The Vagabond King (1930 film)

The Vagabond King is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical operetta film photographed entirely in two-color Technicolor. The plot of the film was based on the 1925 operetta of the same name, which was based on the 1901 play "If I Were King" by Justin Huntly McCarthy. The play told the story of a renegade French poet named François Villon. The music of the film was based on a 1925 operetta, also based on the play "If I Were King" by McCarthy. The operetta is also titled "The Vagabond King" with music by Rudolph Friml and lyrics by Brian Hooker and W.H. Post. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction.
Plot.
The story takes place in France in the Middle Ages. King Louis XI of France (O. P. Heggie) (reigned 1461-1483), hoping to enlist the French peasants in his upcoming battle against the Burgundians, appoints François Villon (Dennis King) king of France for one day. Despite being successful against the Burgundians, François Villon is sentenced to hang by King Louis XI for writing derogatory verses about him...
Jeanette MacDonald is Katherine, the high-born girl whom Villon pines for, while Huguette, a tavern wench (Lillian Roth) gives up her life to save her beloved poet.
Songs.
Six songs from the operetta were retained for the film, while four were specially written for it by different composers.
Preservation.
For many years, the film was seen only in black-and-white prints made for television release in the 1950s. At one time even the black-and-white prints were considered irretrievably lost. One nitrate Technicolor print did survive at the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and it was restored and preserved in 1990.