Spain, 17th century. Tax collector for the king, Don Salluste (Louis de Funès) is as greedy as he is unpopular. His servant Blaze (Ives Montand) doesn’t have much love for him either, but he doesn’t dare to contradict him for fear of losing his job. On the other hand, Blaze is locally in love with the queen (Karin Schubert) and regrets that she is the monarch’s wife. Things change the day the queen informs Don Salluste that he has lost his knighthood because he is suspected of being the father of an illegitimate child. Free adaptation of “Ruy Blas” by Víctor Hugo.