Three men gather at the funeral of a Spanish actress and countess who rose from peasant origins to become a Hollywood star. A movie director recalls how he made her famous, a PR agent remembers her doomed romance with a millionaire, and her aristocratic husband contemplates the events that destroyed their marriage. Satirical drama in flashback format, with Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Edmond O'Brien, Rossano Brazzi and Marius Goring.

A washed-up filmmaker gets a second chance at stardom when he discovers stunning peasant Maria Vargas dancing in a Madrid nightclub. Goaded by his producer, the director convinces Maria to screen test for, and then star in, his next big picture. But as the producer's possessive nature and the realities of stardom weigh on Maria, she seeks a genuine lover with whom she can escape.