Credits.
distributor: Constantin Film

producer: Oliver Berben, Constanze Guttmann, Caroline von Senden, Irene Wellershoff

co-producer: Irene Wellershoff, Josef Reidinger, Tilo Seiffert, Christian Sommer, Roland Zelles

Director
Andreas Dresen

Writers
Alexander Adolph(screenplay)James Krüss(novel)

Stars
Arved FrieseJustus von DohnányiAxel Prahl

Synopsis
Thirteen-year-old Timm Thaler (aka: Tim Tyler) has an irresistible laugh and is thus very popular. The mysterious Baron (in the novel his last name Lefuet is a German ananym for devil, like "lived" is in English), a grumpy and very wealthy businessman always wearing a black carnation in his buttonhole, tries unsuccessfully to buy Timm's laugh. Timm's father is a flight instructor and dies during a flight for the Baron. It is indicated that this is caused by the Baron. Timm, after having lost his beloved father, is vulnerable to the Baron. To financially support his stepmother, Timm no longer resists the Baron and swaps his laugh for the ability to win any bet he makes, no matter how absurd it is. If one of them tells about this pact, he loses his rights from the contract. The Baron and his servant Anatol use this new gift for business success. Timm however grows increasingly unhappy. He decides to get his laugh back. He tries several tricks only to realize that it takes a bet to get his laugh back.