Die lustige Witwe (1962)

Danilo, the nephew of champagne king André Napoleon Renard, is supposed to take care of the company’s Paris branch. But Danilo would rather spend his time—and his uncle’s money—on the dancer Valencienne and her cabaret, the Maxim. Camillo, Valencienne’s extremely jealous husband, is not at all pleased by the young playboy’s interest in his wife. To steer the playboy toward a more respectable way of life, his respectable uncle devises a clever plan. He feigns a marriage to his secretary, Hanna, and shortly afterward stages his own death during their honeymoon in the South Seas. His “widow” and sole heir then travels to Paris and cuts off the free-spending Danilo’s money. Suddenly left penniless, Danilo has to look for a job for the first time in his life. But whenever he finds one, Hanna makes sure he loses it again soon. Despite all the difficulties, Danilo’s good side begins to emerge, and little by little he starts falling in love with Hanna, even though she is now senselessly squandering his uncle’s money. Hanna, in turn, falls in love with Danilo. When Danilo happens to discover that his uncle is not dead at all and never married Hanna either, he sets a trap for them both. In Paris, he has fake police officers arrest his reappeared uncle and Hanna as impostors. But shortly after the “arrest,” Danilo clears everything up and announces his forthcoming marriage to Hanna.