AMUSEMENTS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 19, 17 January 1929, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS

KING'S THEATRE. f "THE BELOVED ROGUE, v i ■ ■ ••' ; ' "Put him. to torture!" Such a command conjures up in the minds of the present generation a picture of the early ages that is at once., romantic and awe-inspiring, a reminder that justice was not always administered sis it is in the present, highly civilized era. The practice ot torture, which fill s such black pages in the history of the world, provides many thrilling moments in "The Beloved Rogue," John Barrymore* s inij tial United Artists Picture, now at j the King's Theatre. Barrymore appears in this picture as the impulsive Francois Villon, brilliant versifier and eqrf**y talented housebreaker of fifteenth century Paris. Deeply in love with Sharlotte de Vauxcelles, ward of Louis XI, he/.irfcurs the. wrath of Charles, Duke, of Burgundy, .who through the marriage of Charlotte to one of his aides, seeks to obtain a stranglehold on the crown. " The Duke, of Burgundy, intensely angered by the vagabond poet's interference; and further annoyed by Charlotte's apparent interest In the man, orders him pui to torture. The skill with which the torture chamber, with its bed of iron nails, pit of fire, and other devices, is portrayed in the film, is a tribute to the gen--1 ins of. Alan. Orosland, director of "The Beloved Rogue," and William Cameron Menzies, art director, ) Released from the torture chamber,'Villon is cast into a great cage and hoisted far up the side of the castle to swim before the window of his adored Charlotte, played by Marceline Day. This ' situation, in'which Barrymore, and Miss Day enact what are perhaps the,most gripping scenes of the picture, is but one of the many odd positions,, ; in which Bairrymore finds himself during his colourful portrayal of Vil-< lon, the most romantic character on the screen. ,