The Scarlet Pimpernel
Brief Description:
London fop Percy Blakeney is also secretly the Scarlet Pimpernel who, in a variety of disguises, makes repeated daring trips to France to save aristocrats from Madame Guillotine. His unknowing wife is also French, and she finds that her brother has been arrested by the Republic to try and get her to find out who “that elusive Pimpernel” really is.
(from Archive)
Date: 1934
Genre: British action adventure romance historical fiction
Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes
Cast:
Leslie Howard (Sir Percy Blakeney)
Merle Oberon (Lady Marguerite Blakeney)
Raymond Massey (Chauvelin)
Nigel Bruce (Prince of Wales)
Bramwell Fletcher (Priest)
Anthony Bushell (Sir Andrew Ffoulkes)
Joan Gardner (Suzanne de Tournay)
Walter Rilla (Armand St.-Just)
Mabel Terry-Lewis (Countess de Tournay)
O.B. Clarence (Count de Tournay)
Ernest Milton (Robespierre)
Edmund Breon (Colonel Winterbottom)
Melville Cooper (Romney)
Gibb McLaughlin (The Barber)
Morland Graham (Treadle)
John Turnbull (Jellyband)
Gertrude Musgrove (Sally)
Allan Jeayes (Lord Grenville)
A. Bromley Davenport (Brogard)
William Freshman Lord Hastings)
Hindle Edgar (Lord Wilmot)
Director: Harold Young
Production company: London Films
Based on: the 1905 play by Baroness Emmuska Orczy & Montagu Barstow and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1908) by Orczy
Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 4/5
Okay, so in looks, this is the quintessential Scarlet Pimpernel feel. So 1790s France and England. In setting… well, it’s rather hard not to notice that these Parisians have strong British accents, with the exception of Chauvelin, Armand, and Marguerite (they have good fake French accents, yet they still manage to mispronounce things, haha!). It’s quite amusing and hardly bugs me because the rest of the film completely makes up for it.
Oh, and the opening music is SO GOOD! It sets the tone perfectly.
Characters: 5/5
LESLIE HOWARD IS A PERFECT SCARLET PIMPERNEL.
Okay, so he isn’t as big as Percy should be. That’s the only flaw. Otherwise, he captures the attitude of Percy SO well, both as “the biggest fool in Europe” and the “cleverest man in Europe.”
Merle Oberon is an excellent Marguerite. Pretty, clever, expressive…
Sir Andrew is PERFECTION and Chauvelin is so accurate in looks in personality. Even the minor characters like the Comtesse and Suzanne are very accurate! Of course none of them is 100% accurate but they capture the personalities so well. This is a splendid portrayal.
Plot: 5/5
The plot follows the book pretty faithfully until the end. It leaves out some bits, but it carries out the general plot of the book—the escape, the society scenes, the ball, the sudden realization of who the Scarlet Pimpernel is… mixed with extra scenes that are different from the book’s but serve similar purposes. The ending is completely different from the book but very good and so exciting!! Oh and I love the bit where Percy quotes Shakespeare’s speech on England…
Romance: 5/5
Percy & Marguerite are the cutest. <3 I love his lines about the Pimpernel being madly in love with his wife (that scene is EVERYTHING) and then his declaration to the old soldier that “he’s in love, with his wife.” Such a sweet scene there too.
Content: 3/5 (medium)
Marguerite has a very low dress for the ball and subsequent scene at home, but given the black & white of the film, it’s not very noticeable. A kiss or two between Percy & Marguerite. Lots of language (mostly “demmed,” but a few uses of d**n, also lots of “Gad”).
Violence: 5/5 (low)
The guillotine and fighting are all off-screen.
Overall: 5/5
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