After the Civil War ended, Gelabert underwent a brief return to fame with her appearance as Donna Irene in Benito Perojo's 1939 cinema version of . There were actually two distinctive version produced at the same time, but the same cast of actors appeared in both versions. Her husband died in Madrid the next summer, and at around the same time Hortensia Gelabert returned to the land of her birth, Cuba. Settling in Havana she took a position as "Profesora de Declamación" {"loosely, "Professor of rhetoric and oratory""} at the city's "Conservatorio Municipal", where her students included the stage performer, radio presenter and revolutionary heroine, Alicia Fernán. Gelabert was also heard on Cuban radios during this time, acting in radio dramas.