Synopsis

Prince Joachim of Flausenthurn is celebrating the wedding of his daughter, Princess Helene to the young Viennese Lieutenant Count Niki, who, while bringing a breath of fresh air to the musty mini-principality, is also expected to do his duty and ensure the survival of the dynasty.

Under the combined effect of stiff court ceremonial and dreary surroundings, Count Niki loses interest in his new wife and in performing his conjugal duties, much to the dismay of Prince Joachim, his father-in-law. And when Niki hears waltz music emanating from a nearby garden, secretly slips out of the palace with his old friend Lieutenant Montschi to revel in memories of his beloved Vienna. The waltz music is being played by a Viennese ladies' band visiting Flausenthurn with their conductor, the beautiful and vivacious Franzi Steingruber.

Lieutenant Niki is swept off his feet by Franzi's Viennese charm, and she, in turn, is enchanted by the young officer. By now, Prince Joachim has become very concerned about the whereabouts of his daughter's errant husband, and accompanied by Wendolin, his pastor as well as Princess Helene and her lady-in-waiting, Friederike, heads off to the park gardens to find out what is happening. There, even after becoming aware of Niki's infatuation with Franzi, the Prince and Wendolin also find it difficult to resist the charm of the dance band ladies, while Helene realises that what she is now experiencing is a sign of what her husband has been missing at court: the lightness and spirit of Viennese life. When Niki catches sight of his wife, he tries to avoid a scandal by asking her to dance a waltz with him.

Franzi, at first unaware of who Helene is, would like to separate the two, but when the other guests erupt in cheers for their sovereign, realizes that she must stand aside and graciously put aside her passion (and subdue his) and return Niki to his wife. Indeed, in the following weeks, incognito, and with the assistance of Friederike, and the collusion of Wendolin, she even helps Helene make life at court more 'Viennese' and thus more agreeable to Niki. Although there is still much wavering on Niki's part, the royal couple realise eventually, that they truly belong to one another and all fears of a dynastic dead-end are finally banished. Franzi and her band set for Vienna to fulfill one of their long cherished dreams: to perform at Vienna's celebrated 'Roter Igel'.