The Beloved Rogue | |
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Original theatrical poster
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Directed by | Alan Crosland |
Produced by | Joseph M. Schenck |
Written by |
Justin Huntley McCarthy (novel & play If I Were King) Paul Bern (adaptation & scenario) Walter Anthony (intertitles) |
Starring | John Barrymore |
Cinematography | Joseph H. August |
Edited by | Hal C. Kern |
Production
company |
Art Cinema Corporation/
Feature Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
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10 reels (9,264 ft) |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Beloved Rogue is a 1927 American silent 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 with Ronald Colman. And as the Vagabond King in 1930 and again in 1956
This film was lost for some 40 years until a tinted & toned copy was discovered in the late 1960s in the collection of film pioneer Mary Pickford. Pickford, an early champion of film preservation, tried saving all things "United Artist", the production company in which she was a co-founder. Barrymore's Eternal Love (1929) is another UA film Pickford preserved. This surviving Pickford print of The Beloved Rogue represents what a true tinted & toned silent film looks like, made directly on tinted film stock prevalent in the silent era.
John Barrymore viewed the premiere of the film with a large picture palace audience. Unbeknownst to the audience he was standing at the back of the movie house. Barrymore apparently was discontented or bemused with his own performance stating, "...what a ham".