Ball im Savoy (1935)

At the “Grand Hotel,” singer Anita Helling stands on the balcony, from which the Chain Bridge in Budapest can be seen, and sings the song “Toujours l’amour.” As she does, a fur cape falls to the ground, and two gentlemen argue over it on the terrace. Baron André von Wollheim manages to get hold of the cape. Anita has meanwhile sent her secretary, Birowitsch, downstairs to look for it. When Baron von Wollheim tries to hand Anita the cape, she mistakes him for a waiter. He then swaps his tailcoat for that of Jean, the floor waiter, and serves the meal, but proves rather clumsy at it. Finally, he reveals that he is Baron von Wollheim. When Anita Helling embraces him, her valuable pendant comes loose. When André’s cousin Mary von Wollheim arrives at the hotel, she meets Jean and mistakes him for her cousin André because of his tailcoat. Since Mary is a composer, she wants to meet the publisher Haller. Together with Jean, she sings at the piano a song she has just improvised, then performs a tap dance. The evening show at the Savoy opens with a grand dance number and Anita’s appearance as the celebrated guest star. When the show is interrupted for a break, Mary goes looking for Haller and finds him. André lures Anita into the park at night, on the pretext that her lost pendant is hidden under a bench there. They do not search very diligently, but the two grow closer. Meanwhile, Haller is enthusiastic about Mary’s composition and manages to have it performed that very evening. He thinks they will be able to rehearse it at short notice, but Mary will have to conduct. An incident occurs when the heavyset Haller accidentally steps on Mary’s dress and tears it. Mary promptly conducts in a tailcoat instead, sings, and performs a tap dance, winning the audience’s acclaim. Floor waiter Jean becomes increasingly comfortable in his role as a baron, until the two women no longer have any idea which of the two men is which. André then confronts Jean, and they exchange blows, but eventually make up. Each returns to his proper role. Anita scores another great success with a performance. Since she still does not know what is really going on, she remains reserved. Jean reappears as a waiter and tells her that André is sitting angrily downstairs on the terrace. Anita lets her chinchilla cape fall over the balcony railing again, and André brings it back to her, so nothing stands in the way of a happy ending.