Forced to earn a living by accepting demeaning roles negotiated by her erratic husband, Nadine Chevalier (Romy Schneider) encounters tabloid photographer Servais (Fabio Testi) on the set of her latest film. Desperate to win her affections, Servais secretly uses money borrowed from a shady associate to bankroll her next project, a production of Richard III with Nadine starring opposite the maniacal German thespian Karl-Heinz Zimmer (Klaus Kinski).
At the age of seventeen, Romy Schneider became an international star through her portrayal of Princess Elisabeth (Sissi) of Austria in three lavish films directed by Ernst Marischka: SISSI (1955), SISSI: THE YOUNG EMPRESS (1956) and SISSI: THE FATEFUL YEARS OF AN EMPRESS (1957).