Die Dame, der Teufel und die Probiermamsell (1919)

The story is set in the circles of the upper middle class. A lady of the house, whose identity is not specified, has an admirer from whom she wants an ermine coat. So she goes to a fashion show at the Herpich fur salon to choose the finest coat among those on display. Her fiercest rival turns out to be an equally unnamed fitting model: she, too, has an admirer, named Fritz, and has her eye on an ermine coat. It happens to be the very coat she has just modeled to such advantage in her role as a fitting model, so Madame has her own admirer, a baron, give it to her. The young demonstrator is quite crushed and sinks onto her sofa at home in disappointment. Then she falls into a deep sleep. In her dream, the very man who snatched “her” coat from before her eyes for the woman he adores appears as the Devil himself, with a clubfoot, a tail, and little horns on his head. The Prince of Hell naturally knows the fitting model’s greatest wish. He promises her the world and then carries her off to his gloomy underground realm. The diabolical seducer promises that she need only meet three of his challenges, and she will receive the coat she longs for. The young woman completes the tasks brilliantly, but still does not get the coat, because Satan devilishly breaks his promise. The shop girl boils with rage, escapes from the bubbling witches’ cauldron of the underworld, leaps across the grounds … and wakes from her nightmare on the sofa when a loud knock sounds. The fitting model opens the door, and there stands the fur buyer—the man who had just made her life hell as the Devil. He says he has guessed her wildest wishes and invites the girl to his apartment at five o’clock. There, she can collect the coat she longs for. The demonstrator does not let this opportunity pass her by, but is confronted with another bizarre offer. This time she is offered an exchange of lives with Madame, ermine coat and all, for a week. Why is the gracious lady willing to do this? The fitting model is told that Madame simply wants to enjoy, for eight days, the freedom of an ordinary woman from the people. And so the mannequin hopes at last to get the chance to wear the coat in private. As the new lady of the house, all her wishes are granted—except that she will never own the ermine coat. A number of turbulent events and mix-ups ensue during the week. Both couples even go out together to the Trocadero. There is a quarrel, and for a while they even swap partners. But soon they make up. At last, the fitting model realizes how happy she is with her Fritz. The two couples then celebrate their engagements together.