The Perils of Pauline

An orphaned boy George Stedman [Pat Boone] discovers a baby girl named Pauline and vows to protect her no matter what. When his overprotectiveness puts Pauline—who grows up under his care—at risk, the stern owner of the orphanage, Mrs. Carruthers [Doris Packer], makes a hard call and expels him. George walks away with a heavy heart, telling Pauline that once he strikes it rich, he will return for her, and Pauline promises to wait. The film then follows Pauline’s wild, ever-changing misadventures as she slips into one ridiculous scrape after another, with George always arriving only moments too late to avert disaster or to save the day.

Pauline’s early life outside the orphanage lands her in a surprising new role: she becomes a teacher to a young African prince named Benji [June Foray], who mistakes her for his fiancée. The misunderstanding spirals into a series of comic escapades that propel Pauline toward new dangers and daring escapes. Before long, Pauline is carried away to a Congo tribe, where local traditions and magical notions lead the tribe to attempt to shrink her with a potion. In a bold and comic turn, Benji dispatches his loyal servant Sten [Terry-Thomas] to retrieve Pauline, and what begins as a rescue mission soon blossoms into a budding romance between Pauline and Sten as they share adventures along a winding river through Africa.

Back in New York, Pauline ends up in Mercy hospital with Sten, with marriage as the destination in their minds. Yet a grim discovery shakes Pauline: George has fallen ill—he contracted a disease while in Africa while trying to save her. She resolves to nurse him back to health, a task that takes her through the city, including a quick stop at a store to purchase hospital attire. On the way, she accidentally falls into a manhole, an absurd twist that sets off a new chain of comic events and brings Pauline to the estate of Caspar Coleman [Edward Everett Horton]. Caspar, a shrewd and eccentric elder, decides that Pauline should marry his grandson. The complication is that the grandson is a baby, so Caspar contemplates freezing Pauline until the time is right for a politically convenient union. This bizarre plan kicks off a fresh set of bungling rescue attempts by Sten and George.

As the machinations around the estate unfold, Sten becomes entangled with the Russians in a farcical plot to launch himself into orbit with Pauline. The mission is not just a stunt; it pulls Pauline into a space-age caper in which she and Sten must contend with espionage and treachery. Two FBI agents provide Pauline with a micro-camera to document their voyage, and a U.S. double agent mingles with the crowd, forcing Pauline to be both witness and participant in a globe-spanning intrigue. Meanwhile, George—believing he has lost Pauline forever—allows himself to be brainwashed in a misguided bid to forget her, a choice that forces Pauline to improvise a plan to restore his memory.

Pauline suggests that George visit a sanitarium in Switzerland to jog his memories, while she pursues her own dream of starring in Frandisi’s [Vito Scotti] movie in Venice, which also makes a fortune for George. The plan is a delicate dance between memory and reinvention, with Pauline continuing to wield her own agency in the face of every obstacle. In the quiet moments at the sanitarium, George’s memory starts to flicker back to life, and he sets off to Venice to find Pauline. On the movie set, an escalation of peril introduces an escaped gorilla that George must defeat to rescue Pauline, sealing their bond and proving that their love has endured the strangest of trials.

The story wraps with a wedding that feels both magical and perilous, as the couple finally confess their love in the most cinematic way: a kiss aboard a gondola as its slow drift sinks beneath the water, symbolizing that their journey—fraught with danger, farce, and fate—has brought them to a place where they can finally belong together. In the end, the duo’s resilience, comic timing, and unspoken devotion reward them with a lasting union, proving that even in a world of wild misadventures and international capers, love can endure against all odds.

Cast and character notes weave through the narration, grounding the humor in a familiar human core. The eccentric Caspar Coleman brings a gleefully overbearing energy to the film, while the river-and-forest odyssey with Pauline and Sten supplies a steady beat of adventure. The supporting players—ranging from the Pygmy Leader [Billy Barty] to the Pygmy Leader’s Assistant [Angelo Rossitto], from the Commissar [Leon Askin] to the Vizier [Aram Katcher], from the Consul General [Kurt Kasznar] to the Doctor [William Christopher], and beyond—provide a mosaic of comic personalities that keep Pauline’s journey buoyant and unpredictable. Even the more grounded figures, like Pauline’s Foster Father [Joe Higgins] and Pauline’s Foster Mother [Jeanne Gerson], are drawn with affectionate humor, anchoring the story’s emotional throughline as Pauline and George navigate love, loyalty, and the lure of a brighter future.