Plot summary

Stanislaw works in an art museum in Warsaw; it's not a very well-paid job, and his boss is a bit of a martinet. When a painting is found to be missing from the store room, the boss accuses Stanislaw and gives him 24 hours to return it, or go to jail. Well, Stanislaw is innocent, so he can't return it, and he decides to borrow some of his wife's clothes and her wig, and go into hiding as a woman, Maria. He gets a job as housemaid, although his practical home skills are pretty well non-existent, but a succession of amorous husbands, difficult children, and eccentric bosses drives him from one job to the next. Meanwhile his efforts to keep in touch with his wife lead to her becoming suspicious of his involvement with another girl he is talking to, and then when he kisses his wife amourously, the girl is scandalised to see what appear to be two women kissing. [This was 1973 in Poland, remember.] Finally he gets a decent place working for the director of an architectural practice; but this man has to write and deliver a presentation on the merits of his town-planning proposals, and this is not his strong point. Stanislaw (as Maria) helps with the text, and this is so successful that the boss wants Maria to accompany him to the presentation itself. However, there is a snag: Maria would have to pretend to be a man! The boss finds an old suit and tells Maria to put it on; but he isn't impressed with the result and castigates Maria for making such a poor show as a man. Obviously Maria is still walking and sitting down like a girl, so the boss's wife gives "Maria" some coaching in male body language. Will Stanislaw be trapped forever on the run and pretending to be Maria?—Hazel Freeman