...und abends in die Scala (1958)

The scandal magazine The Naked Truth has only one goal at the moment: to get a photograph of the famous singer Gloria del Castro. Everyone knows her records, but no one knows what she looks like, and even her manager, Spadolini, guards her secret: del Castro is really Yvette de Motestant, the wife of the sitting family minister, who is not supposed to know about her singing success. But when Yvette discovers that her husband is cheating on her, she files for divorce and decides to present herself to the public. Overjoyed, Spadolini signs a lucrative contract with the Berlin Scala—but shortly afterward, peace is restored in the Motestant household, and Yvette refuses to go onstage. A replacement is needed, and the Paris variety performer Caterina is quickly chosen. In her show, she and her brothers also perform an imitation of Gloria del Castro, and Yvette is satisfied with this “replacement.” Caterina, however, does not know that she has been booked as Gloria. Since no one knows Gloria del Castro’s real face, Caterina is welcomed at the Scala as a star. She is also a very good dancer, which wins over the young director Robert Mertens. Caterina accidentally discovers that everyone thinks she is Gloria del Castro and immediately wants to end her engagement, since she is no impostor. Only Spadolini’s persuasion convinces her to stay in Berlin. Rehearsals for the big show follow. Caterina and Robert fall in love. When Caterina’s brothers Silvio and Nico come to Berlin—they could not find Caterina’s name in the show announcements and now believe Spadolini has duped their sister—Robert sees Caterina with one of her brothers. The next day, the other brother drives her to work, and when a newspaper also reports that Gloria del Castro is actually married to the family minister, Robert is convinced once and for all that he has been deceived. He treats Caterina badly at rehearsal, until, shortly before the premiere of her show, she leaves with her brothers and performs as a trio in small clubs. Spadolini, his beloved Trudchen, and Robert manage to track down the trio, who are performing a clown act onstage. Robert recognizes Caterina in her clown costume but pretends to think she is a man. He tells her that he loves Caterina and that his jealousy was unfounded, then hires the “clown trio” to replace the absent star, Gloria del Castro. Caterina comes to the show because she now knows that Robert loves her. He, in turn, intends to make her reveal her true identity voluntarily—the identity he has learned from Spadolini and Trudchen—and schedules the clown act immediately before her appearance as Gloria del Castro. Caterina manages to perform both acts by using the stage-struck Trudchen as her double. In her role as Gloria del Castro, she finally reveals her true identity to the audience, which includes Yvette and Pierre de Motestant. The audience accepts her as Caterina Duval, and Robert also tells her that he has known her identity for a long time and loves her even without a famous name.