MAJESTIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 119, 10 August 1927, Page 15

MAJESTIC

“THE BELOVED ROGUE” “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 as it is in the present, highly civilised era. The practice of torture, which fills such black pages in the history of the world, provides many thrilling moments in “The Beloved Rogue,” John Barrymore’s initial United Artists picture, which will be shown to-night and to-morrow at the Majestic Theatre. Barrymore appears in this picture as the lovable, impulsive Francois Villon, brilliant versifier and equally talented housebreaker of fifteenth centry Paris. Deeply in love with Charlotte de Vauxcelles, ward of Louis XI., he incurs 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 Char-

lotte’s apparent interest in the man, orders him to be put 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 genius of Alan Crosland, 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 swing helplessly 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 Barrymore finds himself during his colourful portrayal of Villon, the most romantic character on the screen.