Das Donkosakenlied (1956)

After his mother’s death, little Peter lives with his older sister Helga at the home of his adoptive father, Professor Hartmann. Peter has a serious heart condition and must not get upset, so on the advice of his doctor, Heinz Stark, he is no longer allowed to listen to music. He is also no longer allowed to listen to his beloved Don Cossacks on the radio; their songs remind him of his Russian mother. He is all the more delighted when the choir, while on tour with its leader Serge Jaroff and manager Rolf Bender, breaks down near his home. While chauffeur Karl repairs the bus, Peter sings the choir “The Evening Star Glows for Us Two,” a song of his mother’s that the choir has never heard before. A few weeks later, Rolf visits Helga to get the song’s sheet music. The choir wants to add it to its program, but Helga knows it only by ear. She follows Rolf to Munich to play the melody for Serge Jaroff. Rolf and Helga become a couple, although Helga is actually in love with her childhood friend Heinz. Heinz’s boss, Dr. Burger, is practically pressuring him to get together with his daughter Edith, hoping the couple will be able to run his sanatorium well. Before long, however, Helga and Heinz find their way back to each other through their concern for Peter. The Don Cossacks plan to give a concert in Munich at which Peter’s song will be performed for the first time. They invite him, but Helga forbids the sick Peter to attend. Peter runs away from home and hitchhikes to Munich. Rolf finds him in the concert hall and lets him watch the concert from a box. When they begin the song, now called “Wetscherni Swon,” Peter loudly sings along in German. The audience is delighted, but the excitement completely exhausts Peter. Helga and Heinz, who have gone to Munich to look for him, take him home. His condition rapidly worsens. Soon he is bedridden and deliriously talks about his mother, who is waiting for him. At the end, Professor Hartmann has the Don Cossacks brought to his house. They strike up “Wetscherni Swon” outside Peter’s room, and Peter dies happily. Some time later, Helga and Heinz are shown married. Heinz has left his job at the sanatorium and opened his own private practice. Alongside the main story is a subplot about chauffeur Karl and his fiancée, Anneliese. Anneliese has been playing the lottery for some time, but Karl has lately stopped cashing in her tickets so he can use the money he saves for their wedding rings. When Anneliese’s numbers are drawn, she thinks she is rich. After she has gone on a few shopping sprees, Karl finally tells her the truth. They initially split up, but are eventually reconciled through Rolf’s intervention.