The Vagabond King

The Vagabond King did have the ingredients in the first place to be good. And it was. The story is rather old-fashioned and has a couple of dull spots, but I also think it is quite charming and well-meant too. You do forget that though when you see the lavish production values, the costumes, sets and photography are all gorgeous to look at, and hear the beautiful score and memorable songs that add so much to the film's quality. Song of the Vagabonds is especially catchy. The choreography and direction, apart from a couple of stage-bound moments, are otherwise skillful. The cast also add a lot. Kathryn Grayson is a charmer, Rita Moreno plays her role with both grace and fire and you can never go wrong with Vincent Price as narrator. The real surprise though was Oreste, handsome in looks, dashing in acting ability and ringingly resonant in voice, one does wonder why he like the film was forgotten afterwards. All in all, a very well-done film that is worthy of more appreciation. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Enjoyable version of Rudolph Friml's operetta.Beautiful score song by Oreste and Kathryn Grayson.This was Oreste's only film.I read somewhere that the moviegoing public did not take to him .I think this because younger movie goers did not have the exposure to this music.If Nelson and Jeanette had startd in the fifties,I doubt they would have enjoyed the success they had in the thirties.Personally ,I considered Oreste a fine tenor and I still enjoy his recording of The Vagabond King.I wish they would show a marathon of operettas, so that the older viewers,such as myself ,could relive the pleasant movie going memories of yesteryear

The Vagabond King is an old operetta from 1925, adapted first into a film in 1930 with Jeanette MacDonald, and again in 1956 with Kathryn Grayson. I haven't seen the 1930 version, but I did see the 1938 film If I Were King, the story of which-written first in 1901-was the inspiration for the musical.

As much as I like Kathryn Grayson, there's just no comparison to the nonmusical version from 1938. The stories and characters are the same, but the added songs are terrible, the lead actor Oreste Kirkop is ridiculous, and the sets and costumes seemed to have been borrowed from The Court Jester. I didn't last the first five minutes without bursting into laughter, seeing all the ways in which The Court Jester had spoofed the movie. As it was, that comedy was released in 1955, so it wasn't intended to be a spoof of The Vagabond King. Still, it seems to be an incredibly funny coincidence.

In case you don't know the story, Oreste plays a Robin Hood type who scorns King Louis XI and is the hero of the poor citizens of France. King Louis, played by Cedric Hardwicke, overhears a conversation of how Oreste would be a better ruler, so to humor him, he lets Oreste be "king for a day". Of course, Oreste falls for Kathryn, a noble lady, even though he has the common Rita Moreno back home.

Rita Moreno sings the ridiculous song "Vive La You" and the chorus haphazardly dances behind her. Oreste's voice is much too boisterous, and his ego is even funnier than it is annoying. Kathryn is beautiful and has a lovely voice, but she isn't enough to save this terrible musical. If I Were King is a very good movie, so if you like Robin Hood stories, I highly recommend you rent that one. Leave The Vagabond King on the shelf; stick to The Court Jester instead.

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at the production meeting when Michael Curtiz and Pat Duggan came up with this concept - a sort of "Camelot" meets "Quentin Durward" musical effort that is not as bad as you might think! We have here a lavish looking historical melodrama featuring Maltese tenor Oreste Kirkop as "Villon", a popular fellow amongst the people who is elected "King of the Vagabonds". Meantime the real King, Louis XI (Walter Hampden), advised by his sagely counsellor "Tristan" (Sir Cedric Hardwicke with hair!) must battle the potential usurper Duke of Burgundy (Tom Duggan) and his rather foppish sidekick "Thibault" (Leslie Nielsen). The action is interspersed by quite frequent little arias that demonstrate that our street-wise hero most certainly has a great voice; limited only by a rather poor libretto - there are only so many things that rhyme with Burgundy. The action scenes provide for plenty of colourful costumes, swash and buckle and it's decently paced with plenty of familiar faces - Jack Lord, Rita Moreno and a rather under-utilised Kathryn Grayson to prop it up nicely. Though it isn't anywhere near as good as "If I Were KIng" (1938) upon which it appears to be based, money has been spent here and it looks good even if the writing and dialogue are poor and many of the scenes pretty heavily staged. Don't write it off, though - if you like the genre then it is still worth a watch, and there's no sign of Howard Keel!

After this film bom bombed at the box office, it was put in the public domain. There are many YouTube channels devoted 2 movies in the public domain including this forgotten movie.