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In China, French bar owner Pinsonnet shelters Fleur-de-Thé, daughter of a mandarin, from her father’s unwanted attention. The mandarin forces Pinsonnet to marry his daughter despite his existing French wife, Césarine. Césarine and Fleur-de-Thé scheme to escape with their true partners. When their plot is discovered, Césarine distracts the mandarin with champagne while sailors rescue the couple.
Gillette, adopted by Count Roger’s family, loves Roger, who refuses to marry her. She cures King René, who promises her any reward; she asks to marry Roger. Roger leaves for war after their wedding without consummating it, setting conditions for acknowledging her as wife. Disguised as her twin brother, Gillette later takes another woman’s place and consummates the marriage with Roger, leaving him her ring. Ten months later, she has a son. Roger returns and fears another man fathered the child; Gillette shows him the ring, and he accepts her as his wife.
In eighteenth-century Flanders, prudent Charlotte and impulsive Thérèse are cousins. Thérèse leaves the village for Bruges, becomes a florist and then an opera singer under a duke’s patronage. She discovers that the duke and Frantz have used her as cover for their affair with the duchess. Thérèse publicly exposes the deception and leaves the city. Months later, she returns exhausted and dreams that her family rejects her; they find and comfort her. Frantz’s love proves sincere, and Thérèse accepts his proposal.
During the French occupation of northern Italy, convent pupil Stella falls in love with Lieutenant Robert. She discovers that her true father is Monthabor, the French drum-major, and rejects the aristocratic identity imposed on her. After disguises and military reversals thwart a forced marriage to Bambini, Stella and Robert reunite, while Claudine pairs with Griolet.
Bettina, a farm girl and keeper of turkeys, is a mascotte whose good luck benefits those around her as long as she remains a virgin. Her arrival improves the fortunes of farmer Rocco and the unlucky Prince Laurent, who takes her to court under a false claim that she is an aristocrat. Bettina’s shepherd boyfriend Pippo follows her, but is arrested; Laurent arranges for his daughter Fiametta to marry Pippo. Bettina and Pippo escape and later join Fritellini’s army. When they marry, Rocco reveals that being a mascotte is hereditary. Fiametta and Fritellini reconcile, and happiness is restored.
In the Kingdom of Delhi in 1750, Crown Prince Mignapour falls in love with Frenchwoman Irma, while his cousin Bengaline and Grand Vizier Nicobar plot to prevent their marriage. Captain Crakson joins the plot because he also wants Irma. The conspirators arrange for Mignapour’s magic pearl necklace to turn black, supposedly disqualifying him from the throne. Joquelet finds a document revealing that the necklace’s power was invented. Mignapour can become Grand Mogul and marry Irma; Bengaline is forced to marry Crakson.
Two French wives, Gabrielle and Eglantine, are accidentally sent with a group of prospective brides to an island of male colonists. Their husbands follow them and disguise themselves to reach them, while the governor threatens the intruders; the arrival of the long-missing first ship ends the conflict and allows the four French visitors to return home.
Hervé’s burlesque operetta presents a fantasy vision of a magical age of chivalry. Its ensemble includes four comic knights, women such as Mélusine, Totoche, and Angélique, and the knights Merlin, Rodomont, and Roland.
In Perpignan, Olivette loves Valentine, nephew of the sea captain De Merimac to whom she is engaged. When De Merimac is away at sea, Valentine disguises himself as his uncle and secretly marries Olivette, but on the captain's return their marriage is challenged. Disguises and a shipboard escape cause further confusion until Olivette and Valentine prove their case, their marriage is upheld, and the Countess acknowledges the Duke's advances.
Romboïdal blames his wife Théodorine for their daughter Hermosa’s boyish behavior, while Hermosa finds Prince Alexis charming. The young pair fall in love, and Alexis asks Romboïdal to seek the Duke’s consent to their marriage. Théodorine reveals that Hermosa is really a boy, whom she registered as a girl to spare him military service. Romboïdal then reveals that Alexis is really a girl; the Duke and Romboïdal had hidden this to secure a male heir. Hermosa appears dressed as an officer, and Alexis wears a dress. The confused parents confess their deception, and the Duke agrees to the marriage before deciding to marry again and try for a son.
Madame Favart escapes from a convent where she was confined after refusing the advances of Marshal de Saxe and reunites with her husband. The couple help their friends Hector and Suzanne marry, using a series of disguises to outwit the Governor. At a military camp, Madame Favart performs before the King and secures the Governor’s resignation, freeing the young couple and helping her husband win an appointment at the Opéra-Comique.
Surcouf joins a privateer to earn enough to marry Yvonne. Four years later he returns wealthy, but a false report that Yvonne has married another man leads him to challenge a British captain, who captures him. Surcouf escapes with help from Arabelle and his crew, defeats the British frigate, and returns to Saint-Malo to marry Yvonne.
In China, French bar owner Pinsonnet shelters Fleur-de-Thé, daughter of a mandarin, from her father’s unwanted attention. The mandarin forces Pinsonnet to marry his daughter despite his existing French wife, Césarine. Césarine and Fleur-de-Thé scheme to escape with their true partners. When their plot is discovered, Césarine distracts the mandarin with champagne while sailors rescue the couple.
Gillette, adopted by Count Roger’s family, loves Roger, who refuses to marry her. She cures King René, who promises her any reward; she asks to marry Roger. Roger leaves for war after their wedding without consummating it, setting conditions for acknowledging her as wife. Disguised as her twin brother, Gillette later takes another woman’s place and consummates the marriage with Roger, leaving him her ring. Ten months later, she has a son. Roger returns and fears another man fathered the child; Gillette shows him the ring, and he accepts her as his wife.
In eighteenth-century Flanders, prudent Charlotte and impulsive Thérèse are cousins. Thérèse leaves the village for Bruges, becomes a florist and then an opera singer under a duke’s patronage. She discovers that the duke and Frantz have used her as cover for their affair with the duchess. Thérèse publicly exposes the deception and leaves the city. Months later, she returns exhausted and dreams that her family rejects her; they find and comfort her. Frantz’s love proves sincere, and Thérèse accepts his proposal.
During the French occupation of northern Italy, convent pupil Stella falls in love with Lieutenant Robert. She discovers that her true father is Monthabor, the French drum-major, and rejects the aristocratic identity imposed on her. After disguises and military reversals thwart a forced marriage to Bambini, Stella and Robert reunite, while Claudine pairs with Griolet.
Bettina, a farm girl and keeper of turkeys, is a mascotte whose good luck benefits those around her as long as she remains a virgin. Her arrival improves the fortunes of farmer Rocco and the unlucky Prince Laurent, who takes her to court under a false claim that she is an aristocrat. Bettina’s shepherd boyfriend Pippo follows her, but is arrested; Laurent arranges for his daughter Fiametta to marry Pippo. Bettina and Pippo escape and later join Fritellini’s army. When they marry, Rocco reveals that being a mascotte is hereditary. Fiametta and Fritellini reconcile, and happiness is restored.
In the Kingdom of Delhi in 1750, Crown Prince Mignapour falls in love with Frenchwoman Irma, while his cousin Bengaline and Grand Vizier Nicobar plot to prevent their marriage. Captain Crakson joins the plot because he also wants Irma. The conspirators arrange for Mignapour’s magic pearl necklace to turn black, supposedly disqualifying him from the throne. Joquelet finds a document revealing that the necklace’s power was invented. Mignapour can become Grand Mogul and marry Irma; Bengaline is forced to marry Crakson.
Two French wives, Gabrielle and Eglantine, are accidentally sent with a group of prospective brides to an island of male colonists. Their husbands follow them and disguise themselves to reach them, while the governor threatens the intruders; the arrival of the long-missing first ship ends the conflict and allows the four French visitors to return home.
Hervé’s burlesque operetta presents a fantasy vision of a magical age of chivalry. Its ensemble includes four comic knights, women such as Mélusine, Totoche, and Angélique, and the knights Merlin, Rodomont, and Roland.
In Perpignan, Olivette loves Valentine, nephew of the sea captain De Merimac to whom she is engaged. When De Merimac is away at sea, Valentine disguises himself as his uncle and secretly marries Olivette, but on the captain's return their marriage is challenged. Disguises and a shipboard escape cause further confusion until Olivette and Valentine prove their case, their marriage is upheld, and the Countess acknowledges the Duke's advances.
Romboïdal blames his wife Théodorine for their daughter Hermosa’s boyish behavior, while Hermosa finds Prince Alexis charming. The young pair fall in love, and Alexis asks Romboïdal to seek the Duke’s consent to their marriage. Théodorine reveals that Hermosa is really a boy, whom she registered as a girl to spare him military service. Romboïdal then reveals that Alexis is really a girl; the Duke and Romboïdal had hidden this to secure a male heir. Hermosa appears dressed as an officer, and Alexis wears a dress. The confused parents confess their deception, and the Duke agrees to the marriage before deciding to marry again and try for a son.
Madame Favart escapes from a convent where she was confined after refusing the advances of Marshal de Saxe and reunites with her husband. The couple help their friends Hector and Suzanne marry, using a series of disguises to outwit the Governor. At a military camp, Madame Favart performs before the King and secures the Governor’s resignation, freeing the young couple and helping her husband win an appointment at the Opéra-Comique.
Surcouf joins a privateer to earn enough to marry Yvonne. Four years later he returns wealthy, but a false report that Yvonne has married another man leads him to challenge a British captain, who captures him. Surcouf escapes with help from Arabelle and his crew, defeats the British frigate, and returns to Saint-Malo to marry Yvonne.