ctomvelu1 Hollywood is hardly the only one to crank out unnecessary sequels. Britain was also guilty of it, and early on, too. "Return" is essentially a rehash of the first movie, made a couple of years earlier. It even reuses footage and sets from that classic. The leads have changed, but not the basic plot, which has Sir Percy forced to go back to France one last time, in this case to rescue his wife from the clutches of the sinister Robespierre. It clearly is a trap, but nothing will keep the good old Pimpernel from carrying out his mission. He is up against the usual clods and dolts, after all. A young James Mason has a small role. This is no worse, I suppose, than "Son of Monte Cristo" or "Son of Robin Hood." Mercifully, there was to be no third Pimpernel film.

bkoganbing Barry K. Barnes continues in the fine foppish tradition that Leslie Howard set in The Scarlet Pimpernel. I suspect that Howard was over on this side of the pond on Broadway or in Hollywood or he probably would have done this sequel.Even though his identity as Regency fop Sir Percy Blakeney is now known to one and all, in The Return Of The Scarlet Pimpernel Barnes is still operating a rescue service to one and all who have fallen afoul of the French Revolution. Things have gotten worse over in France though and the Reign Of Terror under Robespierre is now in high gear as the fanatical and psychotic Robespierre is guillotining everyone whom he even THINKS might be against him.Francis Lister plays a far different Chauvelin than the revolutionary true believer that Raymond Massey did. Lister is trying to compete with Barnes in the wit department and making a not bad stab at it. Still he comes up way short every time.He uses the same gambit to try to trap Barnes as in the first Pimpernel film. Lister has French actress Margharetta Scott go to Great Britain as an exile and she induces Barnes's wife Sophie Stewart who is French to follow her on a pretext. No going to France this time, some paid thugs just kidnap Stewart and spirit her back to France. So Barnes has to assemble his crew and work another rescue.This time however there are rumblings of discontent against Robespierre and the Terror. Barnes enlists the aid of a prominent member of the National Assembly in his cause. James Mason plays that part in one of his earliest film roles and one that got him his first real notice with the movie-going public.Barnes and Stewart are good substitutes for Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon from the original. I truly do miss Raymond Massey as Chauvelin as did others. The Return Of The Scarlet Pimpernel still holds up well as entertainment and a portrait of some terrible times in France.

Robert J. Maxwell This time around, Sir Percy Blakeney (Barry K. Barnes), aka the Scarlet Pimpernel, has left off rescuing the French nobility from the guillotine, having promised his wife never to return to Paris. But the villainous Robespierre and his henchman are determined to get hold of Blakeney any way they can and lop off his head from crimes against France. They lure him to France by kidnapping his wife, a French aristocrat, and sentencing her to death, knowing that Blakeney and his gang will be forced to come to her rescue. He does. And he succeeds too, not only in rescuing his wife but, with the help of an honest citizen, Tallion (James Mason), he manages to bring down Robespierre and seemingly end the Reign of Terror.Well, Barry K. Barnes isn't Leslie Howard, the original Scarlet Pimpernel, and this is, after all, a sequel, so many of the incidents we see have a familiar ring. Most missed -- the "latent status" of Sir Percy Blakeney as the intriguing master of disguise, the brave and adventurous hero. Barnes still has his disguises, by Guy "Frankenstein" Pearce, and he's still stalwart and noble, but he no longer has any reason to play the effete pouf. Everyone in both England and France knows that Blakeney is the Scarlet Pimpernel. I missed that effete poser. Only for a few minutes, and for no discernible reason, does Blakeney hold that triangular lorgnette up to his nose and exclaim, "Sink me!", in the sort of inflection that would feel entirely at home in Julius's in Greenwich Village. Part of the thrill of these masquerades is knowing that the harmless fop is actually a deadly swordsman like Zorro, or in this case a clever manipulator of circumstance.Still, if you liked "The Scarlet Pimpernel", you'll certainly like this one because of its close family resemblance to the original. I only wish that there were more of Howard's pouf persona present, and that it had an enjoyable and witty set piece like Howard's snoozing on the library couch and putting one over on Raymond Massey's Chauvelin.Sir Percy is a fictional character, of course, and no one actually ended the Reign of Terror, a case of yet another revolution bringing about too much of a good thing. Robespierre, the rabid revolutionary, was himself beheaded. Even M. Guillotine, who invented the demonic machine, met Mme. Guillotine. The result was chaos until order was restored by Napolean, who didn't take long to proclaim himself Emporer.

MelindaL51 While I think the original, 1934 version is much better with better actors, I really enjoyed seeing this movie. The actor who plays Sir Andrew in the first one comes back and had a larger part and in my opinion Sir Andrew is allowed to shine in this one. Marguerite is just played differently, she is kidnapped and perhaps a bit over dramatic, but so was the one in the book on occasion. She is also a perhaps more innocent version than was played by Merle Oberon and later Jane Seymour. Chauvelin doesn't have the air of evil that Raymond Massey is able to portray, you almost feel sorry for him in fact, rather than thinking him a evil villain. Overall, I believe it is worth seeing and I liked it. You have the chance to meet some of the other League members, which is an improvement over the original where Dewhurst is seen and not heard or credited and the others, except Andrew and maybe Hastings, are virtually non existent.