Baroness Orczy was what one would now term 'a right-wing reactionary'. It is probably best to draw a discreet veil over her involvement with 'The Women of England's Active Service League'.
When reading her 'Scarlet Pimpernel' it is glaringly obvious that she does not exactly sympathise with the Republicans!
That aside, she has created a character that is of timeless and universal appeal, with his dual existence, his disguises and his distinctive calling card.
Physically Leslie Howard is a far cry from the 'tall, broad-shouldered, massively built' Sir Percy Blakeney of Orczy's imagining but his superlative portrayal sets the template by which all actors in the role must be judged. His performance is one of immense grace and subtlety.
In this screenplay, unlike the novel, the Lady Blakeney of Merle Oberon is introduced to us whilst posing for renowned portrait painter George Romney. Whatever Miss Oberon's limitations as an actress she is loved by the camera and oozes class. As Blakeney's most dangerous enemy Citizen Chauvelin, the marvellous Raymond Massey is villainy incarnate. This actor's notoriously wicked sense of humour is evident here.
Granted, the film is somewhat creaky at times as are the performances from some of the supporting actors but it is streets ahead of Powell and Pressburger's catastrophic version of 1950. The less said about Clive Donner's execrable version of 1982 the better.
Baroness Orczy was an avowed Anglophile and happily married to an Englishman so the final scene of this film would I'm sure have appealed to her immensely.
Towards the end of the film Blakeney recites a few lines of 'the sceptered isle' speech from Shakespeare's 'Richard II'. There are two lines in that speech that are not quoted. Although they were not relevant in 1792 or indeed in 1934 they are chillingly relevant now: "That England, that was wont to conquer others, hath made a shameful conquest of itself."
Physically Leslie Howard is a far cry from the 'tall, broad-shouldered, massively built' Sir Percy Blakeney of Orczy's imagining but his superlative portrayal sets the template by which all actors in the role must be judged. His performance is one of immense grace and subtlety.
In this screenplay, unlike the novel, the Lady Blakeney of Merle Oberon is introduced to us whilst posing for renowned portrait painter George Romney. Whatever Miss Oberon's limitations as an actress she is loved by the camera and oozes class. As Blakeney's most dangerous enemy Citizen Chauvelin, the marvellous Raymond Massey is villainy incarnate. This actor's notoriously wicked sense of humour is evident here.
Granted, the film is somewhat creaky at times as are the performances from some of the supporting actors but it is streets ahead of Powell and Pressburger's catastrophic version of 1950. The less said about Clive Donner's execrable version of 1982 the better.
Baroness Orczy was an avowed Anglophile and happily married to an Englishman so the final scene of this film would I'm sure have appealed to her immensely.
Towards the end of the film Blakeney recites a few lines of 'the sceptered isle' speech from Shakespeare's 'Richard II'. There are two lines in that speech that are not quoted. Although they were not relevant in 1792 or indeed in 1934 they are chillingly relevant now: "That England, that was wont to conquer others, hath made a shameful conquest of itself."