The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) - film review

France, 1792.  The lofty ideals of the French Revolution are all but forgotten as a reign of terror sweeps the country.  Aristocrats, monarchists and anyone who so much as sniffs at the Revolution are rounded up and dispatched with ruthless efficiency, courtesy of Madame Guillotine.  One man – an English noble named Sir Percy Blakeney – is determined to do all he can to thwart this vile regime.  By adopting various disguises, he manages to rescue condemned men and women and smuggle them to the safety of England.  Blakeney takes great care to conceal his identity, but he leaves behind a card embossed with the symbol of a red pimpernel every time he strikes, earning himself the nickname The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Blakeney’s heroic acts enrage the revolutionary leader Robespierre, who engages Chauvelin, the French Ambassador to England, to capture the Scarlet Pimpernel...

One of the earliest and most entertaining screen adaptations of the hugely popular historical novel The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is this lavish 1934 production starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon.  In contrast with many later versions of the story, this one is more concerned with the dual personality of its main character than with his heroic exploits, and so it is more of a character piece than a historical adventure story.  It is slow paced but the quality of the screenplay and the performances, not to mention a vein of scurrilous humour, make it a rewarding film.

In his most celebrated role, Leslie Howard gives a sublime performance as Sir Percy Blakeney, skilfully delineating between his two very different personas – the outrageously foppish English noble and the dashingly heroic Pimpernel.   Raymond Massey is a good choice for the part of the villainous Chauvelin, although why he should speak in a Russian accent is anyone’s guess.  Merle Oberon plays the part of Marguerite with more svelte style than passion, whilst Nigel Bruce is a delight as the childishly pompous Prince of Wales.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is an ambitious British film for this period, with lavish sets and an almost unprecedented amount of exterior location filming.   The film was originally to have been directed by Rowland Brown, but he was fired early in the shoot when he got into a dispute with producer Alexander Korda.  Brown was replaced with the inexperienced director Harold Young, working under Korda’s tight control.  Korda had originally wanted the title role to be played by Charles Laughton, the star of his previous film The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), but changed his mind when he realised that Laughton probably had the wrong physique for the part.  Korda later produced a far less successful sequel, Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937), directed by Hans Schwarz.

© James Travers 2008

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?