abstract
| - Since René now believe that the British airmen have returned to England, he tells Michelle, in the café, that he will have nothing more to do with the resistance. However, she informs him, that they did not go with the submarine - they have been captured by the Germans. As long as they are in the hands of the German army, they will not reveal anything, but if Herr Flick gets his hands on them, the whole café gang and the resistance are in danger. The next moment, Yvette bursts into the café, saying there are German soldiers coming towards the café - with machine guns. These soldiers enter the café and arrest René and Edith. Colonel Von Strohm, lieutenant Gruber and captain Bertorelli try to interrogate the British airmen (who are still in their wetsuits), but it turns out to be impossible, since none of the officers speaks English and the airmen does not speak German or Italian. Not even with Bertorelli's English phrase book do they manage, but misunderstand one another terribly. When René and Edith are brought in, they try to ask the airmen if they know them. The Germans manage to understand so much of their communication, that they deny knowing them. When Gruber has left with the airmen (to put them in a dungeon in the chateau), the colonel also lets René and Edith go - for the moment. Helga, only clad in corsets, suspenders and stockings, is sitting in the luxurious room she was given the day before. Suddenly, general Von Klinkerhoffen enters, informing her that since they have now captured the British airmen, she is no longer required to marry Herr Flick, which means she no longer needs the room and must therefore leave it by midday. She pleads with the general to keep it and she is allowed to do so for one more night - on the condition that she will let him visit her in the evening. When the general has left, Herr Flick enters the room, through the balcony door. He has been forbidden to visit her, but he has done so anyway, since he is now willing to accept her proposal of marriage. She tells him, that she has changed her mind, especially since, during the night, she saw an apparition of a monk, telling her not to marry Flick. He says this reminds him of a prediction once given to him, that one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would some day come knocking at his door. As in the next moment, they hear a knock, he thinks the horseman has arrived, but Helga shows him that it is Von Smallhausen, knocking on the balcony door. He tells Herr Flick, that the British airmen are imprisoned in the dungeon of the east tower. They therefore leave Helga, in order to inform Berlin. However, Von Smallhausen then tells Herr Flick, that the airmen will be sent to Berlin in the morning and Herr Flick therefore decides they must act that very same evening. Edith is in the backroom, trying the bridesmaid's dresses on Yvette and Mimi, when René enters the room. The next moment, officer Crabtree enters through the window. Edith pushes the half naked girls behind the dressing screen, while she goes upstairs to show Fanny the wedding dress. Crabtree tells René to send a message to London that the airmen have been captured and are kept in the castle, but that Michelle has a new plan to rescue them. The two of them go upstairs, to send the message. When they fold the bed in half, it turns out, that Ernest LeClerc is also lying in it. When they are about to send the message, it turns out that the code book has been chewed through by mice, but they manage to send the message anyway by Edith's improvising. A while later, before the café is opened, lieutenant Gruber knocks on the café door. As René lets him in, he is very secretive and they even huddle together behind the bar, before he can give René his message. He gives René a set of two keys (one for the west door of the chateau, one for the dungeon), which René is to smuggle in to the airmen so they can escape, in order for their entire situation not to be revealed. When Gruber has left through the backroom and René has explained about the keys to Edith, Michelle knocks on the café door. She tells them of her plan to rescue the airmen: they will all disguise themselves as undertakers, tell the guards that the airmen have died during the interrogation and enter the chateau with two coffins, which to put the airmen in and carry them out. René does not think they will get past the guards "with a cock-and-bull story like that", but when Edith points out that they have the keys they need, Michelle declares that "it is settled" and leaves. At night, René, Edith, Crabtree and Mimi sneak up to the castle with a coffin. They are soon followed by Monsieurs Alfonse and LeClerc and Michelle and Yvette, carrying the other coffin. When Monsieur Alfonse says he probably should not enter the castle, because his "dicky ticker" will not manage the stairs, LeClerc accuses him of being a coward. While they enter the castle, Helga and Von Klinkerhoffen are dancing in her luxury room, while Gruber and Von Strohm are trying to sleep. As the "undertakers" are making much noise, Helga sends the general out in the corridor to investigate. The "undertakers" are however rescued by Gruber, who has also gone to see what the noise is about and tells the general that it was his fault. As Monsieurs Alfonse and LeClerc become more and more angry with each other, they even take down two rapiers from the wall and start fencing. Yvette think they are acting very childishly, but Mimi says "it's a matter of a Frenchman's honour. You would not understand." This leads to the two girls starting to argue, and René must break up both their and the monsieurs' fighting. This is making much noise and Gruber once again has to save the "undertakers", this time from colonel Von Strohm, who is wondering what the noise is all about. Meanwhile, Herrs Flick and Von Smallhausen, disguised as German soldiers, are about to enter the castle, to take the airmen away, so they will not be sent to Berlin. At first, the guards will not let them in, since he cannot let anybody under the rank of major enter the castle. They are, however, let in when he sees Von Smallhausen, who is disguised as a field marshal (the only uniform that would fit him). As they are approaching the hall where all the "undertakers" are, they hide all hide under the stairs, until the "German soldiers" have gone. However, both the general and the colonel are really beginning to wonder about the noise, so they (and Helga) all come out into the hall (on top of the stairs), where Gruber is already standing. They then see the two "German soldiers" coming up the stairs. They do not believe they are "captain Reisengerken" and "field marshal Krakenfart", but the general think they are imposters. He therefore calls for the guards, in order to have them arrested. Meanwhile, the "undertakers" flee from the castle.
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