Waltzes from Vienna

The film opens with the sound of a fire brigade horn and the clip-clop of horses as firefighters rush to a blaze at Ebezeder's Café. Upstairs, Resi and Schani are oblivious to the danger, lost in a tender love duet that hints at their future. The alarm and bustle set a dramatic contrast between personal passion and public crisis.

Leopold climbs the bakery ladder and carries Resi to safety, though she loses her skirt in the escape. Resi flees to the dressmaker's shop to escape the crowd's laughter. Inside the shop, Schani, seeking the missing Resi, encounters the Countess Helga von Stahl who is immediately intrigued by his musical talent.

The Countess, impressed by Schani's talent, offers him a chance to set her verses to music and provides her card for a future collaboration. Her interest creates a new possibility for Schani beyond the bakery. Resi's growing distrust of the Countess is quietly seeded in this encounter.

During orchestra rehearsal, Schani openly insults his father's music to his stand partner, provoking a tense confrontation. Strauss Sr. overhears and commands Schani to perform one of his own compositions for the ensemble. Humiliated and furious, Schani quits the orchestra.

Excited by the new commission, Schani visits Resi at the bakery to share the news. Resi initially tells him that marriage would require him to give up music and take over the bakery. But when she reads the Countess's lyrics, she becomes drawn to the music and starts singing the opening of The Blue Danube to him.

Schani and Resi retreat to the bakery basement to coax a melody from their surroundings. Two bread-throwing men, croissants, and the rhythm of the dough and mixers shape the evolving waltz. Schani realizes he has finished a complete composition and rushes upstairs to share it with the Countess.

Schani performs the final measures of his waltz to the Countess, who kisses him and apologizes for being overwhelmed by the music. He then plays the second section, and a dissolve reveals Resi's hand as if resting on his shoulder. The page with Schani's dedication flips to reveal it is also dedicated to the Countess.

Resi overhears Schani and the Countess performing the waltz for the publisher, Anton Drexler. They reconcile when Schani promises to give up music to work in the bakery, though the threat of the Countess's ambitions lingers. Their fragile peace is tempered by looming choices about love and art.

Schani agrees to abandon music to focus on the bakery, but then receives an invitation from the Countess to attend the St. Stephen's Festival. Resi warns that his attendance could end their relationship, signaling a clash between duty and desire. The Countess quietly schemes to pull Schani into the festival spotlight.

As the festival approaches, the Countess orchestrates a plan to delay Strauss Sr., ensuring Schani can step in for the conducting role. The elder Strauss remains diverted, allowing the younger to take the baton. The scheme deepens the rift between father and son.

Schani conducts The Blue Danube Waltz at the festival, and the performance becomes the emotional fulcrum of the story. The crowd cheers as the music affirms his talent, while tensions with his father and the Countess simmer in the background. The triumph is shadowed by consequences at home.

Following the performance, Strauss Sr. confronts Schani, revealing that he had not authorized the concert. The Countess follows Schani home and they share a kiss amid the mounting turmoil. Resi confronts the breach of trust as the lovers navigate the consequences of their choices.

Resi arrives in time to sneak in the back and replace the Countess, who then climbs the front stairs to surprise her husband. The crowd outside hums The Blue Danube Waltz as the moment of truth unfolds, symbolizing Resi's reclaiming of the situation. The triangle is resolved as the music continues to bind them all.