Blueghost The original James Bond happens to be the foppish Percry of England, who acts as an undercover agent for the nobility who collectively fear that France's recent revolution will leave the Gaullic nation without an heir or upper class. It is Percy's assignment and duty for King and Country to intercept and dispatch such wicked designs as the rabble may have upon their betters.But, to the point, this is a decent rendition of Baroness Emmuska Orczy's novels, telling a semi-swash buckling saga of espionage and intrigue. Set amidst the so-called Age of Reason, the peasants have revolted, and French aristocracy is imperiled. The BBC brings us an all star cast for this affair, showing us the French upper crust colliding with their working classes. The basic story revolves around Percy's attempt to thwart the new head of French international security, and to get to the truth of his true love. Will he succeed? If I had shot this, I would have added a few more action sequences, but not extract anything from the footage that was shot and is presented in this version. And that's really one of only two critiques that I have about this production. The other is that there needed to be more bodies, and essentially more exposition for late 1700's Paris and France in general. But, budgetary constraints keep us from getting a fuller production. Costumes, sets, locations, dialogue are all well done. The lensing was done on a made for TV movie budget, so we're not given too many dramatic shots (another thing I would added), but the production does the job and entertains. That, and Jane Seymour is easy on the eyes.Respectable drama. Give it a shot.Available on Acorn TV.

TheMovieCritic_83 Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews star in this remake of "The Scarlet Pimpernel". I haven't seen the original with Leslie Howard, but it's probably a good guess that it's notch above this made-for-TV version.The film centres on a secret organisation of do-gooders, led by a man named Percy Blakeney (Anthony Andrews), who risk their own necks in order to help prisoners escape execution during the French Revolution. Apart from the name they go by, "The Scarlet Pimpernel", no one has any idea who they are. And to ensure that no one will ever suspect their true identity, they make themselves out to be idiots, weaklings, cowards, any trait that least resembles the heroic trademarks of "The Scarlet Pimpernel". Also to avoid recognition, they work under a range of disguises and are continually having to dodge a group led by the villain (who doesn't come across as all that bad), Chauvelin (Ian McKellen). Chauvelin and his men are determined to find out who they are and stop them. To complicate matters though, Percy meets Marguerite (Jane Seymour), falls in love with her and ends up marrying, which leads to all sorts of problems.The script is incredibly ordinary at times and the acting in places is a bit stiff. It's also difficult to accept that Jane Seymour's classy character of Marguerite would fall for such a pompous idiot as Percy. Anthony Andrew's acting is a bit off in parts, especially during some of his disguises and the film never has a high point. It stays on an even keel and never really takes off.Yet, oddly enough, there are shreds of likability to the film and a sense that there was organisation during production. But overall, the film is nothing special.

thethdwarf03 Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymoure have such chemistry during this movie! It's my #1 favorite movie of all time! I could watch it all day w/o getting sick of it! The way the characters interact and lives intertwine - it's just fabulous! The first time I saw this movie was in 10th grade History and I begged my teacher to let me take it home and make a copy! I have had it ever since and I watch it at least twice a month. My husband doesn't understand why I love it, but I suppose I am just a hopeless romantic always looking for a good hero!!! The Scarlet Pimpernel is full of action, comedy, irony - it's just an overall perfect film!

schryer-sam Can anyone tell me just what 'cinque me' means? I use it all the time now. It seems covers a multitude of situations and I can hide behind the fact that no one, including myself, knows just what I've exclaimed. Am hoping that through this venue, someone will know the meaning behind his words. Haven't found even a French speaking person that can come up with a adequate translation. His posture intones 'Oh, bother' but the words in French doesn't match. Watched this movie five times in one weekend. Now I'll have to ask Santa for a copy of my very own for Christmas. I loved the way Percy could say his 'fop' lines and change his persona in almost the same instance.