17 thoughts on “TBT: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

  1. I love this version (but hell, I love EVERY version) of the Pimpernel. The women’s dresses are miserable, but they almost always are if you are comparing them to the VERY careful descriptions of clothing in the books.
    Everyone in this version is just so freaking gorgeous!

  2. We’ve got this one on DVD. I’ve only recently seen *any* other version of this story … the Jane Seymour one. Nice, but not Oberon and Howard.

    Yes, Raymond Massey did scary so very well … that’s why I think Jeremy Brett (late lamented Holmes as well as Freddy Einsford-Hill) must have been very brave. Brett divorced Massey’s daughter. Would you want Raymond Massey *that* P.O.’d at you? :-)

    1. I still haven’t seen the Jane Seymour one, but it’s on my list. I know the costumes are really praised by the costuming community in that one, but I’m having a hard time envisioning anyone other than Leslie Howard as Sir Percy.

      I actually picked up the book yesterday and I’m halfway through it. Good little story, but the script in this one is far better in really bringing out how inane Sir Percy was, plus all the little banter which makes this so so good.

      And yeah, I wouldn’t want Raymond Massey angry at me. Although, I do love how he can barely contain his laughter while Leslie Howard is fussing around with his cravat. God, I love that man.

    1. Hehe. It’s worth watching over and over. I sat my fiancé down and made him watch it… Now, mind you, Francis is a HUGE fop, so I knew he’d love it, but he seemed skeptical. He’s sitting there sipping his whisky sort of humoring me, when this part happens: https://youtu.be/0K9xA0MDjvU?t=26m8s

      When he gets to the line “How it came to me, heaven only knows, because it was the busiest moment of the day, while I was tying my cravat” and Francis had just taken a sip of his whisky which then came spraying out of his mouth as he was choking with laughter.

      Had to pause the movie to clean up. Effing brilliant.

    1. Yes! I love the Blackadder “Nob & Nobility” episode! In retrospect, it’s TOTALLY OBVIOUS that they were riffing on Leslie Howard’s Sir Percy. “Dem bones, dem bones, dem…”

  3. Like so many films that have been re-done, each version has its merits and faults. But Pimpernel is one of a few to have gotten a modernised version, Pimpernel Smith, set in WWII.

    1. Yeeeeees! Pimpernel Smith is pretty magnificent, in my opinion. Nothing can top my love for the 1934 Pimpernel when it comes to film versions set in the original era. However, in some ways, I feel that Pimpernel Smith actually captures the spirit of the book better. The Marguerite character is the clever, heroic Margot of the book rather than the watered-down pretty face of many film versions. And the danger seems more imminent and the future more uncertain because they actually were at the time of the film’s release.

  4. I love, love, love this movie. Actually, I blame my 18th century obsession on it, having seen it at the tender age of five and falling in love with it.

    Re-watching it I was pleasantly surprised by how good the costumes are, especially if you consider it’s 1934. Apart from THAT ball gown, or course.

  5. Oh, I am so glad you did this one! That dark dress Merle Oberon wears pretty much started my obsession with film costumes, as I wanted that dress so much. It’s still one of my favourites and I want to make it some day, even if it is historically inaccurate :D

    1. I loved them both and I loved the book. Wanting to share my love for the story with my young kids, we sat down to a movie day to watch the Seymour version…I forgot about the beheading scene in the beginning. They all ran screaming from the room. : ( It’s okay! It’s okay! They’re all grown up now and mostly not traumatized.

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