In the 17th century, during Spain's Golden Age, the story centers around Don Salluste de Bazan, portrayed by Louis de Funès, who serves as the finance minister to King Charles II of Spain. Don Salluste is depicted as a deceitful, hypocritical, and greedy man, known for personally collecting taxes and diverting much of the money for his own greed. His actions have made him widely hated by the common people he exploits and the courtiers around him.
The plot thickens when Queen Marie-Anne de Neubourg, a beautiful Bavarian princess, accuses Don Salluste of fathering an illegitimate child with one of her ladies-in-waiting. As a result, he is stripped of his position and forced into retirement at a monastery. Enraged and seeking revenge against the king and the princess, Don Salluste schemes to humiliate them all. He wishes to force the king to reject the queen by cuckolding him, and for this, he seeks the help of his nephew, Caesar, a brigand who has turned to a life of crime. However, when Caesar refuses to participate in his uncle’s plan, Don Salluste doesn’t give up; instead, he has Caesar captured by his henchmen and sent as a slave to the Barbary coast.
Not willing to give up, Don Salluste sets his sights on his dismissed valet, Blaze, what lies behind the valet's dismissal. Don Salluste discovers that Blaze has feelings for the queen, and he plans to use him as a pawn. His scheme involves disguising Blaze, played by Yves Montand, as Caesar, and having him seduce the queen to create scandal and chaos at court.
When Blaze is introduced to the royal court as the new finance minister, he unexpectedly thwarts an assassination attempt on King Charles II during a tense scene. This act earns him favor with the king and queen, especially the queen, who also harbors feelings for Blaze. His quick thinking and bravery enable him to secure a prominent position, but this also makes him a target for the jealous nobles, who hatch a plot to bring him down.
Blaze's rising popularity sparks envy among the aristocracy, who view him as a threat. Meanwhile, Blaze begins implementing reforms that are quite generous—redistributing Don Salluste’s riches to the peasants, heavily taxing the wealthy, and advocating for the common folk. His acts of kindness and reform drive the nobles into a rage, tightening the grip on their power and plotting to eliminate him.
One of the more comical and awkward moments occurs during a garden game where Blaze secretly plans to declare his love for the queen. In a humorous twist of mistaken identity, he ends up expressing his feelings to Doña Juana, the harsh duenna, played by Alice Sapritch, who has her own secret love for Blaze. She, in turn, confesses her passionate love for him, unaware that Blaze has already slipped away. This mix-up leads to a series of comic misunderstandings, highlighting the film's humorous tone.
The tension escalates when Don Salluste learns of a plot to poison Blaze’s birthday cake. A dramatic escape ensues, leading Blaze and Don Salluste to a bullfighting ring where they trap their pursuers. Although Blaze believes this act to be just a favor, Don Salluste’s plans are far more insidious; he intends to stage a romantic rendezvous between Blaze (disguised as Caesar) and the queen, and have the king discover them together. A series of mistaken messages, including a well-meaning parrot that repeats the wrong message, complicate the scheme.
Don Salluste’s scheme spirals further out of control when Blaze is tricked into being tied up in an inn, while Don Salluste plans to have the queen visit and catch her with Blaze. Unexpectedly, the real Caesar, having escaped from captivity, arrives and rescues Blaze, adding to the chaos. In an unexpected turn, the dona Juana, played by [Alice Sapritch], joins the commotion with a bold striptease for Blaze, who remains uninterested and slips her a sleeping pill intended for him.
As the king receives a letter from Don Salluste, claiming Blaze is cuckolding him, Blaze, with Caesar’s help, successfully tricks the king into believing he is the queen’s suitor. Meanwhile, the queen is snoozing on the roof of a carriage outside the inn, unaware of the entire backstage drama. Ultimately, the king orders Blaze and Don Salluste to be sent to the Barbary coast—Don Salluste punished for his schemes, and Blaze choosing slavery over marriage to Doña Juana, who is shown arriving at the desert, disheveled and proclaiming her love for Blaze. As Blaze flees from her advances, we are left with a humorous and chaotic tale of political revenge, mistaken identities, and romantic misadventures in a colorful historical setting.
