Shortly after being demobilized, Georges Duroy becomes aware of his power over women in the arms of Rachel, a young singer. Thanks to his good looks and his charming manners and his unabashed cynicism he will rapidly rise to the top by courtesy of women women (Mme Walter, Clotilde, Madeleine), from journalist to member of Parliament to cabinet minister. But it is also the fair sex that will cause his fall in the end.

A romantic skirmish between an intrusive operetta tenor from the Berlin Theater and a revue diva in Barcelona, who later encounters him, initially unrecognized, as a ballet dancer and, after they marry, plays the role of a housewife to cure him of his arrogance and flightiness. He himself is no stranger to deception, but their joint stage finale is not far off.

After the death of his uncle, the owner of the Rhine based Bockelmann Sparkling Wine, Peter turns up for the reading of the will. Justus Bockelmann, a producer of mineral water, is confident he will inherit the business, but ‘for reasons of moral rectitude’ he has no intention of running an ‘alcoholic business’. The opening of the will comes as a surprise to all the potential heirs.

Fun-loving Peer Gynt lives carefree on his parents' farm. Only his mother is a fixed point of reference; he doesn't think much of regular work and an orderly life. His mother's death brings him closer to the young Solveig, but he leaves her and his homeland to make his fortune in America.

Berlin's theatre crowd is excited about the new operetta "Frau Luna". But for the head of the city's vice police, who was invited to the dress rehearsal, the costumes for the ladies onstage are a bit too revealing. He demands the show be cancelled as offensive. The president of the Thusneldenbund has taken it upon himself to alert everyone about the growth of immorality in the capital. The theatre director Knopp has come up with an idea to convince these "fine" gentlemen to let the operetta go onstage again: He intends to win over the friendship of the moral police and then nothing will stand in the way of "Frau Luna" once more being performed.

The marriage of the celebrated operetta diva Vilma and the chamber singer Peter has come to an end. Peter, however, is intent on winning back his now ex-wife. So he’s come up with the idea of a guest performance in Venice, where the two will both appear. Vilma, however, has already found a new man – Niki. He’s a salesman and she wants to marry him. With the help of Annemarie, a friend, who has won a trip to Venice, Peter succeeds in diverting Niki, for he falls in love with Annemarie. Now the way is free for Peter to win back the ex-wife, who couldn’t care if he lived in a hole six feet underground.

The young opera singer Carla is in love with the talented young composer Michele, who wants to make it big with classical music and writes his first opera, "The Return of Odysseus," for Carla. But Carla is more successful than he is and gets a gig at La Scala in Milan. Through her connections, she manages to find a publisher for Michele's opera. But when Michele learns what the publisher really thinks of his work, he leaves and abandons Carla. A year later, Carla finds Michele again. He has since become a sought-after composer, but is embittered because he is only successful with pop songs. His new revue "Dream Music," a reworking of his opera, is about to premiere. Carla then arranges for Michele's original opera to premiere in Budapest with her in the lead role.

Monika, the only daughter of Maximilian and Fränze Holten, becomes engaged to lawyer Thomas Hesse. Her mother is happy because he is a man like Maximilian, her husband. His father-in-law now gives him the delicate task of protecting singer Alexandra Durran from annoying admirers. Theater director Rother behaves particularly conspicuously in this regard.

As a young man, mustard manufacturer Ludwig Klinke had an affair with a dancer, the “Spanish Fly”. The dancer had a son and Klinke has been secretly paying maintenance ever since. Wimmer and Tiedemeier also had a relationship with the dancer. With the appearance of the dancer's supposed son, Heinrich Meisel, chaos breaks out.