It is based on the 1900 play Education of a Prince by Maurice Donnay which had previously been made into the 1927 silent film of the same title.

[1] Screenwriter and future director Henri-Georges Clouzot worked on the script of the remake.

The widowed Queen of Silistrie and her young son Prince Sacha lives in impoverished exile in Paris after a revolution in their home country.

She scrapes by financially by awarding her various creditors essentially worthless honours and titles.

However the financier Chautard wishes to get his hands on the exclusive rights to the country's large oil reserves.