Trama

Shortly after the end of World War II, British Colonel Michael S. "Hooky" Nicobar (Walter Pidgeon) is assigned to a unit in the British Zone of Vienna. His duty is to aid the Soviet authorities to repatriate citizens of the Soviet Union, many of whom prefer not to return to their home country. Billeted in the convent run by Mother Auxilia (Ethel Barrymore), Nicobar, and his military aides Major John "Twingo" McPhimister (Peter Lawford) and Audrey Quail (Dame Angela Lansbury), become involved in the plight of young ballerina Olga Alexandrova (Janet Leigh), who is trying to avoid being returned to Moscow. Nicobar's sense of duty is tested as he sees first hand the plight of the people he is helping return to the Soviet Union; his lack of religious faith is also shaken by his contact with the Mother Superior.—Ron Kerrigan <mvg@whidbey.com>

The story of Russian ballerina Olga Alexandrova (Janet Leigh) in Vienna in 1945, who is befriended by, and falls in love with, British Major John "Twingo" McPhimister (Peter Lawford) when they meet in the convent in which she is hiding from the Russian authorities. British Colonel Michael S. "Hooky" Nicobar (Walter Pidgeon) turns her over to the Russians when they present a trumped-up story, but discovers the lie when he sees her on a Displaced Persons train later. Mother Auxilia (Ethel Barrymore) and the Colonel set about trying to get her freed.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

1946. After being stationed in Rome since the end of the war, Colonel Michael Nicobar - Hooky in more casual circumstances - who lost his left arm in the first great war, was expecting to be sent home to Britain so that he could take care of his now twelve year old daughter, Sarah. Instead, he is reassigned to Vienna to assist "old friend" Brigadier Catlock in quashing any subversive activities against the Allied forces there, he taking along his trusted team of ladies man Major John McPhimister - Twingo in more casual circumstances - Junior Commander Audrey Quail, who sees in Twingo a friend but openly wishes it was more, and Private David Moonlight. The delicate nature of the assignment is that the Allied forces still include the Russians, whose Communist ideals do not match that of the Brits or any of the other Allied countries. Upon arrival in Vienna, he discovers that this assignment will be a difficult one from two primary perspectives. First, he and his team are billeted at a convent, led by The Mother Superior, Auxilia. While he does believe in God, Hooky is against organized religion for reasons personal to his family history. And second, he learns that most of the work is to enforce the Allied agreed policy of repatriating displaced citizens of those Allied nations, his team specifically for the Russians despite the Russians having been known to be less than cooperative in return. In working from a set list issued by Soviet Colonel Piniev to Catlock, Hooky discovers that many on that list would rather any other alternative, in some cases even death, than return to Communist Russia, they who believe that they will be sent to labor camps or worse in being considered subversives. If he enforces that policy against one Olga Alexandrova, a ballerina and one of the most sought after on that list, he may forever place a wedge between himself and Twingo, as Twingo and she, hiding in plain sight under the assumed Germanic name of Maria Buhler, have entered into a relationship, she his true love whereas all the other women in Rome were mere dalliances.—Huggo