A dancer falls in love with a puppeteer, much to the consternation of her manipulative manager. The puppeteer himself seems more interested in his puppets than in romance with her. Can she find true love?

An Austrian prince hatches a plan to keep his rival, the Russian czar, busy by keeping him surrounded by beautiful women and away from the negotiating table. The Czar, however, has his own plan—he hires a man who is his exact double to impersonate him and confuse the Austrians by appearing to be everywhere at once. In addition, both the Czar and his double fall for the same woman.

Die schon früh geschiedene, 21-jährige Eva Prätorius residiert im edlen Sanatorium Sonneneck, das von dem angesehenen Prof. Bertram ärztlich geführt wird. Ihr Interesse weckt einzig der Musikclown Quick, den sie allabendlich in der Varietévorführung des Apollo-Theaters bewundert. Dort singt er und führt allerlei akrobatische Kunststücke vor. Bald beginnt sich auch der weiß geschminkte Entertainer für die junge, kapriziöse Frau, die ihn allabendlich aus ihrer Loge anhimmelt, zu interessieren.