“Pimpernel” Smith
Also known as Mister V
Brief Description:
In the spring of 1939, months before the outbreak of the war, eccentric Cambridge archaeologist Horatio Smith takes a group of British and American archaeology students to Nazi Germany to help in his excavations. However, he has a secret agenda: to free inmates of the concentration camps. What happens when his students get wind of his activities? And when the daughter of a Polish prisoner is pressured to help the Nazis in exchange for her father’s life?
(from Wikipedia, added to by me)
Date: 1941
Genre: British action adventure romance WWII comedic thriller drama
Running time: 1 hour 56 minutes
Cast:
Leslie Howard (Professor Horatio Smith)
Francis Sullivan (General von Graum)
Mary Morris (Ludmilla Koslowski)
Hugh McDermott (David Maxwell)
Raymond Huntley (Marx)
Manning Whiley (Bertie Gregson)
Peter Gawthorne (Sidimir Koslowski)
Allan Jeayes (Dr. Beckendorf)
Dennis Arundell (Hoffman)
Joan Kemp-Welch (Schoolteacher)
Philip Friend (Spencer)
Laurence Kitchin (Clarence Elstead)
David Tomlinson (Steve)
Basil Appleby (Jock MacIntyre)
Percy Walsh (Dvorak)
Roland Pertwee (Embassy Official Sir George Smith)
A. E. Matthews (Earl of Meadowbrook)
Aubrey Mallalieu (Dean)
Ben Williams (Graubitz)
Ernest Butcher (Weber)
Arthur Hambling (Jordan)
Mary Brown (Girl Student)
W. Phillips (Innkeeper)
Ilse Bard (Gretchen)
Ernest Verne (German Officer)
George Street (Schmidt)
Hector Abb((Karl Meyer)
Neal Arden (Second Prisoner)
Richard George (Prison Guard)
Roddy Hughes (Zigor)
Hwfa Pryce (Wagner)
Oriel Ross (Lady Willoughby)
Brian Herbert (Jaromir)
Suzanne Claire (Salesgirl)
Charles Paton (Steinhof)
Michael Rennie (Guard Captain)
Director: Leslie Howard
Production company: British National Films
Based on: “Pimpernel” Smith by A.G. Macdonell & The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 5/5
Very German, except that all the Nazis have strong British accents and use specifically British words… ;P
Characters: 5/5
Smith is delightfully absent-minded and excessively witty. He reminds me intensely of Sherlock Holmes, the Ronald Howard version… unsurprisingly! Ludmilla is very German in feel, and a great romantic side character, as well as an awesome female spy. Neither of them are anything like the Blakeneys, nor is the General like Chauvelin, but I don’t mind that. The students are individually interesting and amusing, but particularly the American and the Scot. ;)
Plot: 5/5
Inspired by the Orczy novel, this film doesn’t follow the plot of the book at all, and spins its own delightful story. It’s a great adventurous romp with plenty of humour and excitement! I love the recurring Shakespeare gag and how Smith mocks the American’s slang… and the Jabberwocky bit… and so much more...
Romance: 5/5
Such a sweet romance, this is ;)
Theme/Message/Topics: 5/5
Very anti-nazi British propaganda, but ultimately true in its sentiments.
Content: 3/5 (medium)
The general’s office has a huge painting of naked people (all women?) and there are several scenes in his office. In the beginning of the film the Professor is in a museum by a statue of Aphrodite (evidently nude), where she figures in a whole scene, and throughout the film he references her. Some language & drinking. A student suggests that the professor is “s*x starved.”
Violence: 4/5 (low)
Off-screen fighting.
Overall: 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment