This was the era when actors could act.Everything was put together well scripts,costumes,sets,music.Gives one a fantasy,realistic view of that world.....Worth The Watch.
Mario sang many of the love songs in recordings but if you listen closely it is not his voice in this film. His accents and pronunciations are too thick. Mario's voice was much smoother .
Oreste Kirkop is the first opera tenor that has turned Operas from Italian to English & sung At Covet Garden London & New York. He is a Maltese & comes from a great musical family.............now he R.I.P.
I just finished a different version of this story in the movie, "If I Were King," starring Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone! It was very well done and not a musical.
Horses are the main means of transport, yet the streets are spotless. Everything in this movie is so pretty, the heroes, the villains, the scenery. How is this NOT a Disney Movie?
@@fritula6200 Canadian cities are really good that way. Except for a few areas they're very clean, even the less pleasant areas. The spots with garbage and needles are very, very rare.
Rita Moreno! Just a humble girl from Puerto Rico - she must have been so thrilled to be filming in 15th century Paris with the legendary François Villon!
By her own accounts (Moreno's), she: 01. Lived in the mainland since the age of three; 02. Never had a Latin accent. Such was feigned in the movies, to accommodate for the roles she would be assigned to play.
A wonderfully great movie in every way. The music & voices are among the finest ever filmed, in my humble opinion. The sets, costumes, & story are lovely. It remains among one of my favorite all-time musicals. Thank you very much for posting it. Thank you for your time & effort in doing this. I, for one, am extremely grateful. You see, I ridded myself of television years ago & rely on You Tube for my entertainment...movies, etc. Thank you again.
+Rebecca Salazar we are of a few hundred that enjoy movies like this. sadly, hollywood needs several thousand to even suggest a production start. Russell Crowe in "Gladiator"
not every old film is a classic. not every modern film is 'rubbish'. many new films are exceedingly good. you just have to sift through all the not so pleasant ones to find them. strangely enough, you have to do the same thing with old films. there are many, MANY very, VERY low quality ones.
Mario Lanza's voice has never been equalled. hewas trully a crossover artist. His renditions of operatic arias were, without a doubt, the very best in the world. just listen to his operatic arias whch are unmatched. Mario forever!!
Mario Lanza was indeed a great singer. Almost as good as Caruso ... it's difficult to compare though because the recording techniques in Caruso's time were lacking in quality. Sad. Nevertheless, I love Mario Lanzas voice too. God-given. Such a voice is rare indeed. Talent combined with training. A dying art. Kirkop I didn't know - so thanks for the information. Why don't they make them like that anymore?
Norma Hobson , We all have our preferences, and mine is Juan Diego Florez. Yes, Mario Panza had a great voice, but, as far as I am aware, he never sang in, opera. That requires a singer whose voice carries to the back of the great opera and concert halls, without the benefit of microphones and other 'enhancements'. Even a moderately good singer can sound amazing with the little aids used in films. As you seem to enjoy good music, Google Juan Diego. I have never heard better, and he has film star looks too!
Only if such great films are made in this 21st Century. Great film ever made. The splendour of the costumes, acting and action scenes are just remarkable and very natural.
Watching this one (which is a good movie, because of MARIO LANZA'S SINGING), makes me eagerly look for the RONALD COLMAN VERSION, just to listen to Mr. Colman say, "IF I WERE KING"! Ahhh, Mr. Ronald Colman! "The Brothers", would say, "You had a 'Great Rap', way before people even knew what a 'Rap' was!" (P.S., It seems that I am in serious error in my comments about this movie. I was under the misassumption that Mr. Mario Lanza provided the Singing voice for the 'lead' in this musical of "The Vagabond King". I've recently learned that the actor who played the lead character, Msr. Francois Villanova performed his own singing in this film. He sounds so much like Mr. Lanza, that I totally swore that it was Mr. Lanza I was listening to. My most profound apologies to the RU-vid.com Movies and TV community for my arrogant error.
Because the quality of the audiences has deteriorated from immigration and from interbreedin. Also because of massive mind-control and sorcery on the part of the leaders of the corporations.
@@stevequizodlibumpbumpbump3575 The fault lies ENTIRELY with the dumbing down AND destruction of entertainment ... by the communist elements (social justice and feminism) which have taken over the West. Immigration and breeding have nothing to do with it ...
I don’t mean to be rude, but “interbreeding”? As someone who’s Greek, Italian, German, and Irish, (some who have been here since the 1800s, others since the 1940s), I can’t agree with this part of your comment… now the “mind control” part in the other hand is a much more understandable argument 😅
Rita Moreno's singing voice was dubbed by Broadway actress Laurie Carroll. Oreste Kirkop was a Covent Garden tenor, so his actual singing voice was used, but his SPEAKING voice had to be dubbed by film actor Elliot Reid.
Robert Waldren IMO there were several other factors much more important than that. His voice didn't even approach the beauty and strength of Mario Lanza. I'm in complete agreement that Mario was "The greatest voice of the 20th century."
+Robert Waldren Sorry but he did not need to be the next Mario Lanza as he was a great singer who sang in the greatest opera houses in the world which Mario Lanza never did he was only a movie star a good singerbut only in Movies
The Vagabond King is a 1956 musical film adaptation of the 1925 operetta The Vagabond King by Rudolf Friml. It starred Kathryn Grayson and Oreste Kirkop, with early roles for Rita Moreno and Leslie Nielsen. Sir Cedric Hardwicke played a notable supporting role. It was Kathryn Grayson's and Walter Hampden's last movie. Hampden, who played King Louis XI, died more than a year before its release. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. In fifteenth century France, the irreverent beggar François Villon (tenor Oreste Kirkop) is crowned "king for a day" by King Louis XI (Walter Hampden). He patriotically rallies his fellow beggars to fight when Paris is invaded by the Burgundians. Kathryn Grayson stars as the high-born heroine, and Rita Moreno as the lusty low-born wench, whose love for Villon eventually costs her her life.
ThreeAMWoman K.G. Appeared on silver screen now and then since 1956 (she even appeared as a guest star in three episodes "Murder, She Wrote" with Angela Lansbury), but it interfered with her musical career constantly. Grayson trained from the age of twelve as an opera singer. Besides being an opera singer and an actress she also supervised the Voice and Choral Studies Program at Idaho State University. One more amusing fact for you: While shooting the Madame Butterfly scene in the film with Mario Lanza, Lanza kept attempting to french kiss Grayson, which Grayson claimed was made even worse by the fact that Lanza would constantly eat garlic before shooting. Grayson went to costume designer Helen Rose and she sewed pieces of brass into Grayson's gloves. Any time Lanza attempted to french kiss her after that, she hit him with the brass-filled glove. :-))
Thank you so very much, Natalia, for your interesting reply. I will have to look for the episodes of "Murder She Wrote" she appeared in. I have always loved K.G. since my childhood in the 1950's. Being voice chorus trained for many years...until my 20's, I appreciate her lovely & great voice...also her beauty :)
You are very welcome! It was a pleasure "talking" to you! Being an artist I appreciate beauty in all its forms, and being a romantic I appreciate music also. But one of the great disappointments of my life is the complete lack of ANY singing ability - I could not hold a note to save my life.
Oh, but you have the gift of The Arts & the gift of Appreciation, Natalia! I am also a romantic & appreciate beauty in all forms. Have artistic abilities in most ways, except drawing or painting. I regret that & sometimes feel like I could do it, but at 67 years of age, I am happy with what I have been given. It has been a pleasure speaking with you. You are an interesting person.
Mediaeval France was somewhat cleaner than I expected. But with sillier hats. Bet it was smelly though. Perhaps pumping it through the air-conditioning into the cinema was not a good marketing ploy in hindsight. Bet the taverns were rubbish too. Anyway the last time I stood on a table & started singing down the Warwick Castle I was barred. Philistines! Philistines, I tell you.
I'm always impressed by the fact that, in a culture where animals were everywhere and horses were the mode of transportation, you never see animal feces anywhere.
I loved this film when my mother took me to the Davis Theatre in Croydon. I sang all the songs both tenor and soprano. I bought the LP which I lost some 29 years ago; but I can still remember all the words though now I am a Contralto/Basso Profundo.
The sets and costumes are as good as they can get for this kind of production. The acting and writing needed improvement, but I think this was made just for the sake of getting it out to fulfill a contract on someone's part.
True. But nothing Rita made, including the dazzling classics, West Side Story and The King and I - made Rita happy. She had a good, solid career. Way better than some of her peers. Enough already.
What great movie. Classic. Yes, it has things in it that we, with our vast benefit of education and technological/movie familiarity now can pick apart, but the savviest among us know how to view this movie - with regard to the time it was made and the costumes, effects, and methods used at the time. To judge it by deliberately viewing through a different lens is to be, well, a dick. Whatever you think, I'm guessing that everyone involved in this movie had a h*lluva a great time while they were making it.
You're welcome ThreeAMWoman. If you wish to read more of my words, check out my serialized novels on Jukepop - A mage, a dwarf, and a woman with very sharp teeth. www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/1323 , and Captain of the Fish (Lovecraft inspired horror) www.jukepop.com/home/read/2285
I had forgotten that his speaking voice was dubbed(for a change)....sort of disconcerting. I got a tape of this to Kathryn in the early 90's, as there was not a home video release. I think it held a special place for her. RIP lovely lady.
Oh my God, they are singing, it's a musical movie , M U S I C A L !!! No knights tournaments, no swording, no blood, only killing by singing.I hope i die first.
The film was considered to such a monumental turkey that Paramount refused to release it for two years. Katherine Grayson and Oreste Kirkup loathed each other intensely, and only spoke when they had to - he managed to sing the songs phonetically, but couldn't speak the dialogue, which was dubbed entirely by another actor. Thankfully, the highly acclaimed, charm free Oreste was never seen again. The only saving grace was that Paramount were able to use some of the sets for The Court Jester. Considering that Katherine Grayson had been terrific in Kiss Me Kate, it was sad that she was forced to make this bomb - her last film.
A charming film, if you enjoy this may I recommend you find the earlier various, 1936 if I remember correctly? They are at once very similar and very different.
Is that Vincent Price's voice it sure sounds like him narrating this movie I've seen many old movies with my grandmother as a young girl but I don't think I've seen this one and my granddaughter just happens to be with me tonight that she'll be a great joy I just hope she can sit through this movie at the age of eight wish me luck.🤞😊😊🤞
I haven't heard or seen this movie i think its Magnificent one i was 5 yrs old when this was filmed Hallelujah im just watching it now see how i go thank you kindly & muchly for Sharing🙏🤣🐕👍!!!
I never thought I could dislike a Kathryn Grayson film, but this one proved me wrong. I couldn't finish it and she was my favorite singer from that era on screen by far.
It is a remake of an earlier movie with music thrown in. If you have never seen it then try it but don't feel bad if you abandon it part way through the viewing.
I've loved The Vagabond King since I was a kid; I was eight years old when it was released. Just this week I found out that before it was a musical it was a novel and stage play. Both were titled If I Were King. The film version starred Ronald Coleman as Francois Villon and Basil Rathbone as Louis XI. I recommend watching both movies back to back. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rRRIq-Mwzhc.html
I'm halfway through with this version of the story & I have to admit that I prefer -hands down - the older movie with Basil Rathbone as Louis XI. This one is grating on my nerves with all the tomcat-on-a-fence-post-screeching.
1st are you certain that is not Mario Lanza's voice sure sound's like him? 2nd great cast, great music, colorful costumes and Rita Moreno a talent that never received the recognition she deserved!
On the contrary Rita Moreno was a member of the exclusive E.G.O.T. Club (Emmy / Grammy / Oscar / Tony). Rita Moreno did receive her fair share of recognition and then some.
Pray define "organic bacon" for li'l ol'me, please? Is it a pig who roamed the woods and only ate truffles, whose meat underwent salting with only sea salt, and was only smoked with wood taken from a virgin forest? The pig is the result of modifying genes going back past Gregor Mendel. There are no non-bred pigs extant. The salt, whatever its pedigree, is some combination of mineral salts that are all chemically similar, with no distinguishable difference (although I like the Sea Salt, which has the proportions of minerals that man was made from. As to the Hickory, there you have a point. Soaking something in a solution of smoke residue, which many unscrupulous meat packers do, is like licking an ashtray.But, I am unaware of any tree which yet lives that has been genetically modified so as to make a difference in the smoking. I am truly curious, as I am not certain which point is the one I should look into further. Other than that, your suggestion is lovely. By the way, where did that Salmon come from? This is in no way a criticism of your idea. I do my own sausage, bacon, and all kinds of charcuterie and plain old pickling and smoking. I am just vague on what constitutes an "organic" label for something as highly processed as bacon (not that I don't LOVE bacon, and all its delicious cousins like prosciutto, pancetta and Jamon)? Now, if what you meant was "homemade", I am with you, but outside of raising the pig and slaughtering it yourself, obtaining sea salt from Indian beaches, and harvesting your own wood to smoke from forests which have never known the footprint of man, I need some instruction as to what is meant by "organic" when one is referring to bacon. If you are from Maine or the Northwest, I will defer to your spectacular Salmon, which must be et directly from the Sea or River to be a real treat. You could use a smoked tire tread and it would still be Magnifico! Bye the bye, do you know that bacon originated when household pigs became fat from their human's prosperity? A lean pig's bacon will rot very fast. It takes lots of fat, salt, and smoke to give us one of God's greatest gifts to Man, which will last through a hard winter, almost any conditions, and is so very portable in its hardset form. The greatest discoveries and voyages have only been made possible by our little pig friends and their fat bellies, along with the calories and flavor they contain. By the way, get you a Brinkmann's smoker, and you won't need the bacon. I make the Realsmoker, which is a bit more Hillbilly, redneck, Bar-B-Que, and although it would, and often has, done fish fine, you would have to be cooking it for a thousand people to use it efficiently. An entire pig, split, is more our style. Or twenty chickens. Bon Appetite!
George Soros Obviously, George, you had nothing better to do than to spoil a good joke with a lot of unconnected data trivia. That was unnecessary and pedantic.
All pigs, including "wild" boars now living have some domesticated roots. Multitudes have returned to the forests in certain places, but there is no such a thing as a pig which has not been bred for purpose.
Movies back then were so corny; yet so entertaining, not to mention with acting - I think, - superior to today's. Come to think, they felt "real" everyday life as do most of us, unlike most of today's, who transit directly from Home to acting school, after which they're sought for their opinions on virtually everything they've never personally experienced. Oh, they vote, too!
The voice is not Mario Lanza. That's was MGM's The Student Prince, which used his voice after he walked off the set, since he didn't like the director. He was replace by actor Edmund Purdom who used Lanza soundtrack. Similiar movie, but not a Lanza movie.
Mario Lanza didn't walk off the set of The Student Prince. He was carried off. Or carted off. He was so overweight that he couldn't fit into his costumes and the cameras were ready to roll.
The main actor and singer ORESTE had a most promising career ahead of him. To safeguard Mario Lanza the mafia told Oreste to cease his Hollywood career or die. He did disappear thanks to M. Lanza.
Could you provide a link on that? Oreste Kirkop was pretty busy with the opera before, during and after the year he made The Vagabond King. I don't see why he would quit the stage, where he was already a star, to start a different career in Hollywood; he didn't even live in the US. Four years after the movie, when he was 37, his doctors told him to quit the opera if he didn't want to die onstage with a heart attack, and he retired.
Nobody wanted to make it Steve. And nobody, apart from Oreste Kirkup, who thought he was going to be huge movie star wanted to be in it either. End of contracts rubbish for all concerned.
No wonder Kathryn Grayson said this was her worst movie.... the acting is horrible, the sets are something from a high school production... however, where I disagree with her is in the singing, it's GLORIOUS! All of the songs are just fantastic and she's in as fine a voice as ever!
Clearly, this is NOT Lanza. He was an unforgettable singer with no accent as this fine gentleman had, and would have appeared in the film. Great voice for German operetta style here.however.
Except for the music it's quite entertaining, so I just fast forward past it. I was surprised that it's pretty good, but the corney music is very distracting and sometimes annoying.
but there will come where this pseudo intellectual criticizing Mario Lanza, gross and grim cockroach can go somewhere to nail your blog so imbecile poison
You can buy one cheap that goes right into your computer. I have one so I could record old LPs like that onto cd's or save aas files. Google "USB turntable and you'll find many, pretty cheap. It turned out to be a good investment since hurricane Sandy wiped out my actual LPs, but not the ones I had already saved.
"Let's hope the spider has no surprises up his sleeve." A mixed metaphor. And it refers to playin cards. Were games of cards courtly in those days in Burgundy?
sorry but why that wrong logo? it is not VISTAVION format... VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen... Your uploading is old TV 4:3 format... it is not vistavision!
Good Film....but not the ending I thought was going to happen. Since she had to forfeit her lands and riches, the King should have bestowed the lands and titles of Burgundy to them as reward, thus turning him from vagabond to Noble, like they sang about thru the whole movie!🦂
to dale Erwin. in 1959 bjorling and lanza died.areste returned to Malta and according to the Maltese times retired because he did not wish to die of a heart attack. weather this was the reason I can not. be sure
An interesting curiosity is The Vagabond King (1956). This film was at one stage meant to star Mario Lanza and reunite him with his co-star of his first two MGM films, Kathryn Grayson. Oreste Kirkop (Villon), the operatic tenor sings a little like Lanza but didn't have much charisma and was rather charmless off-screen according to Kathryn Grayson. He retired from his operatic career in 1960 because of a serious heart ailment. A great shame that so many of the beautiful original songs were jettisoned for second rate new songs written for the film. This was indeed Kathryn's last film and the last of the great American operettas to be filmed having reached their peak with the MacDonald-Eddy films of the late 1930's; early 40's.
