The Elusive Pimpernel
6.6 /10 1 Votes
Music director Brian Easdale Country United Kingdom | 6.4/10 IMDb Genre Adventure, Drama, Romance Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Director Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger Release date 6 February 1950 (UK)
17 April 1954 (NYC)
1955 (US general) Writer Baroness Emmuska Orczy (romance), Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Directors Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Screenplay Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Cast David Niven (Sir Percy Blakeney / The Scarlet Pimpernel), Margaret Leighton (Marguerite Blakeney), Cyril Cusack (Chauvelin), Jack Hawkins (Prince of Wales), Arlette Marchal (Contesses de Tournai), Gérard Néry (Philippe de Tournai)Similar movies The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The elusive pimpernel full audiobook
The Elusive Pimpernel is a 1950 British period adventure film by the British-based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. It was released in the United States under the title The Fighting Pimpernel. The film stars David Niven as Sir Percy Blakeney (a.k.a. The Scarlet Pimpernel), Margaret Leighton as Marguerite Blakeney and features Jack Hawkins, Cyril Cusack and Robert Coote. Originally intended to be a musical, the film was re-worked as a light-hearted drama.
Contents
Plot
During the French Revolution, the Scarlet Pimpernel (David Niven), who is really Sir Percy Blakeney in disguise, risks his life to rescue French noblemen from the guillotine and take them across the English Channel to safety. As cover, Sir Percy poses as a fop at Court, and curries favour with the Prince of Wales (Jack Hawkins) by providing advice about fashion, but secretly he leads The League, a group of noblemen with similar views.
Chauvelin, French Ambassador of the Revolution to England (Cyril Cusack) wants to find out who the Pimpernel is and bring him in to meet his fate under French justice. When evidence points to Sir Percy, Chauvelin blackmails Blakeney's wife, Marguerite (Margaret Leighton) by threatening to expose her criminal brother Armand (Edmond Audran), but Marguerite doesn't believe her husband is capable of being the daring Pimpernel.
Cast
Production
The Elusive Pimpernel was financed by Samuel Goldwyn and Alexander Korda. Neither director Michael Powell nor star David Niven was very interested in doing the film, but had their minds changed by threats of contract suspension. (Rex Harrison had been originally announced as the star.) Powell wanted to make the film as a musical, but was not allowed to, and Margaret Leighton was cast despite his objection. Goldwyn forced numerous additions and changes to the film but when Powell delivered the final cut, Goldwyn refused to make the final payment, which caused Korda to sue him.
The film was shot in 1949 at various British film studios in Boreham Wood, Elstree and Shepperton, Surrey. Location shooting took place in Bath, Dover, in Savernake Forest, on the Marlborough Downs, and in the stables of Carlton House Terrace, St. James's, London. In France, filming took place in the chateaux of the Loire Valley and on Mont Saint-Michel.
The Elusive Pimpernel was released in the UK in 1950, but because of the falling out between Korda and Goldwyn, did not gain an American distributor until July 1953 when Carroll Pictures acquired the rights. The film then premiered in New York City on 17 April 1954.
Niven's unhappiness at being forced to make the film later led to him severing his contract with Samuel Goldwyn.
References
The Elusive Pimpernel WikipediaThe Elusive Pimpernel IMDb The Elusive Pimpernel themoviedb.org