This is Willi Forst Fantasy version of Franz Jauner ,Famous actor and later theatrical director of Austria.The real Franz life would of made his life story on film better,but, Forst changed it,He avoided the real Franze's suicide ,back in 1870, due to debts in the theater.So the real one was not that successful.He even put a fictitious operetta star ,Marie Geistinger, played by Maria Holst , who was in Wienner Blut, that same year,She sings in this film ,but, I think it's dubbed,in the other film Vienna's Blood, her voice is dubbed when she sing in that film.Willi's characters is in love with this famous Actress,but, is also in love with his girl friend ,Emmi Krall,played by the always lovely Dora Komar, whom ,her character, was the real life love of Jauner.She an aspiring Opera singer,being taught by a fictitious sing teacher Ferdinand ,played by horse voice actor ,Gustav Waldau.Although they claim that Kurd Jurgen is in it as Millocker, I never see him.Siegfried Breuer, who showed up in the Third man 1949, plays an admirer and friend of Maria, Prince HohenBurg, as devious as ever.The only real thing they kept on this film was the fire and his Jail Sentence,Juaner's .This contains elaborate scenes from famous European operetta's played in the theater he directed ,like Gasparone,Die Fledermaus.Then you have gay actor Theodore Danegger show up in this film as a restaurant owner. Paul Horbinger,also in the third man,has his hair dyed brown in this film. Marie end up in the hospital due vocal cord damage,but, the movie ends up happy ,which was not what really happen to the real Franz.Good movie anyway.03/26/15
