Das fidele Gefängnis

Summary

Where is Alex? In vain, Alice von Reizenstein searches for her husband until she finally discovers him dead drunk under his desk. Shortly after, the postman brings the couple good and bad news.

The good news: Prince Zsbrschowsky invites them to a masquerade ball; the bad news: Alex is to be arrested for disturbing the peace at night. Alice is beside herself, but Alex manages to reconcile her with a few banknotes for a new hat. During the fitting, a gallant gentleman takes notice of Alice and follows her around the city. The cat-and-mouse game ends with the gentleman receiving an invitation to tea at the Reizenstein's house. When the prison director shows up at the von Reizensteins to arrest Alex personally, the gallant gentleman steps in for him to protect Alice from being compromised as a flirtatious wife. But this is just the beginning of a series of absurd mix-ups and entanglements: at the Prince's masquerade ball, both Alice and Alex will assume various roles to play mischievous games with other guests, under the protection of anonymity.

Ernst Lubitsch's loose adaptation of Johann Strauss' operetta "Die Fledermaus" serves as an example of the shallow cinema entertainment that gained increasing popularity with the duration of the First World War.