Abenteuer in Warschau (1938)

The South American legation councillor Henry de Fontana and his wife Jadwiga Janowska are on their honeymoon in Paris. De Fontana receives word that he has been assigned to the legation in Warsaw, news that does not make the couple very happy. Jadwiga, a celebrated Polish singer and actress, has given up performing on stage for the sake of her newlywed husband. She is especially well known and loved in Warsaw, where she had been about to give a guest performance. Jadwiga nevertheless decides to return to her homeland once more to clear out her apartment and collect keepsakes that are important to her. With a heavy heart, her husband Henry agrees to a brief separation, reassured that his wife will be travelling incognito. At the station, where the couple are saying goodbye, they meet Ines Costello, a beautiful young widow. Ines is in love with De Fontana and sees a chance with him now that he will be left alone. Jadwiga’s attempt to keep her visit secret does not work out, however. Theater director Stanislaus Biliński, who had been besieged with questions about his star by Polish radio and the press but had been unable to give a satisfactory answer, learns by chance that Jadwiga is in Warsaw. Not only that: he also discovers that his star is married, and to whom. Armed with this knowledge, he tries to persuade Jadwiga to perform once more. Although she tries to resist, she eventually fulfills her existing contract after Biliński’s desperate pleas. The company is overjoyed to have Jadwiga back among them. The young soubrette Wanda is also one of the great singer’s admirers, and Jadwiga is the one whose intercession persuades Biliński to hire Wanda. Diplomat Bernardo de Rossi, who had courted Jadwiga in the past, now pursues her again, unaware that she is married to Henry de Fontana, the legation councillor assigned to him. De Fontana himself sets out for Warsaw, unaware that Ines is following him once again. A series of mistaken identities ensues, ultimately leading Jadwiga to sign a new contract with the cunning Biliński for a guest performance in South America, because she believes she must set her husband free. Wanda intervenes, explains the situation to De Rossi, and tells him the truth about Jadwiga. On the train that is to take the company to South America, the couple have a clarifying conversation. As a result, the young couple get off the train—Jadwiga will stay with her husband in Warsaw. Wanda, too, has found happiness with Jan, the operetta buffo whom Biliński had wanted to pair her with from the outset so as not to lose another of his singers.