The inconspicuous greengrocer's daughter Maria had to watch as the adored Italian Pietro broke her best friend's heart. Dressed up as a vamp, the vengeful Maria now sets a cunning trap for the attractive Papagallo. Maria is the daughter of a small German fruit and vegetable dealer, Pietro is the son of a large Italian fruit and vegetable dealer. Both live in Munich and both meet every morning at six o'clock in the Grossmarkthalle. Maria looks inconspicuous, while Pietro looks extremely attractive. Maria is hardly interested in men, whereas Pietro is interested in all girls. Maria doesn't care until Pietro first seduces Maria's best friend and then leaves her unhappy. Now Maria starts a campaign of revenge against the light-footed Casanova, in the name of her best friend and in the name of all the girls who have been seduced by Pietro. Maria lures Pietro, who is now madly in love with her, to his native Italy, where Pietro, blinded by love and jealousy, proposes to Maria.
Jimmy Bondi and his miracle yellow VW Beetle Dudu are asked by their boyfriend Aldo to support him at a car show in Liverpool. After the show it turns out that the organizer Ivan Leskovich made off with the proceeds. Dudu and his friends give chase. Leskovich's trail leads via London to Switzerland, but thanks to Jimmy's lack of navigational skills, the friends first end up in Portugal...
Jimmy Bondi and his miracle beetle Dudu are on their way to Portugal by sea. In the Algarve, they are witness to a dispute in which ex-inmate Plato and the attractive Tamara have to do with Marchese de la Sotta and his henchmen.
This spectacular opera film was taped in 1967 and is based on the 1966 Salzburg Festival production directed by Herbert von Karajan himself, who also conducts the fabulous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The production features the three greatest exponents of their respective roles at the time: Grace Bumbry’s magnificently seductive-toned Carmen, Mirella Freni’s ineffably lovely, touching Micaëla and Jon Vickers’s thrillingly manic-depressive Don José. On its release the film was hailed by Die Presse, (Vienna) as a “unique artistic event”, while Le Monde felt that Karajan’s production brought “a whole new dimension” to the opera, “combined with a magisterial interpretation”. A classical and utterly dramatic approach to probably the world's most beloved opera – Karajan’s Carmen is as much a delicacy for opera fans as it is a perfect starter for newcomers.
