Scarlet Pimpernel, The
- English nobleman, Sir Percy Blakeney (Marius
Goring) pretending to be a brainless fop, donned
the guise of the mysterious "Scarlet Pimpernel"
on the syndicated adventure THE SCARLET
PIMPERNEL/SYN/1956 to battle the injustice of
the French Revolution.
The Scarlet Pimpernel took his name from the
small, red, star-shaped flower that bloomed in
the English countryside. In the British movie
version of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934),
actor Leslie Howard played Lord Blakeney who
recited a small poem that described this dashing
hero. It read:
"They seek him here.
They seek him there.
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he from Heaven? Or is he from Hell?
That damn'd elusive Pimpernel."
[The phrase "curs'd elusive Pimpernel" was used
for the 1950s TV series.]
This classic tale later resurfaced in two
made-for television movies including the 1982
remake starring Anthony Andrews and the 1999
BBC1/A&E production starring Richard E. Grant.
The Scarlet Pimpernel character is based on the
1905 novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel" written by
English writer, Baroness Orczy.
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