In London in 1903, during a reception at the German embassy, the legendary swindler Rocambole, thought to have died in the penal colony, helps the British secret service compromise a Prussian diplomat. His mission completed, Rocambole, under the identity of the Comte de Chamery, returns to Paris, where Baron Keller, an arms manufacturer in the service of the Kaiser, entertains the famous prima ballerina Cléo Santelli at Maxim's every evening, with whom he is madly in love. Despite her attentions, the young dancer falls in love with the false Chamery, who seems to have sworn the Baron's doom and ridicules him in the salons.
Costume
Rocambole's capes could swallow lesser men whole.
Production
Maxim's recreated with champagne-drenched opulence.
Director
Bernard Borderie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rocambole originated in 19th-century French pulp serials by Ponson du Terrail, essentially France's answer to Sherlock Holmes if Holmes were a gleeful criminal.
Channing Pollock was primarily a famous American stage magician; this role let him essentially play himself as a performer-impostor.
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