Viktor und Viktoria (1957)

The female impersonator Viktor has just been evicted from his Paris apartment. After spending a night on a park bench, he is hoarse, so he is not hired at an audition that includes singing. He has not a penny to his name, has already pawned his suitcase to the bratwurst vendor, and cannot even take his last engagement at a rundown bar because his voice gives out. The young Erika, who is just at the beginning of her career, is also rejected at the audition. She, too, has to pawn her bag to the bratwurst vendor, and so the two singers decide to team up: for one evening, Erika will take Viktor’s place on stage and pretend to be a man dressed as a woman. Their performance that evening is a great success. The two artists not only receive their pay, but also get an engagement at a proper Parisian variety theater. There, the prominent French variety-show owner Jean Perrot sees them and hires them. Perrot goes to a bar with Erika, who, disguised as a man, calls herself “Erich.” They smoke and drink together, but Erika loses her passport, through which Perrot realizes that he is actually dealing with a woman. A little later, Erika is able to collect her passport from the lost-and-found office and has to dress herself as a woman again to do so. This is how she sees Perrot again, and Erika introduces herself as Erich’s sister. While Perrot flirts with Erika and enthuses about his “sister” in front of “Erich,” Viktor is suspicious: he fears not only that the disguise will be exposed, but also that he will lose his stage partner. He also warns Erika about the womanizer Perrot and bets that Perrot will forget her if she stays out of his sight as a woman for three days. In fact, Perrot invites Erika to dinner the next day. Through Perrot’s deputy, Lacoste, Erika learns that Perrot intends to get engaged that day. She does not know that Perrot intends to ask for her hand, and instead believes that a rich woman she sees with Perrot in the restaurant is his chosen bride. Disappointed, she sets off for Germany and leaves Viktor a letter telling him that she has murdered her brother. The police suspect an actual murder and arrest Erika at the border. Perrot, who rushes to her, admits to being an accomplice in the murder, and the two are taken back to Paris. There, Viktor has found a replacement for Erika in the blonde Titine and presents the show with her. He intends to marry Titine, and Perrot and Erika, whose “case” has been resolved by Perrot’s lawyer, also fall into each other’s arms on stage.