The Scarlet Pimpernel: The Complete Series

Director: Patrick Lau Patrick Lau

Overview

Baroness Orczy's frequently filmed adventure novel The Scarlet Pimpernel has been the subject of two different British TV series, the second of which aired nearly half a century after the first. Debuting on BBC1 on January 24, 1999, the "new" Scarlet Pimpernel was, like its predecessor, set during the dark days of the French Revolution. The estimable Richard E. Grant starred as Sir Percy Blakeney, an insufferably haughty British dandy. Unbeknownst to virtually everyone (including his wife, Marguerite, played by American actress Elizabeth McGoven), Sir Percy spent his evenings in the guise of the dashing, fearless Scarlet Pimpernel, savior of many French noblepersons who would otherwise have been condemned to the guillotine by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Together with a small band of confederates, the "damn'd elusive Pimpernel" enjoyed nothing more than thoroughly confounding his perennial nemesis, the skulking Citizen Chauvelin (Martin Shaw). Though played with tongue firmly in cheek, the series boasted some pretty impressive fencing sequences, staged by the talented Terry Walsh. Six 90-minute episodes of The Scarlet Pimpernel were seen in Britain in weekly clusters of three each, the last one airing on November 1, 2000. The series was produced in association with the American A&E cable channel, which ran the six episodes on a monthly rather than weekly basis.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/02/2016
UPC:	0883929232871
Original Release:	1999
Source:	Bbc Warner
Language:	English
Sales rank:	725

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Richard Grant	Scarlet Pimpernel/Sir Percy Blakeney
Elizabeth McGovern	Marguerite
Martin Shaw	Citizen Chauvelin

Technical Credits

Editorial Reviews

If you like Bond, James Bond, you'll like Blakeney, Percy Blakeney, in this 1996 video about an Englishman who saves Frenchmen from the guillotine in the French Revolution's Reign of Terror between 1793 and 1794. For one thing, Blakeney (Richard E. Grant) has a code name (the Scarlet Pimpernel) just like Bond (007). For another, he steals his way undetected into enemy territory, just as Bond does time and again. In addition, Blakeney must do battle with a dirty, low-down, conniving arch villain (Chauvelin) just as Bond does (Dr. No, Goldfinger, etc.). Also, Blakeney is given to spectacular escapes -- like crashing through a window and commandeering a horse which he navigates through narrow alleyways while dodging bullets -- just like Bond when he parachutes out of an airplane or skis over a cliff. Finally, like Bond, Blakeney likes his adventure shaken, not stirred, the better to coax forth the effervescent high of death-defying excitement. This made-for-TV-adaptation of Baroness Emmuska Orczy's classic novel The Scarlet Pimpernel delivers action aplenty that is artfully staged and photographed à la the Bond films. Grant is dashing and devious as the Pimpernel. However, he is more physical than cerebral, more likely to outfight his adversaries than outwit them. Elizabeth McGovern performs ably as his wife, Marguerite, and Martin Shaw does a good job as Chauvelin. Overall, this film is a kick, a lively romp through a turbulent epoch. The film is available in its original miniseries length, about five hours, or in a trimmed-down version of one hour and 34 minutes.