Mädchen zum Heiraten (1932)

Robert, Paul, and Willi Goll are three brothers who live under one roof—a proper men’s shared apartment. As you might expect, things are chaotic: their place is a typically messy bachelor pad occupied by three very different men. Robert at least has a job as advertising manager at a record company, while Paul is a rather inept painter. Willi is still at school and is on the verge of moving up to the senior class. Their landlord, Bernstein, is on their backs because he insists that the three of them finally pay the rent they owe from the past few months. Bernstein’s main profession is matchmaking, and one day he gets the idea of setting Robert Goll up with a wealthy young woman, hoping that this way he can finally collect the money he is owed. One day, chance intervenes before he can. When Robert arrives late for work, the young sound engineer Gerda Arnhold covers for him in front of the intimidating company director, Korten. Gerda has been in love with Robert for some time, but he hasn’t noticed. Grateful to her for saving him at the last minute, Robert invites Gerda to the opera—he has complimentary tickets. There, the two young people run into their boss again, accompanied by a young woman, Miss Holbach. Generously, Korten invites Robert and Gerda to watch the performance from his spacious box. Robert gratefully accepts, disappointing Gerda, who would have loved to spend the evening alone with the man she adores. She also instinctively realizes that Miss Holbach could be serious competition for her. To finally get close to Robert, she promptly takes leave from her job and gets Paul and Willi to hire her as a housekeeper for their shared apartment. They have no idea who Gerda is or what her relationship to their brother Robert is. In no time, she brings order to their run-down apartment. When Robert comes home from the office that evening, he is astonished: the shared apartment has never looked so spotless! In the meantime, the building manager, Bernstein, has learned that Robert met Ina Holbach. The young woman is extremely rich, as the heiress to Vereinigte Hüttenwerke, and therefore a perfect match for Robert. The matchmaker in Bernstein sees a chance to finally collect the rent owed for the past three months. After a while, Gerda has had enough of Robert’s lack of attention. To make him jealous, she plans to flirt with another of Bernstein’s clients, the chubby provincial Alois Novak. At last, Robert realizes what he has in Gerda and cancels a planned date with Ina Holbach. Finally, the two lovers get together.