Le caïd

About the show

In French-controlled Algeria, the miserly caïd Aboul-y-far offers his daughter Fathma to the hairdresser Birotteau in exchange for a supposed protective talisman, overlooking Birotteau’s engagement to Virginie. The caïd’s steward encourages Fathma’s romance with drum-major Michel, and the complications end with the talisman revealed as a baldness-curing pomade. Virginie and Birotteau marry, as do Fathma and Michel, while the caïd regrets the expense.