A London Film Production. Filmed at Denham Studios, England. (Available on a poor quality Network DVD).
Copyright 27 January 1938 by London Film Productions, Ltd. Released worldwide through United Artists. New York opening at the Rivoli: 10 April 1938. U.S. release: 29 April 1938. U.K. release: 20 December 1937. Australian release: 28 April 1938. Running times: 94 minutes (UK), 88 minutes (USA), 79 minutes (American TV).
SYNOPSIS: Paris, 1794: Robespierre's assistant at tempts to trap the Scarlet Pimpernel by luring his wife to France.
NOTES: A sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel (1935), this seems to be the last film directed by Hanns Schwarz (another of those guys who don't know how to spell their own names. How do idiot computers handle bozos like this I wonder!) who died in Hollywood about seven years later. He has a long list of German films to his credit, with stars of the first rank like Emil Jannings, Lillian Harvey, Brigitte Helm, Dita Parlo, Anna Sten, Hans Albers and Willy Fritsch. His only previous English-language film seems to have been The Prince of Arcadia (1933) starring Carl Brisson, Margot Grahame and Ida Lupino.
COMMENT: To judge from the American version broadcast on TV in May, 1994 (a nice print, but running only around 75 minutes, with deletions and jump cuts all over the place), this was an entertaining enough sequel. True, Barry K. Barnes has an enviable task in trying to fill the shoes of Leslie Howard, but he does quite well on his own account, even managing a couple of clever impersonations. In fact with the exceptions of Francis Lister's Chauvelin and Henry Oscar's equally villainous Robespierre, he tends to over-shadow the rest of the players.
James Mason gives a muted performance and Sophie Stewart makes little impression, though Margaretta Scott has a few fiery moments.
True to the spirit and flavor of Orczy's novels (which were exceptionally popular in the 1940s and 1950s), the script makes it as hard as possible for the hero, piling an impossible situation, a hair's breadth escape, and a one against-all-odds dilemma on top of another, all coming to an exciting conclusion.
Pictorially, the film looks great. Wonderful costumes and sets, lots of extras milling around — and no doubt a bit of stock footage or perhaps out-takes from Korda's original Pimpernel.
In the U.S.A. print under review, the pace is rapid, the direction showing plenty of drive and style. Greenbaum's camera-work as usual is first-class.
ANOTHER VIEW: Sequels are invariably down graded by critics. Part of the appeal of the original novel lies in its novelty. On the other hand, the general public is often more comfortable (and forgiving) than the critics with familiar characters and situations. And of course there is always an audience for a sequel to whom the picture is new anyway, as they haven't seen the original.
This sequel offers more of the same — and does it handsomely. The problems are mainly that although the plot has dash, it lacks freshness, and that though Barnes may even be a more convincing actor than Howard, he lacks Howard's charisma.
Copyright 27 January 1938 by London Film Productions, Ltd. Released worldwide through United Artists. New York opening at the Rivoli: 10 April 1938. U.S. release: 29 April 1938. U.K. release: 20 December 1937. Australian release: 28 April 1938. Running times: 94 minutes (UK), 88 minutes (USA), 79 minutes (American TV).
SYNOPSIS: Paris, 1794: Robespierre's assistant at tempts to trap the Scarlet Pimpernel by luring his wife to France.
NOTES: A sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel (1935), this seems to be the last film directed by Hanns Schwarz (another of those guys who don't know how to spell their own names. How do idiot computers handle bozos like this I wonder!) who died in Hollywood about seven years later. He has a long list of German films to his credit, with stars of the first rank like Emil Jannings, Lillian Harvey, Brigitte Helm, Dita Parlo, Anna Sten, Hans Albers and Willy Fritsch. His only previous English-language film seems to have been The Prince of Arcadia (1933) starring Carl Brisson, Margot Grahame and Ida Lupino.
COMMENT: To judge from the American version broadcast on TV in May, 1994 (a nice print, but running only around 75 minutes, with deletions and jump cuts all over the place), this was an entertaining enough sequel. True, Barry K. Barnes has an enviable task in trying to fill the shoes of Leslie Howard, but he does quite well on his own account, even managing a couple of clever impersonations. In fact with the exceptions of Francis Lister's Chauvelin and Henry Oscar's equally villainous Robespierre, he tends to over-shadow the rest of the players.
James Mason gives a muted performance and Sophie Stewart makes little impression, though Margaretta Scott has a few fiery moments.
True to the spirit and flavor of Orczy's novels (which were exceptionally popular in the 1940s and 1950s), the script makes it as hard as possible for the hero, piling an impossible situation, a hair's breadth escape, and a one against-all-odds dilemma on top of another, all coming to an exciting conclusion.
Pictorially, the film looks great. Wonderful costumes and sets, lots of extras milling around — and no doubt a bit of stock footage or perhaps out-takes from Korda's original Pimpernel.
In the U.S.A. print under review, the pace is rapid, the direction showing plenty of drive and style. Greenbaum's camera-work as usual is first-class.
ANOTHER VIEW: Sequels are invariably down graded by critics. Part of the appeal of the original novel lies in its novelty. On the other hand, the general public is often more comfortable (and forgiving) than the critics with familiar characters and situations. And of course there is always an audience for a sequel to whom the picture is new anyway, as they haven't seen the original.
This sequel offers more of the same — and does it handsomely. The problems are mainly that although the plot has dash, it lacks freshness, and that though Barnes may even be a more convincing actor than Howard, he lacks Howard's charisma.