Main Cast: Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, Ian McKellen
Release Year: 1982
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 142 minutes
Plot
Swordplay, secret messages, and the rustle of ballroom finery make this 1982 adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel a gala bash. Anthony Andrews heads the cast as English nobleman Sir Percy Blakeney, a conceited but amusing fop in the drawing rooms of British high society. But beneath his veneer of lacy impertinence is a man of bravado and derring-do. In disguise, he becomes the Pimpernel -- ta-da! -- and steals into France to rescue aristocrats condemned to the guillotine during the French Revolution. After each rescue, he leaves behind a scarlet pimpernel, a flower whose petals close at the approach of stormy weather. He also uses a signet ring engraved with a scarlet pimpernel to identify himself on the sealing wax of letters to compatriots. It is all jolly-good intrigue. Because he cloaks his schemes in great secrecy, not even his new wife Marguerite (Jane Seymour) realizes he is anything more than an innocuous dandy. Frustrated, the French send the ruthless Chauvelin (Ian McKellen) to England to serve as ambassador and ferret out the elusive Pimpernel. In a plot that ensnares Marguerite and closes the Pimpernel's petals, Chauvelin finally confronts his clever adversary, and it's en garde -- parry and thrust! ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Review
In this rousing romp of a film, Anthony Andrews plays the dual role of Sir Percy Blakeney and the Scarlet Pimpernel with gusto and panache. As Percy he is a conceited coxcomb who wears lacy cravats and recites poetry. As the Pimpernel, he is a daring hero who rescues French nobles in the age of the guillotine. For fans of swashbuckling intrigue, his schizoid shenanigans make for rambunctious fun and frolic. He is, in short, a pip of a Pimpernel. Portraying his adversary, the dastardly Chauvelin, is Ian McKellen. Unaware of the identity of the Pimpernel, he travels to England in the capacity of ambassador to skulk and lurk -- and McKellen is a master in this regard -- in an attempt to unmask his clever foe. His plot involves Percy's wife, the beautiful Marguerite, portrayed with elegance and charm by Jane Seymour. Secret meetings and a climactic sword fight ensue, but not before director Clive Donner gives the viewers a taste of the haut monde: colorful costumes, period music, and ballroom repartee with a zing, thanks to scriptwriter William Bast. Authentic English settings include Blenheim Palace, Broughton Castle, Milton Manor, and Ragley Hall. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Daphne Anderson - Lady Grenville; Nick Brimble - Bibot; Tracey Childs - Suzanne; Eleanor David - Louise; Derek Deadman - Handler; Joanna Dickens - Aunt Lulu; Julian Fellowes - The Prince Regent; Ann Firbank - Countess de Tournay; David Gant - Fouquet; Barrie Houghton - Executioner; Malcolm Jamieson - Armand; Dominic Jephcott - Sir Andrew Ffoulkes; Dennis Lili - Count de Tournay; Preston Lockwood - Duke; Richard Morant - Robespierre; Geoffrey Toone - Marquis de St. Cyr; Christopher Villiers - Lord Anthony Dewhurst; James Villiers - Baron de Baats; Martin Wyldeck - Marquess; Kate Howard - Countess de Beaulieu; Richard Charles - The Dauphin; Mark Drewry - Lord Timothy Hastings; Gordon Gostelow - Duval; Sean Mathias - Dispatcher; John Quarmby - Ponceau; Carol Macready - Mme. Duval; Timothy Carlton - Count de Beaulieu; Tony Caunter - Pochard
Credit
Rose Tobias Shaw - Casting, Phyllis Dalton - Costume Designer, Clive Donner - Director, Peter Tanner - Editor, Nick Bicat - Composer (Music Score), Robert Cobert - Composer (Music Score), Tony Curtis - Production Designer, Dennis C. Lewiston - Cinematographer, William Bast - Screenwriter
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982 adventure movie set during the French Revolution. The movie is based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel and Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, starring Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel, the protagonist, Jane Seymour as Marguerite St. Just, the love interest, and Ian McKellen as Chauvelin, the antagonist.
In 1792 during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel (a humble wayside flower) snatches French aristocrats from the jaws of the guillotine 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.
Cast
Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel: An English aristocrat who plays a foppish dandy in public, but is actually a bold adventurer who, along with his band of followers (mainly other Englishmen who are known as the "League of the Scarlet Pimpernel"), carries out daring missions to rescue French aristocrats doomed to die in the guillotine, using a flower, the scarlet pimpernel, as his alias.
Jane Seymour as Marguerite Blakeney (née St. Just): A French actress whom Percy Blakeney meets while in France and later marries.
Ian McKellen as Paul Chauvelin: A Frenchman, suitor of Marguerite St. Just, and chief agent of the Committee of Public Safety, he will stop at nothing to find out the identity of the Scaret Pimpernel.
James Villiers as the Baron de Batz: An Austrian nobleman who is involved in a covert operation to try to rescue the young Dauphin, the heir to the French throne, who is being held prisoner by the French revolutionaries.
Malcolm Jamieson as Armand St. Just: Marguerite's brother and later a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, he works under Chauvelin for the Committee of Public Safety.
Eleanor David as Louise: A French actress and understudy of Marguerite St. Just's, she is Armand St. Just's lover.
Richard Morant as Robespierre: A leader of the French Revloution, he commands Chauvelin to find the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Dominic Jephcott as Sir Andrew Ffoulkes: A member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Christopher Villiers as Lord Antony Dewhurst: A member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
Denis Lill as the Count de Tournay: A French aristocrat and friend of Percy Blakeney.
Ann Firbank as the Countess de Tournay: The Count de Tournay's wife.
Tracey Childs as Suzanne de Tournay: The Count and Countess de Tournay's daughter and later fiancée of Sir Andrew Ffoulkes.
Julian Fellowes as the Prince of Wales: The somewhat foppish heir to the British throne and a friend of Sir Percy Blakeney.
Mark Drewry as Lord Timothy Hastings: A member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
John Quarmby as Ponceau: A Frenchman who works for the Committee of Public Safety.
David Gant as Fouquet: A Frenchman who works for Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety.
Geoffrey Toone as the Marquis de St. Cyr: A French aristocrat who later dies on the guillotine.
Joannna Dickens as Aunt Lulu: Louise's aunt.
Richard Charles as Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France: The young heir to the French throne being held prisoner by Robespierre.
Gordon Gostelow as Duval: The caretaker of the young Dauphin in prison.
