The Vagabond King

This is by far the most lavish of all the versions of the Rudolf Friml operetta (which was based in turn on a novel by R.H. Russell). Paramount's investment in the film was not returned at the box office, perhaps because Kirkop, the Maltese tenor Paramount hoped would be their answer to Mario Lanza, just didn't have the fire to bring off the flashy role of rogue poet Francois Villon. The plot remains essentially the same: in 15th-century Paris, weak King Louis XI (Walter Hampden) is under attack from the forces of the Duke of Burgundy. There are traitors in court; on the streets, Villon and his lover, Huguette (Rita Moreno), mock the king in song. Villon is about t...