Liebeskomödie plot
Although Christel Schönbach is a charming young lady and also a highly gifted painter, the long-awaited success is yet to come. One day, she gives in to the oft-heard advice to move up the ranks by cheating. She tells her old school friends, who still treat her with a little condescension, that she is the mistress of the famous operetta composer Attilio Paterner. This little lie has far-reaching consequences. The rumor spreads like wildfire until Paterner's friend Paul Steffens learns of the romance. At first he thinks the case is impossible, but when he visits Christel and discovers a portrait of Paterner on her, he begins to believe in the affair. When Paul asks Christel to help build Paterner's latest operetta, the consequences of her deception grow horribly over her head. In fact, she is in love with Paul himself and to make matters worse, Paterner's ex-lover Karena also gets involved, who has no intention of giving up old Atillio without a fight.