Chimes at midnight

England, 1399. Henry IV, who usurped the throne after the assassination of king Richard II, must face a revolt of the barons directed by Hotspur. Hal, Prince of Wales, his elder son, leads a joyous life in the company of his old friend Jack Falstaff. Henry IV asks Hal to help him suppress the rebellion. After a vain attempt to reconciliation, Hal, at the head of his army, defeats the rebels in the battle of Shrewsbury. Falstaff boasts to have killed Hotspur with its own hands. Hal rejoins his father. During this meeting, Henry is convinced of his son’s nobility. When the king dies in 1413, Hal succeeds him. Falstaff is mad with joy: he, his friend in lawlessness, will certainly get an important position. Falstaff attends the coronation, but when he addresses the king familiarly during the ceremony, Hal is outraged. Falstaff is banished from the Court …