MOVIE MONDAY: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Can I introduce you to one of my favorite movies of all time?

It's this not-so-well-known film based on the book by Baroness Emma Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour, and a VERY young Ian McKellan, this is one of those movies that I never get tired of.

Originally, the story was written as a play, which opened in 1903. The book followed soon after. Its plot device of a hero with a secret identity is one of the stories that inspired such subsequent characters such as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro.

Set in France in the year 1792 at the beginning of the French Revolution, the Scarlet Pimpernel is a story about a wealthy Englishman named Sir Percy Blakeney and his compatriots who have made it their mission in life to save as many French aristocrats from the guillotine as they possibly can.

Percy Blakeney, (Anthony Andrews) is the "man behind the mask." A master of disguise, who spends his days playing the ultimate fool, is secretly the true genius behind the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. He takes his secret identity from the small red flower with which he signs his missives to his comrades.

His ultimate play is an attempt to save the Dauphin (the French Crown Prince) from the guillotine.

Intertwined throughout this tale of intrigue, suspense, and dashing heroics, is also the love story between Percy and Marguerite. Marguerite is an actress who wins the heart of Sir Percival. However, when her name is found on a list of "informers" and it appears that she is the cause of a man and his entire family being sent to the guillotine, Percy decides that he cannot trust his wife and grows distant from her, not knowing that her name was only on that list because the French Head of State Security, Citizen Chauvelin, is in love with Marguerite and cannot stand the fact that she married Percy instead of him.

This movie is so beautifully done. Yes, it's older, made in 1982, but the story is timeless. The script is full of humor, wit, and tear-jerking moments that will make you want to throw things at the tv and shout at the characters to just sit down and TRUST one another! And yet, it will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end... even when you've already seen it a dozen times. The acting is fabulous (despite the fact that Anthony Andrews hasn't really been in very much... mostly just TV movies, and apparently, The King's Speech, which I now must go watch again because I missed the fact that he was in it!)

I love the story (I didn't actually even know it was based on a book until I was out of college and it was a part of the curriculum I was supposed to teach my 7th/8th graders, but I also LOVE the book... though I think the movie is first in my affections... which is quite rare).

Some of my favorite quotes:

Sir Percy: [to thug] It would seem your friend, he is in distress. To the rescue.[pushes thug into the river]Sir Percy: [throws a knife into the river] Yours, I believe.

Sir Percy: Approval, sir, in my opinion, demands the attainment of perfection. And in that sense, you rather overrate the charms of your society. I'faith, for one thing, it does seem monstrous ill-dressed for any society, even a new one.

Sir Percy: If I were to tell you that I adore you, would you have me do so stintingly?

Sir Percy: Well, the pretty thing rhymes in four places, don't you see? And if a rhyme rhymes, it makes a poem, if you follow me.

Chauvelin:  Oh, the English, and their STUPID sense of fair play!

Chauvelin: I realized that your noblesse oblige would not permit you to abandon one of your men.Sir Percy: Sink me, if you aren't right. For a change.

Sir Percy: My dear chap, I never would have dreamt of depriving you of your moment of triumph. Alas, a moment was all I could spare.

Swordfights, witty dialogue, disguises, blackmail, secret identities, true love, tragedy, suspense, and a dashing hero... what is there in this movie that is not to love?

Have you ever seen this movie? What is your favorite part?