Frauen sind keine Engel (1943)

Richard Anden is a well-known film director who has considerable success with women—and is well aware of it. He enjoys his reputation as a charmer and a seducer, but strictly separates his work from his private adventures. Even on a voyage aboard the luxury liner Ariadne, which he is taking with his friend, screenwriter Alfred Bolt, women flock around him, not least because they hope he can help them launch film careers. The young Lola, for example, plays the part of a faithful, proper housewife, but is really an ambitious singer and demonstrates her talent by singing the title song, “Women Are No Angels.” Anden, however, wants to be desired for himself, not merely because of his powerful position at the studio and in the film industry. One evening, Anden is relaxing in a deck chair when he overhears a conversation between the young Helga Norden and a criminal investigator named Bandini. The police officer accuses Helga of killing her husband. She admits to the act but claims she acted in self-defense. At her pleading request not to be arrested in front of the other passengers, the young investigator gives the alleged killer a reprieve until they dock at the next port, seven days later. Richard, unaware that he has fallen for a ruse staged by Helga, with her brother playing the policeman, immediately becomes interested in the mysterious Miss Norden. After a while, his interest turns to love, and Anden considers trying to buy Helga’s freedom from Bandini with a check. He does exactly that. But Bandini sends Anden packing, dryly remarking that if he ever films a bribery scene, he should offer cash instead. The publisher Frau Dr. Orla is also aboard. She, in reality Miss Norden’s aunt, has a part in the comedy Helga has staged. After learning of Anden’s interest in Helga, the older woman tells him that Helga is a con artist. She and Bandini are siblings and are on the passenger ship solely to swindle wealthy passengers. Anden, she says, is just another victim: Helga and Bandini always use the same trick—the staged arrest scene Anden witnessed. The man then plays the old-fashioned gentleman and tries to buy the distressed woman’s freedom. Of course, Helga Norden has not killed anyone; the claim merely adds drama to their farce. When Richard confronts her about this, Helga admits that she really has not killed anyone. Richard doesn’t care about any of it and asks Helga to marry him. She says yes, and the two head to the altar at the next port. But suddenly someone calls, “Cut!” The scene is over. Helga is astonished: she is not the only one who knows how to stage a grand performance. By then, Anden has learned from his pal Bolt who Helga Norden really is, and has made her play a part according to his own screenplay. The young woman had once submitted a screenplay to Anden and received no favorable response. She had gone to all this trouble simply to show the director how good her manuscript was and what a splendid film it could make. Her aunt Orla had done her part to further establish Helga as a credible, talented writer. The next day, Richard presents Helga with a contract to sign. Feeling that Anden has made a fool of her, the writer is just about to tear up the document in front of him when Richard points out that it is not a contract to acquire her screenplay at all, but a marriage contract. And so, after all their detours, the two lovebirds fall into each other’s arms.