| Director | Hal Prince, Harold Prince |
|---|
Handsome young stranger Konrad Ludwig is fascinated by a castle near the Bavarian village of Ornstein. He dreams of owning and living in the castle, which is the property of widowed countess Herthe von Ornstein, who lives in the dower house, financially unable to maintain the castle itself.
As Konrad schemes to become one of the countess's servants, he romances the beautiful and wealthy young lady Anneliese Pleschke, daughter of a nouveau riche couple. Konrad plots to use her family's wealth to reopen castle Ornstein. Following an afternoon chauffeuring the Pleschkes around the countryside, he gets Rudolph, the countess's footman, drunk at the local Biergarten and then run over by a train. Konrad swiftly replaces Rudolph in the countess's household.
The countess has two grown children: Helmuth von Ornstein, a shy and attractive young man, and Lotte von Ornstein, a plain and annoying girl. Helmuth is gay and begins to be romanced by Konrad when the stern majordomo, Klaus, tries to put a stop to it by firing Konrad. When the mayor of Ornstein is militantly disposed to root out all Nazis remaining in Germany, Konrad reports Klaus to the mayor after discovering he is harboring a scandalous secret: his father was a Nazi colonel, whose memory is fondly enshrined in Klaus's bedroom. Klaus is summarily and quietly put out of the countess's employ, leaving Konrad free to be Helmuth's lover while replacing Klaus place as majordomo.
Konrad encourages the countess to throw a daring, expensive party at the dower house in order to initiate a pseudo romance between Helmuth and Anneliese Pleschke. Konrad, the lover of both Helmuth and Anneliese, induces them to become engaged to each other, while secretly assuring each of them that he would always be there at the castle. When the marriage contract is signed, the Pleschke money flows in to reopen and refurbish castle Ornstein.
The marriage takes place, but the honeymoon is a disaster, leaving both bride and groom wanting an annulment. The demise of the grand design is hastened when Anneliese walks in on Konrad and Helmuth kissing. Shocked and speechless, Anneliese is ushered to the limousine in which she and her parents are to be driven to the castle by Konrad. When Anneliese hysterically opens up to her parents, Konrad turns the limousine down a steep embankment, managing to jump out before it crashes, killing Anneliese and her parents. Konrad escapes with a broken leg.
Konrad goes through a pleasant convalescence with the countess herself becoming his new romantic interest. After an amorous night in her boudoir, the two plan to marry. Helmuth is devastated, but he reluctantly allows the marriage to proceed rather than have Konrad forced to leave by a scorned countess.
Helmuth's sister Lotte has other plans. On the eve of the wedding she informs Konrad that she knows all about his murderous and scandalous exploits. Ingeniously she uses blackmail to avoid being Konrad's next victim and have him marry her instead of her mother.