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I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

8 stars as a movie, 5 as history.I wish the movies, when based on history and actual people, are a bit more researched. The story, except a few parts goes too far away from the history. Lois XI has been shown to be blindly dependent on the astrologers his actual state-crafts and the intrigues (for which he was called spider) are totally negated. In fact his physical characteristics were made like a spider. His reforms, his bonhomie with the common men too were completely overlooked. Lois XI was historically too different and supposed to be a far better person, from the caricature that is shown. Villon too is another historical figure, but again his life (especially the end) doesn't match with history, nor does the fate of Charles, the Duke Of Burgundy. It could have been better if he hadn't attended the ceremony since the fictionalized Count and fictionalized Charlotte's story won't have hurt the history. Of course the relation between Lois and Charles are real, as was between Villon and Lois (who had a very kind disposition towards Villon). Even the end (of Villon) isn't right, since Villon in reality had simply disappeared from public (undoubtedly dead, but as an unknown person). The only facts are Charles, Duke of Burgundy's enmity to Lois, Villon's being close and loyal to the King (Lois) and his much more than what is shown bohemian life. If I leave the historical aspects and treat it just as a movie - not based on real people - I give it 8 stars. Merceline Day looked gorgeous, JB was of course a consummate actor, a bit theatrical on today's standard, but I have to look at the trend then and also remember it is a silent movie, so a bit of over-expression is required. Conrad as Lois XI had been creepy (as this story called for). So over all as a fiction movie it is enjoyable.But knowing that this is as well as an historical movie, the stars go down due to blatant contradiction with facts. Just as a footnote - I didn't know even a century back (the last scene), the population control was a hot, though not to be taken too seriously, subject.

The Beloved Rogue is a wonderful period piece. It portrays 145th century Paris in grand Hollywood fashion, yet offering a bleaker side to existence there as it would be experienced by the poor. And the snow. It's constantly swirling about, adding to the severity of the setting -- brilliant! The setting is enhanced by the odd cast of characters, including beggars, cripples and dwarfs.A brilliant performance is turned in by John Barrymore, outdone only by the magnificent Conrad Veidt, who portrays a degenerate, dissolute Louis XI to perfection. And yes, Veidt picks his nose on purpose, pushing his portrayal to wonderfully wry limits.

THE BELOVED ROGUE (United Artists, 1927), directed by Alan Crosland, offers John Barrymore the opportunity of enacting a role portrayed numerous times on stage and screen by other actors, that of Francois Villon, the first great poet of France. Villon had been portrayed on screen in IF I WERE KING by William Farnum (Fox, 1920) and Ronald Colman (Paramount, 1938); while Dennis King (1930) and Oreste (1956) did the musical versions of Paramount's THE VAGABOND KING. John Barrymore's characterization ranks one of the finer carnations as well as bazaar. Villon in THE BELOVED ROGUE is described through inter-titles as "poet, pickpocket, patriot, loving France earnestly, Frenchwomen excessively, French wine exclusively." A fun loving fool sporting Peter Pan attire with Robin Hood tights who recites poetry whenever it suits him, steals from the rich and gives to the poor, and travels along with two other companions, Jehan (Slim Summerville) and Nicholas (Mack Swain), all the similarities of a Douglas Fairbanks adventure combining Robin Hood, D'Artagnan of the Three Musketeers, and Zorro all into one. Francois Villon is far from being a fictional character originated in novels, he actually lived (1431-1463). How much displayed on screen to be fact is uncertain, but Barrymore performs in the manner of having himself a grand ole time whether romancing a girl or sliding down roof tops covered with snow. THE BELOVED ROGUE is not actually a biography of the famed poet, but the spirit of the man, undisciplined and riotous, with a gift of writing and reciting poetry.Aside from the lighter moments mentioned that may give the impression of a costume comedy set in medieval times, THE BELOVED ROGUE starts off dramatically in Vauxcelles, France, the year 1432, with the execution of Francis De Montcorbier as he is burned at the stake in the fashion of Joan of Arc. His wife (Lucy Beaumont) who looks on with bitterness, afterword's, gives birth to a son she hopes will live for France as her husband died for it. The child grows up to become Francois Villon (John Barrymore), and 25 years later, he is seen entertaining the crowds after being elected "The King of Fools" for All Fool's Day in the guise of a clown. When he makes a witty jest at the expense of Duke Charles of Burgundy (Lawson Butt), his cousin, King Louis XI (Conrad Veidt) banishes him from Paris. Villon returns to Paris anyway, and, after supplying food and wine to the poor using the king's catapult, Villon, discovered by the king, escapes as he himself is thrown from the catapult, flying through the air and landing himself in the boudoir of Charlotte De Vauxcelles (Marceline Day), the King's ward forced into a loveless marriage to Count Thibault (Henry Victor), a henchman of a plotting Burgundy. Villon's speech and manner makes him Grand Constable of France, but after revealing the schemes perpetrated against the king, Villon is captured, tortured through flogging and pitted against the flames of fire before his death sentence is to be carried out. This is followed by one of the more memorable scenes where the weakened Villon is placed inside a metal cage-like structure as it is lifted up and left dangling outside the window of the palace tower where Charlotte is held prisoner before her proposed wedding. With much more to follow, the movie fails to disappoint. The supporting cast includes Rose Dione as Marget; Angelo Rossito as Beppo, the dwarf; and Dick Sutherland as Tristam L'Hermite, the busiest man in France - the executioner. Look quickly for future child actor Dickie Moore early in the story as the infant Francois. German actor Conrad Veidt, making his Hollywood debut, comes close to being unrecognizable as the eccentric King Louis XI. Described as "superstitious, crafty, cruel, and a slave to the stars," he fails to make a move without the advise of his astrologer (Nigel DeBrulier). Marceline Day performs her task well in the typical damsel in distress manner.Not as well known as Barrymore's notable silents as DON JUAN (Warners, 1926), THE BELOVED ROGUE is a lavish scale production with Paris settings reminiscent to ORPHANS OF THE STORM (1921) and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923), compliments of set designer, William Cameron Menzies. Good camera angles and overhead camera shots also add to numerous shots of Barrymore's classic profile.THE BELOVED ROGUE was one of the 13 silent features aired on public television's "The Silent Years" (1971) hosted by Orson Welles, from the Paul Killian film collection accompanied with excellent piano score by William Perry, the same print distributed on video cassette in 1998 by Critic's Choice Masterpiece Collection (from which this review was based). At the length of 99 minutes, running times may differ due to projection speed. Other distributors such as Video Yesteryear in the 1980s possess a copy to THE BELOVED ROGUE at 147 minutes. Which version is better depends on the individual viewer. THE BELOVED ROGUE might be one of the most overlooked of all silent movies due to the lack of television revivals in recent years, however, it is something to consider, especially for silent film enthusiasts and/or film historians who enjoy watching both Barrymore and Veidt hamming it up to a point of laughter and disbelief. (***)

Superb silent version of the story of Francois Villon. Although remade in the thirties as IF I WERE KING, with Frank Lloyd directing, Preston Sturges scripting and Ronald Colman starring, this version is even better. Barrymore, with a cohort of comedians, plays the comic fool and the wine-depressed Villon with a verve that Colman could not match. The photography is startling in its beauty and innovation and the supporting cast, particularly Conrad Veidt in his American premiere, the incredibly beautiful Marceline Day, and the supporting comics, Slim Summerville and Hank Mann, steal every scene they are in.It is a shame that Barrymore did so few first-rate comedies. Among his sound films, only his lead in TWENTIETH CENTURY and his supporting role in MIDNIGHT can compare to this, and those stand up only because of his superb voice. In this silent movie, Barrymore must tell his tale without benefit of words, and he does so, alternately hilariously unrecognizable as the King of the Fools and tenderly as Villon in love. He even gets to leap around in the swashbuckling style of Fairbanks, most convincingly. He also lets his supporting cast have their share of glory, capering in this ensemble work like any talented comic of the era.Finally, a brief word about Alan Crosland, a director known today only for directing the first talking feature, THE JAZZ SINGER in the same year this was released. Crosland was a careful, innovative, delightfully original director, and it is a shame that more of his works are not known. Perhaps this movie, far more interesting as a movie than his best-known work, will be your introduction to his other talents. If so, you could do far worse.