Against the backdrop of Vienna's hidebound caste system, aristocrat and army officer Nicki is attracted to peasant Mitzi, although he knows it cannot last. Acquiescing to familial pressure, he ultimately gives her up to marry the more socially acceptable – albeit crippled – heiress Cecelia. Mitzi, for her part, is heartbroken and must resign herself to marrying churlish butcher Schani Eberle.

Erich von Stroheim
as Nicki / Prince Nickolas

Fay Wray
as Mitzi / Mitzerl Schrammell

George Fawcett
as le prince Ottokar

Maude George
as la princesse Maria

Cesare Gravina
as Martin Schrammell

Dale Fuller
as Katerina Schrammel

Matthew Betz
as Schani Eberle

Zasu Pitts
as Cecelia Schweisser

George Nichols
as The Industrialist

Hughie Mack
as Johann Eberle - the Wine-grower