Lieutenant Kizhe (movie, 1934)

A copying error by a military scribe turns the Russian words for "the lieutenants, however" into what looks like "lieutenant Kizhe". The Tsar reads the error, and wants to meet this (non-existent) lieutenant. The fiction turns out to be all too convenient for his courtiers, and Lieutenant Kizhe gets himself exiled to Siberia, recalled from exile, promoted and married.