The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

Director:

Harold Young

Writers:

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (by)
Lajos Biró (scenario, continuity & dialogue) ...

Release Date:

7 February 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

The Scarlet Pimpernel. Who Was He... What Was His Strange Power?

Plot:

Leslie Howard plays Sir Percy Blakeney, an 18th century English aristocrat who leads a double life. He appears to be merely the effete aristocrat...

Plot Keywords:

Aristocrat | Scarlet Pimpernel | Disguise | Fop | Guillotine

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Leslie Howard	...	Sir Percy Blakeney / The Scarlet Pimpernel
Merle Oberon	...	Lady Blakeney
Raymond Massey	...	Chauvelin
Nigel Bruce	...	The Prince of Wales
Bramwell Fletcher	...	The 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 (The Great Artist)
Gibb McLaughlin	...	The Barber
Morland Graham	...	Treadle (the tailor) (as Moreland Graham)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #578)

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

Percy Blakeney refers to one of the boxers as "Mendoza", a reference to Daniel Mendoza, the 17th-century British Jew who revolutionized boxing. Mendoza was the heavyweight champion of England from 1792-5, despite being a middleweight.

Goofs:

Continuity: The jailer who tells Chauvelin about the Le Lion d'Or has his arms folded in one shot and then by his side in the next.

Quotes:

Lady Marguerite Blakeney: Can't you rise above trivialities for once?
Percy Blakeney: Can't rise above anything longer than three syllables, my dear - never could.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Comedians (1967)

Soundtrack:

God Save the King!

Entertaining, Satisfying Adaptation With A Fine Performance By Leslie Howard

Overall, this is an entertaining and satisfying screen adaptation of the classic story of "The Scarlet Pimpernel". It is well-written, well-acted, and also contains a good balance of action sequences and verbal sparring. Yet it is Leslie Howard's performance that stands out most of all, in a dual role that allows him to use his talent and his distinctive persona to their best advantage.

The story adaptation is nicely done, with some very good dialogue and a good pace as it builds up the tension and gradually reveals all that is going on. It makes it easy for the fine cast to bring their characters to life, and it gives most of the main characters some good opportunities.

Besides Howard, Raymond Massey does very well with a villainous character well-suited to him, Nigel Bruce is entertaining as the prince, and Merle Oberon does well enough in handling her character's dilemmas. Howard himself captures the main character's personality well, and he also helps to pull everything else together. Although he might be better remembered for some of his roles in movies that are even more well-known, this might be his own best performance.

The story itself is one of the well-remembered classics for its very interesting setting as well as the combination of exciting action and memorable characters. This movie version and its cast do well in capturing some of the best material from the novel.