The first Austrian feature film. Count Hubert Marischka has a passion for actress Marietta Weber, so when his wife goes to visit her mother, he invites the lady to join him at home and a masquerade. When his uncle comes to visit, he mistakes her for his nephew's wife and they all go to the costume party. Little does Marischka suspect that his wife has actually gone to a hotel and she, too, will show up in fancy dress.

In Vienna, the director of a sanatorium is telling writer Kristinus the story of a strange case. The very rich and dandy-esque Baron von Stroom had fallen in love with an actress but could not conquer her. One day he acquired a Chinese clay figure of a Mandarin, a talisman whose possessor is said to be able to seduce any woman he desires. As promised, all women's hearts fall to Baron von Stroom. The first is the actress, followed by the wife of the railway king, and then a Princess. Every time the Baron calls out “Man-da-riiiin”, the statue becomes alive ready to make another woman fall in love with his master. But von Stroom soon begins to feel nostalgic for the times when he would conquer the women he desired. However, his attempts to seduce women without the help of his ghostly servant become utterly unsuccessful. Unable to get rid of his devilish servant... Produced one year before The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Mandarin is a predecessor of German expressionism.