Plot:
Behind the credits we see a dramatically lit Gothic archway. A title tells us that the Paris of Louis XI is a city surrounded by Burgundians and wolves. (Explanatory titles were a continuing feature of early sound films and are still resorted to occasionally even today to establish locale.)
The dregs of Paris are gathering in the cellar of the Tavern of the Vagabonds to forget their hunger, cold, and fear in wine and lechery. Through the noise and confusion comes a clear, strong voice. It is François Villon (Dennis King), sitting cross-legged on a planked table reciting a mocking diatribe against the king.
The king’s soldiers interrupt his sport and he flees over the roofs of Paris to find sanctuary in nearby Notre Dame. (Although it is night, shafts of golden light stream down from the vaulted roof above.) Clutching his gritty cap in even dirtier fingers, he slips among the worshipers, thinking more of purses than prayers.
Suddenly as the choir voices rise in a beautiful hymn, he sees a vision. Behind the filigreed screen of a small chapel, a golden-haired lady in hooded satin cloak is lighting a candle. The lights seem to make a halo about her head. She finishes her prayer and leaves. Enraptured, Villon follows—just in time to rescue her from three villains.
She is Katherine de Vaucelles (Jeanette), niece of the king. She thanks Villon and continues on her way, but he pursues her with flowery speeches. She suggests that courage rather than rich words are needed to save Paris. Where is the man that will dare all for France? If there were such a man, all her heart and all her love would be his.
Villon can’t resist an offer like that. He follows her to the palace and scales a wall to catch a glimpse of her as she sings of the man who will save Paris and win her heart: “Some Day.” He is moved to respond with a stirring musical version of the classic Villon poem, “If I Were King,” written for the film.
The beggar-poet François Villon (Dennis King) dares to admire Princess Katherine (Jeanette MacDonald). Fate is about to make him her equal.
The traitorous Grand Marshall of France, Thibault (Warner Oland), has promised the Burgundians to deliver the King’s niece as a hostage. In the “mirror image” sequence described above, he berates his hirelings for being foiled by a single man. Perhaps, before their next try, they had better get rid of Villon.
On a castle battlement, Louis XI (O.P. Heggie) is consulting his astrologer (Thomas Ricketts), as his niece Katherine looks on. Of a more practical mind, she trains the astrologer’s telescope on the Burgundian troops. The camera tracks in a complete circle, taking in the red camp fires that completely ring the city. The astrologer predicts that someone will come from the depths to save Louis’s throne. Louis is astounded, for he has had a similar dream. In it, he was a pig rooting in the gutter where he found a priceless pearl. This must symbolize the man he is looking for. But where will he find him? Where?
The Tavern of the Vagabonds is a riot of singing and dancing when Louis and his chamberlain, Tristan (Lawford Davidson), arrive, disguised as merchants. As luck would have it, Villon is leading the people in a decidedly uncomplimentary ballad “What France Needs Is a King.” Behind his cowl, Louis’s eyes glitter with hate. Villon will hang—but not just yet.
Several of the “ladies” present, including Huguette (Lillian Roth), engage in a hair-pulling match for the favors of Villon. Graciously he separates them and tells them of his new love, an angel he has seen in church. His poetic images are so eloquent that even Huguette forgets to be angry. Poetry is thirsty work, and Villon cadges drinks from the two “merchants” at a corner table. One of them questions Villon, who readily admits he’d make a better king than old Louis. “A patriot?” inquires the disguised Louis.
“Just a poor fool with a heart too big for his body,” Villon rhapsodizes. He grows more and more eloquent in describing the life of a vagabond until, leaping on a table, he leads the crowd in the rousing “Song of the Vagabonds.”
To Louis’s surprise, Grand Marshall Thibault arrives with a brigade of soldiers to arrest Villon. In the scuffle, Villon runs Thibault through. The king reveals himself and orders Villon taken to the palace prison. Louis will be revenged.
The stage is set for Villon’s punishment. In a scene that is an actor’s dream, he awakens from drugged slumber in a canopied bed to find himself washed, shaved, and dressed in an exquisite tunic. He stands before the mirror of his chamber in a scene at once heavily theatrical and utterly delightful. When groups of courtiers, pages, and chefs, all carefully rehearsed, come in to greet him, the wiliness of the gutter replaces the wonder of the poet in his eyes. Louis watches from a curtained balcony, enjoying the spectacle. Perhaps, however, Tristan has overdone it. “This is every beggar’s dream of a royal awakening,” Tristan assures him.
Villon learns that he is now the “Count of Montcorbier” and that, under his new appointment as Grand Marshall, he is to judge some vagabonds arrested the night before in a tavern riot. They are, of course, his friends. He glories in their awe of the new Grand Marshall, telling each some secret known only to Villon until they are convinced he is a wizard. Louis summons the Lady Katherine to his lofty hiding place to see this new Grand Marshall.
Huguette begs the Grand Marshall for news of Villon and is assured of his safety. Katherine recognizes the name of her rescuer and wants to plead for his release too, but Louis tells her there will be time enough later.
The vagabonds are released, and Louis descends to confront Villon. The King of France and the king of the vagabonds face each other. Louis wonders if Villon still feels he’d make a better king. He offers him a choice. Villon can return to the gutter—or he can be king for seven days. At the end of that time, he will hang. Villon hesitates. A page announces that the Lady Katherine requests an audience with the new Grand Marshall. “I accept the hazard!” cries Villon.
It is the dead of winter, but fortunately there is a nearby garden with rose bushes in full bloom. There Katherine echoes Huguette’s plea for the life of Villon. In his new guise, Villon again woos the lady with flowery speeches. He does not meet with refusal, but her heart is still set on a savior of France. He pledges to be that man, and, as a token, she gives him “Only a Rose.” (Because all songs in the film were recorded live on the set, with several cameras shooting at once, Miss MacDonald’s closeups include a small portion of Mr. King, who accidentally or deliberately leaned into the shot. Thus this number became known among her fans as “Only a Nose.”)
A Burgundian messenger arrives at court to demand the surrender of Paris. Before the entire court, Villon answers his threats with poetic fervor: “When we who drink are dry, when we who glow are frozen, when we who eat are hungry, our answer to rebellious Burgundy will be the same!” He hurls the Burgundian banner at the herald’s feet. Katherine realizes she has found her man. She stands on the grand staircase and reprises “Some Day” as the courtiers join her and the church bells chime the news of the savior of France.
Behind the Burgundian lines, the treacherous Thibault, very much alive, tells the Burgundians that he has failed to kidnap the King’s niece. Before dawn, he will have a better prize for them—the King himself.
In the Tavern of the Vagabonds, Huguette is waiting for news of the search for Villon. Several men offer to console her, but she wants none of them. She sings of her way of love in the haunting “Huguette’s Waltz.” Thibault arrives and recruits the willing vagabonds, including Huguette, to “free Villon” by capturing the new Grand Marshall.
Villon’s seven days are up tomorrow, but the sword may claim him before the noose. Tomorrow he rides into battle against the Burgundians, but tonight he tells Katherine of his love: “Love Me Tonight.” A masquerade fete is held on this, his last night. Louis wonders that François doesn’t fear his coming death. VilIon replies that he is too happy just being alive. The courtiers are dancing with wild abandon when Huguette and Thibault slip in. Villon spots Thibault behind his monk’s hood, but loses him in the snake-dancing throng. Another suspicious monk passes and Villon grabs the tiny wrist. It is Huguette who finally recognizes Villon without his beard. She tells him of Thibault’s alleged plan and Villon nods pensively.
Thibault sends word to the King that a new astrologer desires to speak with him. When the aged King shuffles in, they seize him, only to find they have Villon instead. In the ensuing struggle, Huguette throws herself in front of Thibault’s sword to save Villon. The King and his soldiers arrive to capture the traitors, and Villon takes the dying Huguette in his arms. Many have loved her, she tells him, but only one ever took her heart. Cradling her limp body, he speaks her epitaph in the poetry of the original Villon:
The young and yare, the fond and fair.
Oh, God, where are the snows of yesteryear?
There are no more troops to fight the Burgundians. The Grand Marshall furiously orders the prison doors be thrown open. As François Villon, he will lead the thieves, beggars, and women of the streets against the enemy. Lady Katherine witnesses his unmasking and shrinks from him in horror. With nothing to lose, Villon and the rabble of the streets surge to battle, singing the “Song of the Vagabonds.” In a thrilling montage, we see them marching and fighting, the women taking up the crude weapons as their men fall. Villon is at their head, his vivid red tunic slashed until he is naked to the waist.
In Notre Dame, the nobility cower, waiting to learn their fate. Over their chants of “Miserere” comes the jubilant sound of the “Song of the Vagabonds.” Villon, bloody but triumphant, leads his army of beggars into the square before the cathedral and drops the vanquished Burgundians’ banners at Louis’s feet. Villon is the hero of France.
The King has a problem. If he orders Villon’s death, he will face a riot. If Villon lives, his popularity is a threat to the King. Villon solves the dilemma. In his own capacity as Grand Marshall, he orders himself hanged and then surrenders to the King’s guard. The crowd is outraged and turns on the King.
François Villon on the scaffold bids adieu to Katherine de Vaucelles.
(Dennis King, Jeanette)
The crafty Louis offers to spare Villon if someone else will step forward to take his place on the gallows. The crowd falls back, silent. “It is no news to me, Sire,” Villon comments, “that men love the dear habit of living.” To a tolling of bells and a dirgelike song, he is marched to the gallows.
But Katherine has heard of his fate. As the rope is placed around his neck, she rushes forward to offer herself in his place. The king cannot hang his own niece, and so Villon must go free. The lovers are reunited on the gallows. Tenderly they embrace and pledge their love in “Only a Rose” as the entire city of Paris joins in and the sky behind them glows gold. |
