《茜茜公主》系列影片包括《茜茜公主》、《年轻的皇后》和《皇后的命运》三部曲。作为系列影片的首部，该片讲述了茜茜公主（罗密·施奈德 Romy Schneider 饰）与奥地利国王弗兰兹·约瑟夫（卡尔亨兹·伯恩 Karlheinz Böhm 饰）邂逅相恋的故事。
茜茜出生在 巴伐利亚的贵族之家，她美艳动人，性格活泼。姨妈苏菲打算安排自己的儿子，即奥地利王位继承人弗兰兹，在他的生日庆典上与茜茜的姐姐海伦订婚。母亲和姐姐带着茜茜赴奥地利参加庆典，调皮的她偷偷溜出去钓鱼，不料却与英俊的国王弗兰兹相遇。茜茜动人的微笑深深击中弗兰兹，让他彻底爱上了天真纯情的茜茜，并不顾一切违背母亲苏菲的旨意，在生日庆典上宣布茜茜才是自己的皇后。虽然有情人终成眷属，但这段浪漫纯真的爱情却是刚刚面临考验。

奥地利年轻的皇后茜茜（罗密·施奈德 Romy Schneider 饰）遍访匈牙利，感受到这里的人民对她毫无政治性的热情，她深深地喜欢上了这个国家和人民，这也是唯一一种能让她逃离维也纳皇室生活压力的办法。然而，当她和安德森伯爵在匈牙利安抚不愿屈服的贵族时，皇太后苏菲（Vilma Degischer 饰）却在散布茜茜与伯爵之间的谣言。弗兰兹（卡尔亨兹·伯恩 Karlheinz Böhm 饰）一直埋头国事，任凭母亲苏菲去干预朝政，甚至包括女儿的抚养问题。当茜茜被诊断患有严重的肺结核病时，弗兰兹竟然依从母亲的意思让医生将女儿从茜茜身边带走。茜茜被送往遥远的岛上养病，孤独无助的她在母亲的精心呵护下，身体逐渐康复。茜茜病愈之后陪同弗兰兹前往意大利北部进行访问。那里的民族主义者们强烈地反对奥地利的统治，对整个王室表现出很大的敌意。但是，当茜茜和她的女儿在圣马可广场重聚时，意大利人民被善良的茜茜感化了，他们热情地欢迎她和女儿的团聚。

(Includes spoilers) VILLA BORGHESE is a film consisting of six vignettes (cut to five in its U.S. release) that are all set in the Roman park that bears that name. All the episodes take place within one day. The first episode, taking place early in the day, is called "Servant Girls and Soldiers" and is a trifle about a couple of guys trying to put the makes on a couple of young girls. The second piece is called "The Greek Letter Pi" and is a poignant little anecdote about a schoolgirl (Anna Maria Ferrrero) who is urged by her classmates to approach their Greek professor (François Perrier), so that they can photograph them kissing and perhaps blackmail the prof for a passing grade. It turns out the professor has a sad story to tell the girl…that he is going blind. The tearful girl cannot go though with the plan. The third episode is the funniest and probably the best in the film. It's called "Incident at Villa Borghese" and features tour-guide Vittorio De Sica as an incorrigible over-cologned woman-chaser who comes between Giovanna Ralli and her furiously jealous boyfriend Maurizio Arena. The dramatics that ensue among the three…and others…is absolutely hilarious. In one delicious moment, De Sica sits in the car with the boy on one side of him, screaming at the girl, and the girl's breasts on the other side, pressed against De Sica's face as he barely conceals his lust. In "The Marriage Arranger" Eduardo De Filippo is the father of a girl he is trying to marry off. The discussions between the relatives center on rather selfish interest…money, dowry. Then the increasingly ill-at-ease girl is revealed to have a handicap, involving her foot, and the young suitor comes to the emotionally distraught girl's side and, through simple humanity and kindness, saves the day in a way the crude relatives were not capable of doing. Of all the relationships we witness in the film, this is the only one that seems to have a future. "The Lovers" is a bittersweet episode about a man breaking up his affair with a married woman…as the woman's small children play in the park with their nurse and call out to their adulterous mommy. It is nicely acted by two great stars of the French cinema, Micheline Presle and Gérard Philippe. The final racy episode, "Beauty Contest," is a Felliniesque dissertation about two rival Roman street–prostitutes, who as they are about to be rounded up by the police, wind up at a Miss Cinema beauty contest taking place in the park. The younger of the women (Eloisa Cianni) eludes the police by going off with an older man in his car. The other and older one (Franca Valeri) is not so lucky and the episode and the film end as she is driven off in a police vehicle. It is late at night.
The movie was released in the United States in 1957, inexplicably, in a French-language version, which didn't match the content, despite the presence of some French performers. It was retitled IT HAPPENED IN THE PARK. Furthermore, the first decent-enough episode was shorn, also inexplicably, because the film was already a short one. The direction by Gianni Franciolini is subtle and finely-tuned throughout, and the ensemble of actors in the production makes, of itself, a worthwhile experience of the movie, which should not remain as forgotten as it is.