The King and the Jester
French short about King Francis I and his jester Triboulet, who form the basis for Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse (and Verdi's opera Rigoletto).
From the archive
This is a five minute short film from Georges Méliès. Like most of his films, Méliès himself appears in the movie--as the jester. He bounces about and tries to entertain the king. However, Francois appears bored by all this. But, when the jester brings out a pretty lady (in 1907 clothing, by the way), the king takes notice! Then, the jester goes about doing the usual Méliès stuff--magic (as he was a stage magician before turning to films).Sadly, the final portion of the film is degraded and this is the best copy I've been able to procure for my collection. Director: Georges Méliès Stars: Georges Méliès Release Date: USA 25 January 1908 Also Known As (AKA) François Ier et Triboulet France (original title) The King and the Jester USA
Why this is free to watch
The King and the Jester (1907) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Internet Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Georges Méliès
- Starring
- Georges Méliès
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