Die Stimme aus dem Äther (1939)

At her parents’ home in Potsdam, Brigitte von Gersdorf meets with her father’s firm opposition when she tells him she wants to become an actress. She then leaves her parents and goes to Berlin to take the acting examination, which she fails. Deeply disappointed and at a loss, she later happens upon Seidelbast, a radio reporter for Deutschlandsender, at an Aschinger branch. He is in the middle of a live report and notices her voice. After this encounter, Brigitte moves with her friend Erika into a modest Berlin boarding house, right next door to Hannes Bolshausen, an engineer working on the Reichsautobahn construction project, and the two quickly become friends. Not long afterward, Brigitte is invited to the broadcasting center for a microphone test. Seidelbast has written her audition piece for a five-minute program, but he puts it straight onto the live broadcast. The positive response to the program earns Brigitte a job at the station, on the condition that no one discovers her identity, since to the public she is to be merely a comforting, encouraging “voice.” Brigitte is assured that there is no danger of being recognized, because, as she is told, voices sound completely different through a microphone than they do in person. Meanwhile, engineer Hannes falls in love with the radio voice, unaware that he lives wall to wall with her. Brigitte, who has warm feelings for him, is strongly troubled by this. When Hannes finally manages, by indirect means, to arrange a date with the “voice,” Brigitte sends her lively friend Erika in her place to put him off. But Hannes has already figured out the truth and pretends to go along with Erika in order to punish Brigitte for her game of concealment. Brigitte, however, takes the matter seriously and promptly disappears from Berlin. Another coincidence brings Brigitte and Hannes together at a performance by the regional theater company in the provinces. Radio reporter Seidelbast, who had hoped to win her affection, is also there. Brigitte and Hannes talk things through and then kiss. Seidelbast watches them with displeasure. Now married to Hannes, Brigitte successfully resumes her broadcasts at the broadcasting center. Seidelbast, who was still disappointed at first, also adjusts to the new situation, and a good professional relationship develops between him and Brigitte.