History Film / TheScarletPimpernel1934

''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the 1934 film adaptation of the classic action-adventure [[Literature/TheScarletPimpernel novel]] written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The film was produced by Alexander Korda, who like Orczy was Hungarian in origin, as was his co-writer Lajos Bíró, and indeed their star, Creator/LeslieHoward. Oddly enough, Howard, who made the part of Sir Percy so much his own, was not Korda's first choice: having had a major hit with ''Film/ThePrivateLifeOfHenryVIII'', he had wished to cast Creator/CharlesLaughton (!) in the part, but was thwarted by critical, popular, and authorial outcry. Korda consoled himself by casting his Anne Boleyn, Merle Oberon, in the part of Marguerite, though Orczy herself considered her unsuitable. The film was given to Rowland Brown to direct, but Korda almost immediately dismissed him (perhaps feeling that Brown, a veteran of American gangster films, was mishandling this quintessentially English story), and assumed directorship himself, giving the film over to another American, Harold Young, for finishing touches.

The film was a triumph of sheer stylishness. Leslie Howard clearly enjoyed himself as Sir Percy; he passes through the fine gradations between the foppish imbecility of his public behaviour, his harder-edged frivolousness toward Marguerite, and the passionate lyricism of his tributes to his two loves, Marguerite and England, with the ease (as he might put it himself) of "a swallow's flight." Creator/RaymondMassey's Chauvelin is a figure of genuine menace: he seems somehow less human than some monstrous force of evil pursuing the innocent. The other rôles are equally well sustained: the fatuous but good-hearted Prince George (Creator/NigelBruce); the kindly and wise de Tournay (O.B. Clarence), his stiffly aristocratic wife (Mabel Terry-Lewis), and charming daughter Suzanne (Joan Gardner), who falls in love with the handsome if somewhat feckless Sir Andrew Foulkes (Anthony Bushell) all make an impression of noble decency that contrasts vividly with the brutal revolutionaries led by the waspish Robespierre (Ernest Milton). Korda's sets and costumes are handsome and lavish, the only failure in production values is perhaps in the rather sparse music.

The film was a triumph of sheer stylishness. Leslie Howard clearly enjoyed himself as Sir Percy; he passes through the fine gradations between the foppish imbecility of his public behaviour, his harder-edged frivolousness toward Marguerite, and the passionate lyricism of his tributes to his two loves, Marguerite and England, with the ease (as he might put it himself) of "a swallow's flight." Raymond Massey's Chauvelin is a figure of genuine menace: he seems somehow less human than some monstrous force of evil pursuing the innocent. The other rôles are equally well sustained: the fatuous but good-hearted Prince George (Creator/NigelBruce); the kindly and wise de Tournay (O.B. Clarence), his stiffly aristocratic wife (Mabel Terry-Lewis), and charming daughter Suzanne (Joan Gardner), who falls in love with the handsome if somewhat feckless Sir Andrew Foulkes (Anthony Bushell) all make an impression of noble decency that contrasts vividly with the brutal revolutionaries led by the waspish Robespierre (Ernest Milton). Korda's sets and costumes are handsome and lavish, the only failure in production values is perhaps in the rather sparse music.

[[caption-width-right:240:Look, Marguerite -- a Trope.]]
->''They seek him here, they seek him there.\\

That demmed, elusive Pimpernel.''

''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the 1934 film adaptation of the classic action-adventure [[Literature/TheScarletPimpernel novel]] written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The film was produced by Alexander Korda, like Orczy Hungarian in origin, as was his co-writer Lajos Bíró, and indeed their star, Creator/LeslieHoward. Oddly enough, Howard, who made the part of Sir Percy so much his own, was not Korda's first choice: having had a major hit with ''Film/ThePrivateLifeOfHenryVIII'', he had wished to cast Creator/CharlesLaughton (!) in the part, but was thwarted by critical, popular, and authorial outcry. Korda consoled himself by casting his Anne Boleyn, Merle Oberon, in the part of Marguerite, though Orczy herself considered her unsuitable. The film was given to Rowland Brown to direct, but Korda almost immediately dismissed him (perhaps feeling that Brown, a veteran of American gangster films, was mishandling this quintessentially English story), and assumed directorship himself, giving the film over to another American, Harold Young, for finishing touches.

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: What Sir Percy tells his companions that they must pretend to be if they are to be effective.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Raymond Massey, though a fine actor, affects a bizarre accent that wanders everywhere between Toronto and Moscow, particularly favouring Budapest. (Perhaps it was all the Hungarians around him.) The only place it resolutely avoids is Paris.

* InformedAttribute: Though we are told that Marguerite is "a clever woman" and "the great actress" she comes across as a clueless, if lovely, doll.

The film was a triumph of sheer stylishness. Leslie Howard clearly enjoyed himself as Sir Percy; he passes through the fine gradations between the foppish imbecility of his public behaviour, his harder-edged frivolousness toward Marguerite, and the passionate lyricism of his tributes to his two loves, Marguerite and England, with the ease (as he might put it himself) of "a swallow's flight." Raymond Massey's Chauvelin is a figure of genuine menace: he seems somehow less human than some monstrous force of evil pursuing the innocent. The other rôles are equally well sustained: the fatuous but good-hearted Prince George (Nigel Bruce); the kindly and wise de Tournay (O.B. Clarence), his stiffly aristocratic wife (Mabel Terry-Lewis), and charming daughter Suzanne (Joan Gardner), who falls in love with the handsome if somewhat feckless Sir Andrew Foulkes (Anthony Bushell) all make an impression of noble decency that contrasts vividly with the brutal revolutionaries led by the waspish Robespierre (Ernest Milton). Korda's sets and costumes are handsome and lavish, the only failure in production values is perhaps in the rather sparse music.

The film was re-made in 1950 as ''The Elusive Pimpernel'', with David Niven as Sir Percy, Margaret Leighton as Marguerite, and Cyril Cusack as Chauvelin. A sequel, ''The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel'', had already appeared in 1938, with Barry K. Barnes as the Pimpernel, Sophie Stewart as Marguerite, Francis Lister as Chauvelin, and a young Creator/JamesMason as a sympathetic member of the Assembly. In 1941, Leslie Howard adapted the general concept of the film for his own ''Film/PimpernelSmith'', in which an English archæologist smuggles refugees out of Nazi Germany; this film is credited with having inspired Raoul Wallenberg in his campaign to rescue tens of thousands of Jews from the German death camps.

The film was a triumph of sheer stylishness. Leslie Howard clearly enjoyed himself as Sir Percy; he passes through the fine gradations between the foppish imbecility of his public behaviour, his harder-edged frivolousness toward Marguerite, and the passionate lyricism of his tributes to his two loves, Marguerite and England, with the ease (as he might put it himself) of "a swallow's flight." Merle Oberon seems at times somewhat more like a figurine than a living woman, but she is at least always elegant and ornamental, a Meissen shepherdess of the best period. Raymond Massey's Chauvelin is a figure of genuine menace, despite his rather odd accent -- or perhaps because of it: he seems somehow less human than some monstrous force of evil pursuing the innocent. The other rôles are equally well sustained: the fatuous but good-hearted Prince George (Nigel Bruce); the kindly and wise de Tournay (O.B. Clarence), his stiffly aristocratic wife (Mabel Terry-Lewis), and charming daughter Suzanne (Joan Gardner), who falls in love with the handsome if somewhat feckless Sir Andrew Foulkes (Anthony Bushell) all make an impression of noble decency that contrasts vividly with the brutal revolutionaries led by the waspish Robespierre (Ernest Milton). Korda's sets and costumes are handsome and lavish, the only failure in production values is perhaps in the rather sparse music.

And in the script. Though the dialogue -- at least Sir Percy's -- is uniformly witty, the plotting and characterization seems somewhat haphazard. Many actions of the Pimpernel's and his foes are [[ShowDontTell merely narrated rather than seen]]: we are told that Percy has managed an escape, we are told that Chauvelin's agents have intercepted a message, we are told Chauvelin has figured out that Percy is the Pimpernel -- and all these things take place offscreen. At times the pace of the story drags; at times events take place that are never properly explained. Nevertheless, the film maintains its reputation as a classic.

The film was re-made in 1950 as ''The Elusive Pimpernel'', with David Niven as Sir Percy, Margaret Leighton as Marguerite, and Cyril Cusack as Chauvelin, to no very great advantage. A sequel, ''The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel'', had already appeared in 1938, with Barry K. Barnes as the Pimpernel, Sophie Stewart as Marguerite, Francis Lister as Chauvelin, and a young Creator/JamesMason as a sympathetic member of the Assembly. In 1941, Leslie Howard adapted the general concept of the film for his own ''Film/PimpernelSmith'', in which an English archæologist smuggles refugees out of Nazi Germany; this film is credited with having inspired Raoul Wallenberg in his campaign to rescue tens of thousands of Jews from the German death camps.

* AlwaysCamp: The historical Robespierre was considered somewhat prim and priggish; in this film, Ernest Milton plays him as waspish, posturing, and, well, ''campy''.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The music, credited to Arthur Benjamin, consists of little more than ''La Marseillaise'' over the titles and ''[[Creator/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik]]'' at the ball.

''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the 1934 film adaptation of the classic action-adventure [[Literature/TheScarletPimpernel novel]] written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The film was produced by Alexander Korda, like Orczy Hungarian in origin, as was his co-writer Lajos Bíró, and indeed their star, Leslie Howard. Oddly enough, Howard, who made the part of Sir Percy so much his own, was not Korda's first choice: having had a major hit with ''Film/ThePrivateLifeOfHenryVIII'', he had wished to cast Creator/CharlesLaughton (!) in the part, but was thwarted by critical, popular, and authorial outcry. Korda consoled himself by casting his Anne Boleyn, Merle Oberon, in the part of Marguerite, though Orczy herself considered her unsuitable. The film was given to Rowland Brown to direct, but Korda almost immediately dismissed him (perhaps feeling that Brown, a veteran of American gangster films, was mishandling this quintessentially English story), and assumed directorship himself, giving the film over to another American, Harold Young, for finishing touches.

-->''They seek him here, they seek him there.\\

That demmed, elusive Pimpernel.''\\
-- Sir Percy Blakeney

The film was re-made in 1950 as ''The Elusive Pimpernel'', with David Niven as Sir Percy, Margaret Leighton as Marguerite, and Cyril Cusack as Chauvelin, to no very great advantage. A sequel, ''The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel'', had already appeared in 1938, with Barry K. Barnes as the Pimpernel, Sophie Stewart as Marguerite, Francis Lister as Chauvelin, and a young James Mason as a sympathetic member of the Assembly. In 1941, Leslie Howard adapted the general concept of the film for his own ''Film/PimpernelSmith'', in which an English archæologist smuggles refugees out of Nazi Germany; this film is credited with having inspired Raoul Wallenberg in his campaign to rescue tens of thousands of Jews from the German death camps.

* TheFrenchRevolution: ''Naturellement.''

For other adaptations, not derived from the Korda film, please see TheScarletPimpernel.