Ronald Colman (Villon) stars as the subversive poet during the reign of King Basil Rathbone (Louis XI) in 1463. Rathbone is a scheming king and invites Colman into his government to run the show. Colman has been arrested as part of an underground group representing the people of Paris in opposition to the King, who is currently under siege from the Duke of Burgundy and starving his population whilst ensuring food supplies for his inner circle. Rathbone has challenged Colman - "What would you do better?" Now is the time for Colman to prove himself. However, Rathbone has a twist to the deal...
The cast do well and Rathbone, whilst portraying his usual intelligent schemer, takes on a different character, mannerisms and appearance that will make you suddenly realize - "That's Rathbone!". You may not identify him at first. He plays the role with a degree of fairness and sympathy and it is almost a buddy-buddy movie even though the two main actors are in opposition camps. Colman gets to respect Rathbone and Rathbone acts fairly and has a heart.
There is a love interest - as always - with 2 women shown to be in love with Colman. However, the main woman of interest isn't in the film! Where is fat Margot?
The cast do well and Rathbone, whilst portraying his usual intelligent schemer, takes on a different character, mannerisms and appearance that will make you suddenly realize - "That's Rathbone!". You may not identify him at first. He plays the role with a degree of fairness and sympathy and it is almost a buddy-buddy movie even though the two main actors are in opposition camps. Colman gets to respect Rathbone and Rathbone acts fairly and has a heart.
There is a love interest - as always - with 2 women shown to be in love with Colman. However, the main woman of interest isn't in the film! Where is fat Margot?