Basil Rathbone is phenomenal as king Louis XI, the shrewd old king who tricked his way among countless treasons among his closest kin and allies and became the supreme survivor among French kings, and he is tilted here against the rascal poet Francois Villon, the thief and rogue number one in French history, and they have made a marvellous play and party of it. The Burgundians are besieging Paris, and the king's generals are reluctant to fight and advise him to surrender, while Francois Villon challenges him and succeeds in rousing the rabble of Paris against the Burgundians, but there are many complicationsa on the way, one of them being the fair Frances Dee, who anyone could fall in love with and who Francois Villon least of all could resist. It's a great rogue's tale fitting perfectly as another of many Villon legends, and it is well written at that, doing probably both Villon and the king more justice than they ever could dream of. The script is intelligent and witty throughout and as flamboyant as any of Errol Flynn's flashing adventures, but here even the plot and the story is a great success. Ronald Colman always beats everyone, but here he actually has worthy counterpart for a challenge in Basil Rathbone. Ronald Colman is always the same, no problem ever in recognizing him, but you have never seen Basil Rathbone in a great jinx part like this.
Review of If I Were King
