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The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel

List Price: $7.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a very good film
Review: This film has most everyting adventure romance, but also an underlying sadness as its during the French Revolution. Merl Oberon is beautiful does a great acting job and also Leslie Howard plays the Scarlet PImpernel so very very well. Hes very talented in all his films this I think is one of his best.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great movie, pity about the DVD !
Review: This great version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' deserves the full Criterion or Anchor Bay treatment -- this Madacy DVD is a disgrace! Murky picture and muddy sound -- skip it and go instead to Amazon's UK site where you can pick up on Region 2 DVD the fantastic 1980s version with Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Ian McKellen. Don't bother with the recent TV series with the normally excellent Richard E Grant -- it's a travesty, with none of the spirit of the book, so faithfully re-created in both the Leslie Howard and Anthony Andrews versions.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Madacy Strikes Again!
Review: This is a wonderful film (I have the Samuel Goldwyn laserdisc release that was distributed a few years ago by HBO) but the public domain print that Madacy has released is absolutely criminal! I have been burned a couple of times by this label. The low price may seem to be a bargain, but remember, you get what you pay for. Leslie Howard deserves better treatment!

Speaking of Mr. Howard, his last film, PIMPERNEL SMITH (which updates the story to World War II) is also available through Amazon.Com. I cannot, as yet, attest to it's video quality, but the film is a worthy successor to the original.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: One of the All Time Great Movies - Butchered
Review: This movie has been one of my favorites. I just purchased this DVD for my collection. I can live with poor film quality, I can live with bad sound, but missing scenes is unacceptable.

The scene where Percy tells Armand that he still loved Marguerite is missing!! This my be the most important scene in the movie.

I love the Leslie Howard version, lets hope someone will do a proper restore of this great classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: First of the two Pimpernel classics -- that damned elusive
Review: Unique classic, set in the bloody aftermath of the French Revolution. Triumph of freedom over fascism. Love, humor, victory, and a superb cast filled out by Merle Oberon (Wuthering Heights) and an incomparable Raymond Massey.

Two years later Leslie Howard played a second Pimpernel, in a second war -- "Pimpernel Smith." See both films. I couldn't recommend them more highly. And if you haven't your fill yet of this anti-hero, try Anthony Andrews' version.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The missing scenes
Review: We had rented a VHS copy after not seeing this for years. Shortly after we bought this DVD version. What a disappointment! Especially the missing material related to the Romney portrait scene. Whole portions of the sub-plot make no sense without it all. Wait till someone gets this right.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Forget Anthony Andrews!
Review: While Leslie Howard may be better known for his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind," he IS the Scarlet Pimpernel. There are many wonderful period details in this film, such as the authentic beaver hats of the day and the behavior in men's clubs. Howard delightfully and effortlessly switches between the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney and the dashing Scarlet Pimpernel. If you focus on him, you can forgive Merle Oberon's rather stagey performance as Lady Blakeney. A classic! END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sink Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Why do they have to ruin everything?! The boobs who released this not only cut it but also did nothing to restore it. Magnificent performance from Leslie Howard and the ever beautiful Merle Oberon. Perhaps it is not a good adaptation of the book but that does not diminish these memorable performances. If only some company would take these fine dramatic films, restore and release them in a form that would preserve the wonderful performances and production values.


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