin bläst auch gern Trompete (3½ Stars)

This is the fourth film in the historical comedy series about Susanne Delburg. She's still called the innkeeper on the Lahn, although she's now a long way away from Giessen and the River Lahn. She's stranded with her theatre troupe in western Hungary, almost broke. It's 1814, and Napoleon has been defeated. French soldiers are scattered across eastern Europe, making their way back to France, pillaging and plundering each town that they pass. Susanne takes refuge in the town of Tursa.

So far the film series has been based on historical events, so I assume that there really is a town called Tursa, but I haven't been able to locate it. Has it changed its name since then?

Susanne uses her last 80 talers to buy an inn in Tursa, but it doesn't make her life any easier. Tursa is ruled by a man called Baron Bierhäusel, who's excessively taxing everything that he considers un-Christian. Alcohol, tobacco and any form of entertainment is taxed heavily. He's punishing extramarital sex with imprisonment and whipping. The baron's nobility is in question. In the chaos left after Napoleon's defeat it's suspected that he's only pretending to be a baron. To solve the problem he's arranged to marry Countess Leontina, the daughter of the Archduke of Austria. His marital status will guarantee him recognition as a true nobleman.

The film's title means "The innkeeper likes to blow a trumpet". It's a rather silly title, a double entendre suggesting something sexual. In actual fact, she only blows her trumpet twice during the film. It's a warning when tax collectors enter the inn. She avoids paying tax by pretending her inn is a place for good Christians to gather. In the front room the ladies sit singing hymns. In the back room the men are drinking alcohol and playing cards. She also allows young lovers to use her inn for romantic activities. As soon as she blows her trumpet everyone hides their drinks, and the lovers have to stop whatever they're doing... if they can get dressed fast enough.

But if you think the original German title is silly, the official English title is even worse. In America it was released as "Sexy Susan knows how". All I can say is that anyone expecting a sex film will be disappointed, because there are only brief glimpses of nudity.

A handsome young man arrives in the town. At first he refuses to say who he is, but we soon find out that he's Baron von Trenck, the rightful ruler of Tursa. He was away fighting in the war. He's remaining in hiding until he can find a way to overthrow Baron Bierhäusel.

Susanne also wants Baron Bierhäusel to be removed from power. She rides to intercept Countess Leontina. Leontina was already unwilling to marry the Baron, a man she'd never met, and when Susanne tells him what a bad man he is, she's convinced not to go through with it. They swap clothes. Susanne pretends to be the Countess, and Leontina pretends to be her maid. The plan is that the Baron should marry the wrong woman, invalidating his claim to be a true nobleman and the ruler of Thursa, but something else happens. Baron von Trenck also wants to stop the marriage, so he kidnaps Susanne, thinking that she's the Countess.

In hilarious multiple cases of mixed identity, Baron Bierhäusel ends up marrying yet another woman, a serving girl from Susanne's inn. When the Archduke arrives he immediately recognises Baron von Trenck, reinstates him as the ruler of Trenck, and he strips Bierhäusel of his nobility title.

This is an amusing little film, telling the tale of how a lowly innkeeper guided Europe's history in the early 19th Century.