francois villon and born 1431 be all that if i be king make him out to be . poet and satirist and duelist and and consorter with the rabble of low degree a brian hooker lyric from the vagabond king and he be all this . his satire bring him some big time trouble and a death sentence . but a last minute commutation by the monarch he satirize and bring him banishment in 1463. villon go so far into obscurity that we do not know when he die after leave paris . from these fact justin huntly mccarthy write a popular romantic play that premier in 1901 and be later make into an operetta with score by rudolf friml and brian hooker . mccarthy take into account the politics of the time in medieval france . louis xi be only king for two year and ascend the throne in 1461. the monarchy after lead france to an ultimate victory in the hundred year war against the english and be leader of a shattered land with many of the less lord quite a bit more powerful than the king . chief among these in france at the time be the duke of burgundy . whoever hold that title rule an area about a third of modern day france . it those burgundians who have paris surround and be dictate term to louis xi when the story open . villon and his sidekick have break into one of the king warehouse and help themselves to some food . take it back to the tavern own by robin turgis and villon make a few choice comment about louis xi . unbeknownst to him and louis himself be there on a mission to ferret out a traitor among his counselor . the traitor turn out to be the constable of paris . when a fight break out and villon kill the constable . this put louis in a dilemma a he see it . villon have kill a traitor and but he insult the person of the king . since villon brag about how much well a job he can do and louis make him constable of paris and give him a noble title . no man on the silver screen ever speak the king english good than ronald colman . i could listen to that man recite the yellow page . he a perfect villon . basil rathbone be nominate for best support actor in 1938 for louis xi . louis xi be know a the spider king because the man be the crafty of schemer . he usually have about 5 or 6 option give any situation and most of u be lucky if we have one alternative . deal from weakness a he be and he have to be a man of cunning and guile and and deception . interesting talk about the king english when deal with a pair of figure from medieval france . but the contrast between the romantic villon and the crafty louis be what drive the film . that and the partnership of necessity they form and the late grudge respect they develop for each other . colman and rathbone have the classical training need to make if i be king work . the two main female character acquit themselves well . france dee a noblewoman katherine devaucelles and ellen drew a the tragic huguette be just fine . and among the support cast and i particularly like sidney toler a tavern owner turgis . it quite a contrast from play charlie chan . for me watch if i be king be like watch the vagabond king without the music since i know where the song go . it like watch a production of pygmalion after see my fair lady . you keep wait for the song to start . particularly i listen for colman to break into the song of the vagabond a he rouse the citizen of paris . it a great moment in both the play and the musical . you will thrill when you hear colman rouse that rabble of low degree even if he doesn not sing .