Author Voltaire has been banished from
the French court because he holds King Louis XV responsible for
abuses of power. Voltaire still exercises some influence
through his friendship with Mademoiselle de Pompadour, the king's
mistress, but he fails to prevent the execution of Calas when Count
de Sarnac convinces the king that he is guilty of treason in order
to gain his estate. Voltaire has Nanette Calas, the dead man's
daughter, brought to his house to protect her from de Sarnac, who
has put a price on her head.
With the help of Mademoiselle de
Pompadour, Votaire is allowed to present a play to the king which
tells Nanette's story allegorically. Masked behind the play's
historical setting, the events portrayed outrage the king, but when
Voltaire starts to demonstrate the parallels to present day events,
de Sarnac points out that the play is really about King Louis.
Voltaire is arrested and accused of
treason, but before he is sent to the Bastille, he reveals that de
Sarnac has been passing state secrets to Frederick the Great of
Prussia. His enemy undone, Voltaire presents Nanette to the
king, who restores her estates and her father's good name.
Notes
Although the work by George Gibbs and E. Lawrence Dudley is called a
novel on screen, no evidence has been found of its publication in
that form. Modern sources note that Gibbs and Dudley wrote a
play specifically for George Arliss who had a longtime ambition to
play Voltaire. It was never performed but was the basis for
Maude Howell and Paul Green's adaptation.
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