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Carol II of Rumania (1893-1953), also known as Charles II, was one of the last of Europe's kingly usurpers (having stolen the crown in 1930 from his son) and was also one of the last in Europe to set himself up as an absolute monarch (in 1938). This film takes place in 1937, just before that disastrous move, as a theater company is battling the police and censors to mount a satirical musical comedy. The play plans to poke fun at the Iron Guard, a brutal and much-hated neo-Nazi organization within the government. Before the show can be shut down, the king himself orders that the main performer be protected by the police from "the savages." After a wildly successful opening night, the lead actor Costica Caratese (Toma Caragiu) dies in the wings while listening to the uproarious applause of the audience.