The Beloved Rogue (1927)

Simply Perfect

Perfect cast and a good story

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A loose retelling of the legend of French poet, pickpocket, prankster extraordinaire & patriot Francois Villon. Twenty-five years after his father is executed by English occupiers, Villon manages, while being crowned "King of Fools" during All Fools Day, to offend the visiting (& secretly conquering) Duke of Burgundy. The Duke contacts the weak-willed French king Louis XI, telling him to get rid of Villon. Louis agrees, banishing Villon out of Paris. But Villon is nothing if not stubborn & attempts to defeat the English invaders whilst winning the heart of the king's beautiful ward Charlotte.The Beloved Rogue is a delightful piece of history-telling adventure film from the silent era. The film stars John Barrymore, who does a remarkable job of playing the legendary French prankster-in-chief & patriot Francois Villon. The film is silent so most modern audiences might find it antiquated but the film's pace never lags. Villon is a master of improvised escapes, leaping from rooftops & hiding in snow-covered hay bales, as well as standing up for the French & stopping the English from taking over Paris. A beautifully remarkable film.

François Villon was a real-life poet and rogue who lived in Paris in the 15th century. However, most of what is portrayed in this historical film is actually fiction--from a play created at the beginning of the 20th century. Whereas in the film he met and became friends with Louis XI, in reality he died in his 30s and was never involved in all the intrigues like he was in this film. In reality, he wrote some lovely verse and was frequently on the wrong side of the law--not the combination of a patriot and Robin Hood-like character like he is in the film. Provided you know that the film is nearly 100% fiction, then it's well worth seeing--just don't assume it's a good history lesson.In THE BELOVED ROGUE, Villon is played with wild abandon by John Barrymore. I was also pretty excited to see that his three friends were all played by very familiar faces. Angelo Rossitto, who was the plucky dwarf, played in tons of films over the years and had a very long career. Slim Summerville was a character actor known for adding a touch of comedy to films. Mack Swain is best known as the silent film foil in many of Chaplin's short films and played his partner in THE GOLD RUSH. All four of these men did a nice job and have no complaints---even with Barrymore's rather over-the-top treatment that was rather reminiscent of a Douglas Fairbanks performance. However, the performance I had a serious problem with was Conrad Veidt as King Louis XI. To call this "unsubtle" would be a gross understatement. He played the role like a high schooler who thought he was supposed to be the stereotypical Richard III--skulking about and acting like a demoniacal caricature. While Veidt was wonderful in many, many films (both silent and sound) but here he is just ridiculous.As for the story, it's full of lusty adventure and action--like a swashbuckling film minus the sailing ships. The sets worked out well for all this, as they'd been used the previous year for THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. Both films were set around the same time period.Overall, it's one of the last great silent films. There's a lot to like and the film is a lovely combination of romance, comedy and action. Well worth seeing, though it loses a couple of points for Veidt's overacting as well as the way the film plays fast and loose with history.By the way, this film was also made twice as IF I WERE KING (1920 and 1938) and apparently these two films are closest to the original play. However, in total, six films have been about Villon and tell, more or less, variations on the same tale!

And nothing wrong in that! Heartily endorse the comments of boblipton and Snow Leopard.I'm thrilled to find this movie is available on US DVD - I've only ever seen it through once - I persuaded the Goethe Institute here in London to show it in their Conrad Veidt season some years ago - and long to see it again.Barrymore is resplendent when engaged, as in this movie, possibly because of the prick of having a renowned German actor as a foil. And Veidt is such a wonderful scene stealer (doesn't he pick his nose at one point?) This is one of the seminal films to connect 'Dr Jekyll' with '20th Century', 'Grand Hotel' or 'Midnight'; and 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' or 'The Student of Prague' with 'The Spy in Bladk', 'Contraband' and 'Casablanca'.See it!

Just love the interplay between two great characters of stage & screen - Veidt & Barrymore