Frau Wirtin hat auch einen Grafen (3 Stars)

This is the second film in the historical comedy series about Susanne Delburg, known as the innkeeper on the Lahn. I accidentally watched the third film out of order, but I'll be careful not to make any more mistakes. The film has the unusual title which means "The innkeeper also has a Count", but the name of the English release is even worse: "Sexy Susan sins again", giving the impression that it's an erotic film.

The fictional events in the film are wrapped around recorded historical events. I'm not an expert on the Napoleonic period, but from reading the relevant Wikipedia pages it seems like the film takes place in 1809.

Susanne Delburg and her theatre troupe are performing a Shakespeare play on a stage outside her inn. The performance is interrupted by French soldiers marching through the town. They want to rape the beautiful women they see on stage. That's something soldiers have been doing for thousands of years and will always do. It's said that the biggest series of mass rapes was carried out by the Russian army in Berlin in 1945. Rape isn't just about sexual gratification; it's an act of aggression to punish the enemy people.

But let's not get off the subject. The French soldiers are stopped by a nobleman in the audience. It's the Count of Lucca. That's his title, but he says he's lost his position. When Napoleon invaded Italy he couldn't prove that he was the rightful owner of the castle, so Napoleon gave the castle to his sister Elisa and named her the Countess of Lucca. She resents this, because she thinks Lucca is too small for her. The Count has travelled to Giessen to collect the papers that prove his ownership of the castle, and he wants Susanne to deliver the papers to the Countess.

I assume that this disputed ownership is historically correct, but a few things confuse me. Would Napoleon really pay attention to documents of ownership when he wants to give a castle to his sister? Wouldn't he just kill the old Count and take the castle? Also, why are the documents in Giessen? It's a different country, more than 8600 miles away.

The theatre troupe heads towards Lucca, pretending they want to perform in the city, but at the border the legal documents are found, so they're not allowed to enter Italy. To solve this problem, Susanne disguises herself as the Count's brother. Please... is anyone stupid enough to think this is a man? Susanne even convinces Elisa Bonaparte, who wants to get her into bed because of his reputation as a great lover. Embarrassing. Fortunately, Susanne is saved by a messenger telling her that Napoleon wants to see her in Giessen as soon as possible. So off Elisa goes, 8600 miles to the north. How long does a trip like that take in a horse-drawn carriage? Susanne reunites with her troupe at the border and follows her to Giessen, still carrying the documents proving the Count's ownership of the castle.

Susanne's inn is still a regular meeting place for the city's students. They've heard the news of Napoleon's visit and plan to assassinate him. Susanne isn't a supporter of Napoleon, but she tries to talk the students out of the assassination. She says that the French soldiers would slaughter everyone in Giessen as a reprisal. The students refuse to listen to her, but she's determined to stop them.

How can Susanne prevent the assassination? She uses the weapons of a woman. (That expression sounds better in German). Together with the women from her theatre troupe and waitresses from her inn, she waits for Napoleon to appear on the balcony of the palace in Giessen. They're all dressed in black robes.

As soon as Napoleon appears they drop their robes, revealing themselves to be naked underneath.

The horny young students are too confused to shoot Napoleon.

"Look, girls, even Napoleon's soldiers are standing up straight for us".

The assassination is averted, and Napoleon never even finds out it was planned. But there's another result of the nude appearance. Prior to the presentation, Elisa complained that her brother never smiled. He promised her that he would grant any request to a person who made him smile. Susanne's nude body succeeded in putting a smile on his face. Susanne says that her request was for the Count of Lucca to be given back his castle. Napoleon agrees, and to compensate his sister he makes her Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

So they all live happily ever after. Or at least, until the next film. In the third film it's said that Napoleon met Susanne Delburg three months ago, which puts everything into context.

It's amazing that this film is marketed as an erotic comedy. There's very little sexuality in the film. More is suggested than shown. The most nudity that's shown is in the photos above. The film was made in 1968, and the sexuality is very 1960's-ish. If you're as old as I am, you'll understand what I mean.