If I Were King

In Paris, besieged by the Burgundians, François Villon (Ronald Colman) is a poetic vagabond who pinches what he can to help feed the population. King Louis XI (Basil Rathbone), a wily old buzzard, appoints him as Grand Constable after he kills a turncoat in a brawl, and rewards him with the title due to his supposed "moral fiber" that distinguishes him from the nobles who have failed in the role before. Villon falls in love with Katherine DeVaucelles (Frances Dee), a lady-in-waiting on the queen, but is forced to flee execution when the King turns on him after discovering their affair. After Villon escapes and rallies the common people to rout the Burgundians, he is eventually pardoned by the King, who comes to respect his wit and cunning, and sends him into exile in the south of France.