I'm enjoying the Francois Villion pictures. I've been intrigued by this character ever since I found a tattered copy of the Justin Huntly McCarthy play, If I Were King in our school library when I was about thirteen. I also have several copies of the novel (one a lovely copy with a dj and photos from the filmed operetta THE VAGABOND KING, based on the book and play). Years later in a bookstore in Shreveport, LA., I found my own tattered copy of the play which I treasure (would love to do it some day) and I am a fan of the Ronald Colman movie as well.
I'm enjoying the Francois Villion pictures. I've been intrigued by this character ever since I found a tattered copy of the Justin Huntly McCarthy play, If I Were King in our school library when I was about thirteen. I also have several copies of the novel (one a lovely copy with a dj and photos from the filmed operetta THE VAGABOND KING, based on the book and play). Years later in a bookstore in Shreveport, LA., I found my own tattered copy of the play which I treasure (would love to do it some day) and I am a fan of the Ronald Colman movie as well.
Oh, my God, another Villon fan! I first saw the Ronald Colman movie on TV in college and thought, "This should be a musical." I didn't discover
The Vagabond King till many years later. Yes, I have McCarthy's play and novel, and maybe about five French editions and five different English translations of his poems.
There is a running Villon theme in my novel
Any Other Season (which will yes be on line whenever I get my web page up), including a parody--two parodies, actually, of his best known poem, "La Ballade des dames du temps jadis" (The Ballade of Ladies of Bygone Days).
The French parody is "La Ballade des d
rames du temps jadis" and has the refrain "Mais où sont les pièces d'antan?" The English version is "The Ballade of Ladies of Bygone Plays", and the refrain is "But what's become of last year's shows?" Full of Broadway jokes.
I guess I should post them here, just out of simple vanity, although the poems are a bit long. Now, as Molly Brown says, "I was hoping someone would ask."