The Leper

Stefcia Rudecka works as a governess in a great house. Her pupil is a girl named Lucia. The house belongs to the Michorowski family. Waldemar, the young count, takes an interest in her. She grows attached to him as well. The gap between them is plain to everyone. A marriage of that kind would not be accepted by their society. Waldemar looks for a way through it and holds a ball in her honour. The guests there close ranks against her, and the aristocracy makes clear it will not have her. The story comes from Helena Mniszkówna’s 1909 novel, which had been filmed twice before. Shooting took place at the castles of Łańcut and Książ. Elżbieta Starostecka, Leszek Teleszyński and Jadwiga Barańska appear in the ninety one minute film, a Polish production Jerzy Hoffman finished in 1976.