The Vagabond King

Leslie Nielson said on a talk show that the film was a flop before they started to even film. His trouble was that he was under contract and was assigned to the film being told that he would be wearing tights. Nielsen had Rickets as a child and was very self-conscious of what he thought were very bowed legs, but he said he never thought of his legs again after they told him he would be wearing a dancers belt under the tights and then showed what it was. The first time he wore the tights he said he got so many cat whistles from the woman that he stopped wearing the belt until the director told him if he didn't wear it, he would only film him from the neck up.

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

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!

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

I saw this during its neighborhood run in the year of its release and remember that it made glorious use of Paramount's "high-fidelity" VistaVision process, with some very ripe Technicolor liberally applied to everything about the production (courtesy of the wonderful cinematographer, Robert Burks, who did so much outstanding work for Alfred Hitchcock.)

I'd love to revisit this one, despite its very studio-bound aura. It was a feast for the eyes and also for the ears. The handsome tenor, Oreste, had the misfortune to make his screen debut as the Hollywood movie musical was about to be consigned to the fond mists of memory. He and Kathryn Grayson made a great team singing that melodic Friml music.