Plot

A young woman working as a maid for a big time stage performer is mistaken for the star in Buenos Aires and becomes a great success in the land of the tango.

Spain, in the mid 1920s. Maestro Andreu leads a traveling opera company which features a large cast of musicians and singers headed by his present wife Adelina, an aging prima donna with limited singing talent and a nasty disposition. Rounding off the cast is Andreus daughter by a previous marriage Marta, who dreams of becoming a great singing star and Andreus sister Clarisa who plays the contrabass and is very protective of her niece. Both women are naturally at odds with Adelina who treats them like hired help. The company has just performed in a small venue without much success and is skipping town leaving behind a bunch of unpaid bills and angry creditors. While waiting at the train station, Marta meets a mysterious handsome man named Dario Ledesma and is quite impressed by him. However, theres no time for romance since they must board the train that will carry them to the next town and next performance. That gig turns out to be their greatest disaster ever. Marta, playing the part of a soldier, screws up the whole opera and the hillbilly audience reacts by throwing all kinds of produce to the stage. Bowing to Adelinas angry demands, Maestro Andreu fires Marta and Clarisa from the company. Niece and aunt travel to Madrid hoping for a big break but Marta ends up as the maid of temperamental singing star Luisa Marival. During a show, Marival looses her voice temporarily and is rescued by Marta who carries the song from back stage. To reward her, Marival decides to take Marta to Buenos Aires where she has a contract to fulfill and also hires Clarisa as road manager. The day of the departure, Marta and Clarisa are aboard the ship unpacking the huge Marival baggage when they suddenly receive an urgent note from her. The singer has been convinced by her boyfriend-manager to stay in Spain and, in order to avoid a law suit, she asks Marta and Clarisa to go on without her and to keep her absence a secret until she sends further instructions. The ship sails on and Clarisa must fender the excitement among fellow passengers and crew to see Luisa Marival in person. A group manages to break into the Marival plush cabin and mistakenly take Marta for the artist. She tries to clarify the error but nobodys listening and soon she finds herself signing autographs with the name Luisa Marival... After this, Marta and Clarisa see no reason to stay locked in their cabin. They accept the Captains invitation to dine at his table and make a suitable showing by wearing outfits from Marivals wardrobe, jewelry and accessories. Marta is surprised to find there Dario, the handsome stranger she met at the train station when she was with her fathers opera troupe, however he doesnt seem to recognize her. Relieved, Marta accepts dancing with him and soon allows him to escort her to all the onboard social activities. While a romance brews between them, Clarisa is having a hard time fending off the ships bill collectors and makes all kinds of excuses to hide the fact they are flatly broke. Meanwhile some professional swindlers are preying on Clarisa thinking that she manages the Marival finances and invite her to a friendly game of poker. The plan is to let her win at the beginning and rip her of later. However Clarisa is not the fool they expect and once she has won a respectable amount of money the game is interrupted by Marta who fakes anger at her secretary for risking her fortune on gambling... Clarisa apologizes profusely and walks away with all the money. Later, aunt and niece shake hands at the success of their gambling act and Clarisa runs to the ships cashier to pay their mounting expenses. Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, there are no news for Marta and Clarisa from the absent Luisa Marival and both women feel totally lost without any idea of what their next move should be. Marta is jumped by the local press who also mistakes her for the singing star taking her denials as a celebrity's effort to defend her privacy. Marta searches for Dario to enlist his help but the man seems to have vanished at the port. The suspense is broken by a messenger carrying flowers and informing Marta that there is a car waiting for her provided by the theater management holding Luisa Marivals contract. Without any other choice, Marta and Clarisa go along and are driven directly to the offices of a beautiful theater. While waiting they engage in conversation with a young Argentine named Carlos Gardel who introduces himself as an aspiring singer. He promises to attend the Luisa Marival debut in Buenos Aires and Marta promises she will be present in his singing debut. After this short exchange, Marta is taken to meet the theater management who, surprisingly, happens to be Dario Ledesma. Marta is extremely peeved thinking that the man has been playing games with her all along and wishes him financial ruin now that Luisa Marival is not there and will not be able to perform. However Dario has other plans in mind and theres not much Marta can do, alone and broke in a foreign country. On opening night, Marta sings as Luisa Marival and has an enormous success with the SRO audience. Moved by the Argentineans response and encouraged by Carlos Gardel she dares to sing a tango in the land of the tango. The public goes wild and Marta becomes the darling of Buenos Aires. However she is not happy at all with her achievements since hearing that Dario was following her performance sitting in the audience with his fiancée Patricia. The following day Marta refuses to talk to Dario and even destroys a floral arrangement sent by him. However she does answer a strange telephone call from Patricia who wishes to meet her personally in her home. Marta accepts out of curiosity and finds Patricia to be very pretty and very charming. Patricia admits to Marta that she has been engaged to Dario for sometime but has decided to break it off. She explains that she has noticed Darios interest for Marta and does not want to get in the way of his happiness. Marta is quite confused by the womans generosity but Patricia only explains that compassion is not a good substitute for love. Marta finally understands when she discovers that Patricia is confined to a wheel chair. Marta and Dario, now a happy couple, attend the debut of Carlos Gardel at a typical tango inn. By now, Marta knows all about Patricias unfortunate horse riding accident which left her paralyzed for life. Dario had been willing to marry her even after the tragedy but she knew instinctively she could not make Dario happy in her condition. She made the ultimate sacrifice of love by releasing him of his commitment and allowing him to find happiness. Marta feels like she is living a fairy tale with her singing success and her upcoming wedding to Dario. The magic is broken off by the sudden appearance of Luisa Marival in Martas dressing room. The singer is quite angry and intends to go on stage that night and dennouce the fraud committed by Marta by impersonating her. After much explaining and begging without any results, Marta locks Luisa in a closet and goes on stage to sing her last tangos in Buenos Aires. At the end she tells the adoring audience that whatever happens, be assured that Ive given you my heart. Meanwhile Luisa is trying to push her way out of the closet and a burning candle ignites a fire. Soon theres smoke everywhere and the building is in flames. Marta hears that the fire started in her dressing room and risks her life to rescue Luisa. However, Marta ends up with a head injury that renders her blind. In spite of the doctors assurance that with proper treatment she would regain her sight, Marta is not so quite sure herself. Dario has given her the wedding band and has set a date for the marriage but Marta is obsessed remembering Patricias words: compassion is not a good substitute for love. After much agonizing over it, Marta decides to flee back to Spain without finishing her treatment and hide from Dario. She and Clarisa find themselves as fourth class passengers on a ship back to their country. Once there they live modestly on the income Clarisa earns giving music and voice lessons. Dario, who has hired private investigators to search for them, finally finds them but Marta pretends she has regained her sight and tells him that she doesnt love him anymore and just wants to be left alone. Realizing what shes up to, Dario devices his own ploy to help her and get her back. He contacts a friend who is an eye specialist and talks him into pretending being interested in music lessons in order to gain access to Clarisa and Marta. After doing his little act, the doctor earns the womens confidence and offers his services to Marta in exchange for the Clarisas contrabass lessons. After a few weeks of treatment, Marta is cured and longs for Darios return but the next person who knocks on her door is none other than her father who has come to beg forgiveness. He is now old, sick and alone but reuniting with his family gives him great hope. Is not long before Maestro Andreu is back in show business with a new company, this time headed by Marta Andreu, performing for the first time under her real name, and aunt Clarisa serving as orchestra conductor. Finally, Dario catches up with them and has an emotional reunion with Marta. They are happy at last.