A case of espionage in high society: To save the reputation of his county, a diplomat voluntarily takes his own life.

A young maid from the country looses her job as maid in k.u.k. Budapest, when she stays out too long with her beau, a soldier, who's saving money to buy a horse to open a transport company. After being unemployed for quite a while and her rent is long overdue, the landlady offers her a better job in a nightclub. Meanwhile the soldiers family has decided that her son should marry the daughter of a rich farmer. The soldier finds out about his girl friends profession, and accepts after struggling with himself the match his parents have made. At the day of his engagement his girl friend comes to his hometown with enough money to buy a horse, which leads to a conflict between her, the fiancee, her family, himself and his parents.

When Hamburg ship's mate Klaus Brandt catches a thief one night at the port, his downfall is pre-ordained. For the thief turns out to be a young, attractive woman and the otherwise upright sailor allows her to slip away. Jenny is the star of a local dive bar, with a side-line in smuggling.

After the death of his Russian mother, nine-year-old orphan Peter lives with Professor Hartmann and his daughter Helga, who cares for him like a mother. Peter is very musical. He especially loves the melancholy songs of the Don Cossack Choir, which remind him of his mother. Because the boy has suffered from a severe heart defect since birth, his doctor, Dr. Stark, has forbidden him any excitement, including music. When one day the Don Cossack Choir's tour bus breaks down near Peter's house with engine trouble, the little boy meets the conductor Serge Jaroff and his famous singers in person.

Robert, Peter and Fritz are the best of friends ... and hopelessly broke. But they don't let that stop them and in short order, they end up renting a deserted gas station. With just a little bit of wit and some elan, they'll bring the old girl back to life and all will look rosy ... until all three of them fall in love with the same dame: Gabi, the daughter of the director of a large gasoline firm. Thanks to her, their eternal friendship is really going to be put to the test.

After the end of World War II Lüder Lüdersen, the former owner of a feudal estate in the East, and his daughter Helga arrive as refugees in the Lüneburg Heath. While living a seemingly happy life on the estate of his cousin, Lüdersen hides a dark secret: he is a poacher.

1943 film by Hans Deppe

William MacPhab loses seven-pounds in the stock market and decides to slap the man who was responsible for the stock manipulation that caused him to lose his money. Astor Terbanks, the stock-market manipulator is surprised the next day when he gets soundly slapped by MacPhab, and the latter promises to deliver one more a day for the next six days. Terbank's daughter, Daisy, is amused by the procedure and is attracted to MacPhab.

1941 film by Géza von Bolváry

1944 film by Alfred Weidenmann

A seductive dancer (Marika Rökk) helps her uncle to fight against the closing of his casino. Through her feminine charm she achieves diplomatic success.

1961 film by Hans Grimm

1950 film by Paul May

1946 film by Géza von Bolváry

A screenwriter comes up with a story about an affair between a maid and her employer.

When registering in a Berlin hotel, the beautiful Lilian realizes that she apparently has a doppelganger: She is arrested as a wanted jewel thief. Lilian decides to find the woman who is preparing her next coup in Nice.

This film is one of the core musicals of early German sound film, offering a "realistic" version of the genre shot on the streets and roofs of Berlin. Despite its important role in the genre spectre it lacks catchy tunes and I didn't find it that striking, but that's unlikely to stop some Harvey fans here. And if you're interested in the genre you have to see the film once.
The story tells us of the two Willies (Forst and Fritsch) who work as window cleaners and meet a little dancer (Harvey) who dreams of a career as movie star in Hollywood. They offer her to live with her in their cosy hut outside of Berlin, but naturally soon conflicts arise in this romantic triangle.
This film is something of a forgotten gem. Biographies of Billy Wilder don't usually dwell too long on his time in the German film industry, yet the Wilder touches are apparent in the witty script of this terrific comedy. Example: Jou Jou tells the two window cleaners she was part of a novelty act called 'Ding and Dong'. 'Which were you?' they ask: 'I was the "and"' she replies - cut to a shot of the petite actress being flung about the stage like some human beanbag by two burly circus athletes. The two big musical numbers, 'We don't pay rent anymore' and 'Somewhere in the world there's a little bit of happiness' stand up well after all these years (they were written by Werner Richard Heymann, who went on to have a career composing film scores in Hollywood after the Nazi takeover in Germany). The lead actors are all on terrific form here - Lilian Harvey is charming, natural and never looked or sounded better, Willy Fritsch is at his boyishly likable best and Willi Forst, who went on to direct sophisticated comedies with much wit and flair himself, makes an able sidekick. The English language version retained Harvey, who was herself London-born.