在这部风流贵族剧情/爱情片中,改编自美国作家布思·塔金顿一部受欢迎的小说,此前这部小说曾被改写成戏剧和轻歌剧。在《风流贵族》中,瓦伦蒂诺扮演一位年轻的法国贵族沙特尔公爵,他违抗堂兄法国国王路易十五的命令,拒绝迎娶亨丽埃特公主,冒险从法国的凡尔赛逃到了英格兰的巴斯,在那里,他乔装成为一名理发师,追求一位贵族美人,避开坏人们的阴谋诡计。然而,乔装成理发师的公爵——博凯尔先生,后来失望地发现他仰慕的“巴斯第一美人”玛丽·卡莱尔小姐只是个头脑空空的势利女子,尽管理发师或“男仆”一点也不比公爵差,但她还是回避了“理发师”的求爱。显露出真正的身份后,沙特尔公爵回到了凡尔赛,与爱他本人的亨丽埃特公主最终成为了佳偶。
When M. Beaucaire, a handsome barber, catches the Duke of Winterset cheating at gambling, Beaucaire exacts Winterset's cooperation in sneaking Beaucaire into a great ball, disguised as the Duke de Chartres, and to introduce him to the beautiful Lady Mary. The disguised barber successfully pulls off the masquerade and is soon the toast of society. But Winterset is embittered at having been blackmailed so, and he sets out to destroy Beaucaire if he can do so without revealing his own duplicity.