Lieder klingen am Lago Maggiore (1963)

Shortly after a performance, the pop singer Eric Kersten is presented with his third Gold Record by Dietrich, the head of his record production company. On the drive home, Eric exuberantly tries to show the record to his wife, Sylvia—but she is concentrating on driving. Eric kisses Sylvia, and in that moment of inattention their car crashes into a truck. Sylvia dies in the accident. At his next performance, Eric is unable to sing. Two years later, Eric lives in seclusion with his 14-year-old son Peter in Ticino. He earns a living as a portrait painter. Director Dietrich, who regularly drops by his villa, is just as regularly turned away, since Eric has no intention of ever performing onstage again. But Dietrich has every reason to be persistent: under the contract, if Eric ever performs onstage again, he must once more perform regularly for Dietrich’s record company and make records. One day in Zurich, Dietrich meets the young journalist Eva Keller, who looks so much like the late Sylvia that they could be mistaken for each other. He hires her: she is to go to Eric in Ticino, pretend to be on vacation, and ultimately persuade him to return to the stage. In return, she will receive a percentage of the record sales that follow. She agrees, and Eric is indeed shocked by Eva’s resemblance to Sylvia. Although he initially rejects her, the two fall in love. Eva convinces Eric that he is only a mediocre painter and, moreover, unhappy with his life. Eric decides to perform as a singer again. Dietrich is also present at Eric’s first concert, which is part of a festival. Since Eric has announced that he will marry Eva the next day, she leaves for Zurich that same night, while the festival is still going on, and leaves Eric a letter explaining her double game. Eric tries to forget her, but Peter does everything he can to bring Eric and Eva back together, having taken a liking to the idea of her as his new mother. He lets the train that is supposed to take him back to boarding school after the holidays leave without him and goes to find Eva instead. With a trick, he gets Eric to Eva’s apartment, and the two reconcile. Together, they finally take Peter back to boarding school.