Actor John Barrymore had been known to play some light-hearted comedies in the past, especially as a young stage actor in the early 1900s. But critics appreciated his more serious roles, such as his Shakespearian plays and those films where he played transformative characters like 1920 "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." When he signed on to United Artists for a three-picture deal in 1927, his first preference was to play a Douglas Fairbanks-type of swashbuckler who bounces around royalty as an amusing poet before saving King Louis XI's crown in March 1927's "The Beloved Rogue."
Influenced by Justin Huntly McCarthy's 1901 play, 'If I Were King,' Barrymore's "The Beloved Rogue" has the actor as the 15th-century French poet Francois Villon. In real life Villon was a thief; but the movie mostly ignores his criminal past and focuses on his acts benefiting the common people as well as his teasing of the Duke of Burgundy, whose greedy eyes are on the throne. Villon's hijinks include an accidental head-over-heels air ride on a catapult. The poet also has a romance with the Duke's ward, Charlotte (Marceline Day) of Burgundy while she was preparing to proceed with a forced marriage to the Duke's close friend.
Barrymore rarely played the comic in films at this point in his career. During the premier of "The Beloved Rogue," the actor happened to be watching in the back of the large theater. Unused to seeing his funny mannerisms on display the director Alan Crosland requested him to perform, Barrymore was somewhat puzzled by his acting, commenting out loud, "What a ham."
Critic Stark Young, who appreciated the serious Barrymore far more than the comic one, wrote a scathing article on the actor's choice of movies with United Artists. He wrote that his new direction is "vulgar, empty, in bad taste, dishonest, noisome with a silly and unwholesome exhibitionism, and odious with a kind of stale and degenerate studio adolescence. Their appeal is cheap, cynical and specious." Sensitive to such comments, Barrymore backed away from comedic roles in the future, which is a loss to comedy.
Actor Dickie Moore, whose recognizable role in "The Little Rascals" is popular for today's viewers, is seen as the one-year-old baby in "The Beloved Rogue" in his film debut. The infant was discovered by movie producer Joseph Selznick's secretary when she was transporting Moore's mother to the studio. She thought there was a strong resemblance between little Dickie and what John Barrymore would've looked like as a baby and introduced the kid in diapers to the casting director. Moore later played the title character in 1933's 'Oliver Twist,' was Gary Cooper's brother in 1941's 'Sergeant York,' and became known for applying the first kiss in film to actress Shirley Temple in 1942's 'Miss Annie Rooney.'
Influenced by Justin Huntly McCarthy's 1901 play, 'If I Were King,' Barrymore's "The Beloved Rogue" has the actor as the 15th-century French poet Francois Villon. In real life Villon was a thief; but the movie mostly ignores his criminal past and focuses on his acts benefiting the common people as well as his teasing of the Duke of Burgundy, whose greedy eyes are on the throne. Villon's hijinks include an accidental head-over-heels air ride on a catapult. The poet also has a romance with the Duke's ward, Charlotte (Marceline Day) of Burgundy while she was preparing to proceed with a forced marriage to the Duke's close friend.
Barrymore rarely played the comic in films at this point in his career. During the premier of "The Beloved Rogue," the actor happened to be watching in the back of the large theater. Unused to seeing his funny mannerisms on display the director Alan Crosland requested him to perform, Barrymore was somewhat puzzled by his acting, commenting out loud, "What a ham."
Critic Stark Young, who appreciated the serious Barrymore far more than the comic one, wrote a scathing article on the actor's choice of movies with United Artists. He wrote that his new direction is "vulgar, empty, in bad taste, dishonest, noisome with a silly and unwholesome exhibitionism, and odious with a kind of stale and degenerate studio adolescence. Their appeal is cheap, cynical and specious." Sensitive to such comments, Barrymore backed away from comedic roles in the future, which is a loss to comedy.
Actor Dickie Moore, whose recognizable role in "The Little Rascals" is popular for today's viewers, is seen as the one-year-old baby in "The Beloved Rogue" in his film debut. The infant was discovered by movie producer Joseph Selznick's secretary when she was transporting Moore's mother to the studio. She thought there was a strong resemblance between little Dickie and what John Barrymore would've looked like as a baby and introduced the kid in diapers to the casting director. Moore later played the title character in 1933's 'Oliver Twist,' was Gary Cooper's brother in 1941's 'Sergeant York,' and became known for applying the first kiss in film to actress Shirley Temple in 1942's 'Miss Annie Rooney.'