The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982 film)
Encyclopedia
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982
film set during the French Revolution. It is based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel
and Eldorado
by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and stars 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.
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.
1982 in film
-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
film set during the French Revolution. It is based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
and Eldorado
Eldorado (novel)
Eldorado, by Baroness Orczy is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was first published in 1913. The novel is notable in that it is the partial basis for most of the film treatments of the original book....
by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and stars Anthony Andrews
Anthony Andrews
-Life and career:Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes , a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, a musical arranger and musical conductor. He grew up in the North Finchley district of London...
as Sir Percy Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel, the protagonist, Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (actress)
Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
as Marguerite St. Just, the love interest, and Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
as Chauvelin, the antagonist.
Plot
In 1792 during the Reign of TerrorReign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, 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 AndrewsAnthony Andrews-Life and career:Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes , a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, a musical arranger and musical conductor. He grew up in the North Finchley district of London...
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 guillotineGuillotineThe guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
, using a flower, the scarlet pimpernelScarlet pimpernelScarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
, as his alias. - Jane SeymourJane Seymour (actress)Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
as Marguerite Blakeney (néeNEENEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
St. Just): A French actress whom Percy Blakeney meets while in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and later marries. - Ian McKellenIan McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
as Paul ChauvelinCitizen ChauvelinCitizen Armand Chauvelin is the villain in Baroness Emmuska Orczy's classic novel The Scarlet Pimpernel and the various plays and movies derived from the work....
: A Frenchman, suitor of Marguerite St. Just, and chief agent of the Committee of Public SafetyCommittee of Public SafetyThe Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...
, he will stop at nothing to find out the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel. - James VilliersJames VilliersJames Michael Hyde Villiers was a British character actor and a familiar face on British television...
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 DavidEleanor DavidEleanor David is an English actress. She has appeared in multiple films and television programs including Pink Floyd The Wall directed by Alan Parker, Comfort and Joy directed by Bill Forsyth, Paradise Postponed, and Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy...
as Louise: A French actress and understudy of Marguerite St. Just's, she is Armand St. Just's lover. - Richard MorantRichard MorantRichard Morant was an English actor.Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. He was a nephew of actors Bill and Linden Travers, and a cousin of actress Penelope Wilton...
as Robespierre: A leader of the French Revloution, he commands Chauvelin to find the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel. - Dominic JephcottDominic JephcottDominic Jephcott is a RADA-trained British actor.He has played in several roles, including Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Mount in Good and Bad at Games, Reggie in The Jewel in the Crown, Det. Sgt. Hobson BA in The Beiderbecke Affair Dominic Jephcott (born 28 July 1957) is a...
as Sir Andrew Ffoulkes: A member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. - Christopher VilliersChristopher VilliersChristopher Francis Villiers is an English actor.He is known for his part in the top rated ITV1 soap opera, Emmerdale in which he plays the role of the solicitor Grayson Sinclair. He also played the part of Captain Nigel Croker in Mile High from 2004 to 2005...
as Lord Antony Dewhurst: A member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. - Denis LillDenis LillDenis Lill is a New Zealand-born British actor.Some of his many film and television roles include Fall of Eagles , Edward the Seventh , Survivors , The Scarlet Pimpernel , as William Knox d-Arcy, the Australian oil pioneer in Persia, in Reilly: Ace of Spies , Rumpole of the Bailey , Mapp &...
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 ChildsTracey ChildsTracey Childs is an English actress, best known for playing Lynne Howard in the 1980s drama series Howards' Way. More recently, she has appeared in Born and Bred as Linda Cosgrove and as Patty Cornwell in Hollyoaks....
as Suzanne de Tournay: The Count and Countess de Tournay's daughter and later fiancée of Sir Andrew Ffoulkes. - Julian FellowesJulian FellowesJulian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
as the Prince of WalesGeorge IV of the United KingdomGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
: 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 QuarmbyJohn QuarmbyJohn Quarmby is a plain voiced English actor who played the Health Inspector in the Fawlty Towers episode "Basil the Rat" and Henry Tobias in K-9 and Company....
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 TooneGeoffrey TooneGeoffrey Toone was an Irish-born character actor.Most of Toone's film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he did play the lead character in the Hammer Films production The Terror of the Tongs in 1961Toone was born in Dublin, Ireland to English...
as the Marquis de St. Cyr: A French aristocrat who later dies on the guillotine. - Joanna 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 GostelowGordon GostelowGordon Gostelow was a New Zealand actor. He was educated in Australia at North Sydney Boys High School and Sydney University where he graduated in Economics....
as Duval: The caretaker of the young Dauphin in prison. - Carol MacReadyCarol MacReadyCarol MacReady is a British actress, who is perhaps best known for the role of Mrs. Dribelle in Bodger and Badger.Other television shows she appeared in include:*Agatha Christie's Poirot*The Darling Buds of May*The Alleyn Mysteries*The Woman in White...
as Madame Duval: Duval's wife. - Daphne AndersonDaphne Anderson-External links:...
as Lady Grenville: An English noblewoman. - Nick BrimbleNick BrimbleNick Brimble , is an English actor known for his performance as Little John in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and his appearances on various television shows....
as Bibot: A French soldier. - Tony CaunterTony CaunterAnthony Peter "Tony" Caunter is a British actor best known for his role as Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire TV sitcom Queenie's Castle and also his portrayal of Roy Evans in EastEnders from 1994-2003....
as Pochard: A French soldier. - Timothy CarltonTimothy CarltonTimothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English character actor. Among other work, he appeared in the sitcoms Executive Stress, Next of Kin and in the television film The Scarlet Pimpernel....
as the Count de Beaulieu: A French aristocrat the Scarlet Pimpernel rescues from the guillotine. - Kate Howard as the Countess de Beaulieu: The Count de Beaulieu's wife.
External links
- The Scarlet Pimpernel review from The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...