The Scarlet Pimpernel
Brief Description:
In 1792 during the Reign of Terror, the Scarlet Pimpernel rescues French aristocrats while posing as the wealthy but foppish and seemingly empty-headed Sir Percival Blakeney. Percy marries the beautiful French actress Marguerite St. Just, but her previous relationship with Robespierre’s agent Paul Chauvelin may endanger the Pimpernel’s plans to save the young Dauphin, eldest son of the former King of France.
(from Wikipedia)
Date: 1982
Genre: British action adventure romance historical fiction
Running time: 2 hours 16 minutes
Cast:
Anthony Andrews (Sir Percy Blakeney)
Jane Seymour (Lady Marguerite St. Just Blakeney)
Ian McKellen (Paul Chauvelin)
James Villiers (Baron de Batz)
Eleanor David (Louise Langé)
Malcolm Jamieson (Armand St. Just)
Richard Morant (Robespierre)
Dominic Jephcott (Sir Andrew Ffoulkes)
Christopher Villiers (Lord Antony Dewhurst)
Mark Drewry (Lord Timothy Hastings)
Julian Fellowes (Prince of Wales)
Denis Lill (Count de Tournay)
Ann Firbank (the Countess de Tournay)
Tracey Childs (Suzanne de Tournay)
Timothy Carlton (Count de Beaulieu)
Kate Howard (Countess de Beaulieu)
Geoffrey Toone (Marquis de St. Cyr)
John Quarmby (Ponceau)
David Gant (Fouquet)
Joanna Dickens (Aunt Lulu)
Richard Charles (Dauphin)
Gordon Gostelow (Duval)
Carol MacReady (Madame Duval)
Daphne Anderson (Lady Grenville)
Nick Brimble (Bibot)
Tony Caunter (Pochard)
Director: Clive Donner
Production company: London Films
Based on: The Scarlet Pimpernel & Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 5/5
The film set is very rich and captures the lavish life of the Blakeneys very well. The island and the picnic grounds added a very different aesthetic to the more gloomy black & white aesthetic of the classic Pimpernel films. The prisons and other revolutionary aspects were well done. And the music + filmography is epic.
Characters: 4/5
Anthony Andrews does make a splendid Sir Percy. He’s just as good as Leslie Howard at capturing the switch from fop to hero, and he’s also tall enough, big enough, and English-looking enough; he also has the right voice/tone and the humour down pat. Jane Seymour, too, is a fantastic Marguerite—really very beautiful, passionate, expressive… I think she does even better than Merle Oberon. Finally, Ian McKellen as Chauvelin is excellent. He’s not quite according to the books, but he expresses Chauvelin’s personality very, very well, especially in dealing with Percy. These three get a 5/5.
The other really great characters are the Comtesse de Tournay (very accurate), Armand (also hugely accurate, except when it comes to Louise… ugh), Ponceau (not in the books, but quite an interesting character), and the Prince of Wales (I like Nigel Bruce better as the princely Prince, but Julian Fellowes is more amusing and more like the Prince in the later Pimpernel books, like Lord Tony’s Wife). 4/5 for those.
Everyone else was lacking to me. No one replaces Anthony Bushell as Sir Andrew, and Mark Drewry + Christopher Villiers are sadly lacking as Lord Hastings and Lord Anthony Dewhurst. Richard Morant as Robespierre and James Villiers as the Baron were decent, as well as Denis Lill as the Comte de Tournay, though. Louise was nothing like Jeanne Langé in the books, either. 3/5 for these ones.
Plot: 5/5
The film merges The Scarlet Pimpernel with Eldorado (the Dauphin part + Armand’s disobedience) and even a bit of The Elusive Pimpernel with the duel and I Will Repay with the cart, etc, but still differs from all of them. I really enjoyed seeing Percy & Marguerite’s courtship while he carried out Scarlet Pimpernel rescues. The love triangle with Chauvelin’s attraction to Marguerite was a fascinating new angle, as was the part about Percy rescuing Armand; and the film’s take on the St. Cyr fiasco was great and threaded through the plot so well. Armand’s position as Chauvelin’s assistant was another super cool addition (reminded me of De Calmet from the 1937 Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel), as was seeing more of the angst between Percy & Marguerite, and the library scene. Finally, the ending was epic.
Also, there were even a few bits of dialogue so like the 1934 that I think it must have been inspired??
Romance: 3/5
This film capitalizes on the passion between Percy & Marguerite instead of the sweetness of their love. It was good, but I still like the 1934 take on their romance better. Armand & Louise’s relationship, though, disgusts me and I’m so annoyed it got added because it is SO not a part of the books and so gratuitous.
Content: 2/5 (high)
Language (d**n, Ga*, possibly more). Drinking. Kisses & hugging between M+P and A+L, plus Chauvelin kisses Marguerite’s face twice. Lots of low-necked dresses (typical 1790s style). A few open shirts/chest showing scenes. A scene where Marguerite tucks a note into her bust. A scene where she dresses behind a screen when Chauvelin is in the room. A short scene where Armand & Louise are in bed (Armand shirtless, Louise in a nightgown) from 36:52 to 37:12 and they hug. A scene where Chauvelin asks if Percy satisfies Marguerite and tries to seduce her to become his lover (1:14:04-1:14:28). A scene where Marguerite asks Percy to stay with her that night. Another scene (1:39:58-1:42:08) where Armand & Louise are in bed and soldiers arrive; there is much talk of “the man asleep in her boudoir”; several scenes of Louise in a négligée and Armand shirtless; he throws his clothes on at the end; Chauvelin remarks later that the man Louise claimed was in her room was “celibate as a monk” and probably hasn’t “slept with his wife these ten years.” A scene where the Dauphin is forced to call his mother a w*ore. At the end, Percy orders Chauvelin stripped so he can borrow his clothes to impersonate him.
Violence: 4/5 (low)
The killing and fighting is mostly off-screen; one scene where Armand is beaten and bloodied up.
Overall: 4/5
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