The Beloved Rogue (1927)
Channel: The Cinema Cellar
Date: 08/06/2023

'The Beloved Rogue is a 1927 American silent romantic adventure film, loosely based on the life of the 15th century French poet, François Villon. The film was directed by Alan Crosland for United Artists.

François Villon is played by John Barrymore, and other cast members include Conrad Veidt as King Louis XI and Marceline Day as Charlotte de Vauxcelles.

The story had been filmed in 1920 as If I Were King with William Farnum. The film was later re-made in the sound era again reverting to its original title If I Were King (1938) with Ronald Colman, and as an operetta in The Vagabond King (1930), and again in 1956.

Cast
John Barrymore as François Villon
Conrad Veidt as King Louis XI
Hans Conried as King Louis XI's son
Marceline Day as Charlotte de Vauxcelles
W. Lawson Butt as Duke of Burgundy
Henry Victor as Thibault d'Aussigny
Slim Summerville as Jehan
Mack Swain as Nicholas
Angelo Rossitto as Beppo the Dwarf
Nigel De Brulier as Astrologer
Lucy Beaumont as Villon's mother
Otto Matieson as Olivier (credited as Otto Mattiesen)
Jane Winton as The Abbess
Rose Dione as Margot
Bertram Grassby as Duke of Orleans
Dick Sutherland as Tristan l'Hermite
Martha Franklin as Maid (uncredited)
Stubby Kruger as Torturer (uncredited)
Dickie Moore as Baby Francois (uncredited)
Bob Reeves as Guard (uncredited)
Cast member Dick Sutherland, like Rondo Hatton a couple of decades later, suffered from acromegaly.

Production
According to "Hazard of the Game", an episode of the Thames documentary Hollywood, Paul Malvern, John Barrymore's stunt double, insisted on extensively testing a stunt involving a catapult and a net with sandbags before performing it, because he had doubts about the initial mathematics used for coordinating the stunt.

Reception
John Barrymore viewed the premiere of the film with a large picture palace audience. Unknown to the audience, he was standing at the back of the movie house. Barrymore apparently was discontented or bemused or perhaps being self-effacingly charming regarding his own performance, stating "what a ham".

Preservation
The only surviving domestic print of The Beloved Rogue was found in John Barrymore's former mansion by its subsequent occupant, Edgar Bergen, who donated it to the American Film Institute. It was subsequently preserved by the Library of Congress.'

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beloved_Rogue

File Source: https://archive.org/details/the-beloved-rogue_1927