The Café Elektric has a "mixed" clientele. This is where criminal gigolo Ferdl spends his evenings, but it´s also where men like construction tycoon Göttlinger celebrate a successful business deal with the girls. One of the girls is Hansi who dreams of a better life but remarks that "the likes of us never get out of the Elektric". Meanwhile Göttlinger´s daughter Erni falls for Ferdl. When he demands money from her she can only steal from her father. Construction engineer Max is concerned over Erni´s possible downfall but covers her. Things change when he meets Hansi. When Ferdl uses a ring stolen by Erni to impress his former girlfriend Hansi, matters get complicated and fates entwine.

This film is one of the core musicals of early German sound film, offering a "realistic" version of the genre shot on the streets and roofs of Berlin. Despite its important role in the genre spectre it lacks catchy tunes and I didn't find it that striking, but that's unlikely to stop some Harvey fans here. And if you're interested in the genre you have to see the film once.
The story tells us of the two Willies (Forst and Fritsch) who work as window cleaners and meet a little dancer (Harvey) who dreams of a career as movie star in Hollywood. They offer her to live with her in their cosy hut outside of Berlin, but naturally soon conflicts arise in this romantic triangle.
This film is something of a forgotten gem. Biographies of Billy Wilder don't usually dwell too long on his time in the German film industry, yet the Wilder touches are apparent in the witty script of this terrific comedy. Example: Jou Jou tells the two window cleaners she was part of a novelty act called 'Ding and Dong'. 'Which were you?' they ask: 'I was the "and"' she replies - cut to a shot of the petite actress being flung about the stage like some human beanbag by two burly circus athletes. The two big musical numbers, 'We don't pay rent anymore' and 'Somewhere in the world there's a little bit of happiness' stand up well after all these years (they were written by Werner Richard Heymann, who went on to have a career composing film scores in Hollywood after the Nazi takeover in Germany). The lead actors are all on terrific form here - Lilian Harvey is charming, natural and never looked or sounded better, Willy Fritsch is at his boyishly likable best and Willi Forst, who went on to direct sophisticated comedies with much wit and flair himself, makes an able sidekick. The English language version retained Harvey, who was herself London-born.