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The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934,
UK)
In director Harold Young's film, it told about the
double-life of an 18th century aristocrat who disguised himself to
save French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror in France.
It became one of the greatest historical-adventure films ever made.
First written as a stage play produced in 1903, it became the
first novel (published in 1905) in a series of historical fiction
novels written by Hungarian-born English novelist and playwright
Baroness Orczy:
- in the year 1792, during
the time of the bloody French Revolution (with the Reign of Terror
led by Robespierre), Sir Percy Blakeney (Leslie Howard) posed as
a mild-mannered, chivalrous and rich English aristocrat. He was
newly married to a beautiful French woman, Lady Marguerite (Merle
Oberon). As an English nobleman, he was deeply concerned by news
of the slaughter of the aristocratic French, including the deaths
of the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family
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53 Persons Guillotined by Robespierre in One Day
- in Paris, 1792 - Article
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The French Revolution's Bloody Guillotine
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Sir Percy Blakeney in Disguise as an Old Hag During
a Guillotine Rescue
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- the devious French Republic's ambassador to England,
Monsieur Chauvelin (Raymond Massey) led a Revolutionary tribunal
that condemned members of the aristocracy to death
- to rescue innocent but condemned French noblemen
who faced the guillotine, Sir Blakeney adopted a new mysterious
identity - as a dashing and mysterious hero known as "The
Scarlet Pimpernel"; Sir Percy often repeated or
recited a poem about the notorious figure: ("They seek him here.
They seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in
Heaven? Is he in Hell? That damned elusive Pimpernel")
- he took his name from the symbol on his family crest
- a deep-red colored English primrose. The Pimpernel's trademark
was to leave behind a small red flower - a pimpernel, sometimes
in the form of red wax with a floral design (created by the imprint
of his signet ring)
- Blakeney was the organizer of a daring band of conspirators
in a 'secret society' who saved imprisoned French aristocrats,
noblemen, and royalists from death (from "Madame Guillotine")
by smuggling them out of France to England. He took many expeditions
to Paris with his fellow compatriots, including his wife's brother
Armand St. Just (Walter Rilla), to secretly rescue condemned individuals,
while mocking the French Revolutionaries
- Blakeney was unable to reveal his secret identity
to his new wife when he feared she would be endangered, or that
she would divulge his hidden mission. Because of long absences,
his costumed attire, his indolence, and his vapid, foppish 'gay'
or 'dandy' mannerisms and affectations (to hide his true identity),
Blakeney lost the respect of his beloved wife, who remembered him
as he used to be before he became limp-wristed and weak (she told
him: "I scarcely know you"). Ironically, she became enamoured and
infatuated with her husband's romantic, charming alter-ego
- Robespierre became enraged by the Pimpernel's activities,
and dispatched villainous Chauvelin to Dover, England, to target
members of his arch-enemy's underground movement. In England, Chauvelin
learned that Lady Blakeney's brother Armand was allied with the
Pimpernel, and coerced her into cooperating in his search, in order
to save Armand (she was told he had been captured and arrested
by French spies). However, the clever escape artist Sir Percy Blakeney
eluded a trap in a library at midnight that was set by his
would-be captor during a fancy ball held at Lord Grenville's (Allan
Jeayes) home; however, Chauvelin only found Percy sleeping in the
library at around midnight, and then fell asleep himself; when
he awoke, he found a message from the Pimpernel mocking him (with
the scarlet rose insignia): "You looked so comfortable, I
hadn't the heart to disturb you"; Percy also awoke beside
him, looking bewildered
Note For a Sleeping Monsieur Chauvelin Left by the Pimpernel
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The Scarlet Pimpernel's Design on His Signet Ring
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Lady Blakeney's Sudden Discovery of Husband's Identity
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- shortly later, Lady Blakeney
was astounded to learn that the Pimpernel was her own husband.
The clue to his real identity was hidden in a huge family portrait
of a Blakeney ancestor (Percival Blakeney, the 1st baronet) in
her husband's private study; the painting showed him wearing a
carved signet ring in the shape of a red primrose (or scarlet pimpernel
flower) on his right hand; as the startling revelation came over
her, the camera slowly zoomed toward her face; she called out:
"Percy. Percy!" and raced from the room
- she rushed to her husband's side
at a French seaside rendezvous site (a tavern known as "Lion
d'Or"), hoping to save him or die with him. There, after arriving ahead
of her husband, she was captured and arrested by Chauvelin (who planned
to be disguised as a priest) and she was forced to lure Percy to
the inn at 10 pm with a lighted candle from a window as an "all-clear"
signal; there, Percy was forced to surrender to Chauvelin (in
exchange for Lady Blakeney's release)
- during this climactic confrontational sequence,
Sir Percy merged himself into his 'Scarlet Pimpernel' disguise, and
was able to outfox, outwit and fool Chauvelin, thus defeating him.
The French soldiers in a firing squad that were ordered to execute
Blakeney were actually his own men in disguise
Percy Was Reunited with Lady Blakeney Before His Threatened Death by a Firing Squad
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An Exalting Chauvelin Grinned at the Sound of Gunfire from Firing
Squad
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Percy Introduced His Own Men in Firing Squad to the Outfoxed Chauvelin
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- Blakeney and his wife were finally reunited and
set sail across the Channel back to England (the film's last line:
"Look Marguerite, England!"
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Monsieur Chauvelin (Raymond Massey) - The Villainous French Ambassador
to England
Sir Percy Blakeney's (Leslie Howard) Proposal to Adopt a New Identity
as "The Scarlet Pimpernel"
The Foppish Blakeney Reciting the Poem about 'The Scarlet
Pimpernel'
French Woman Lady Marguerite (Merle Oberon) - Percy's Estranged and Unhappy
Wife
The Final Confrontational Scene Between Blakeney and Chauvelin at the
Lion d'Or Tavern in France
Ending: Percy Sailing Back to England Through the Channel with Lady Blakeney
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