Dans les années 20 en Allemagne. Hendrik Höfgen est un comédien ambitieux, prêt à tout pour réussir, y compris fermer les yeux sur l'ascension des Nazis dans son pays.
A brothel in a small Hungarian town becomes the home of a medical student after his favorite working girls find out he's out of rent money. Trouble brews as they learn his mother is coming for a visit and they must transform the house.
Insulted when his screenwriter wife writes a leading role for a younger man, aging Broadway idol Fitz Wynn disguises himself as a handsome young Italian.