A more intimate and low key affair than much of Murnau's other work. Using the technique of film within film, Murnau gives a contemporaneous setting to the classic Molière play. A devious housekeeper sets about persuading her master to re-direct his sizable inheritance away from his loving grandson and instead bequeath his wealth elsewhere. But the lad charms his way into the household disguised as a travelling projectionist and plays Tartuffe in the hope that his Grandfather will see the light.