The Scarlet Pimpernel Boxed Set (1999)

Scarlet Pimpernel Book 3: Kidnapped King returns the series to the swashbuckling adventure of the first film. The dauphin has been kidnapped and both the Pimpernel and the Republicans are on his trail. Marguerite (Elizabeth McGovern) returns to France for a little undercover skullduggery while Percy (Richard E. Grant) travels to Paris and reunites his network of spies and secret agents. Grant plays the effete but snide Percy for all he's worth, a flamboyant snob with a tart tongue, while McGovern's Marguerite is the wayward daughter of the revolution come home for the cause. They're both covers, of course, but the play-acting becomes public theater when they hiss and spit a public breakup in front of the Republican government and Percy skulks out looking every inch the spineless fop. Free of suspicion from all but the cagey Republican agent Chauvelin (Martin Shaw), the Scarlet Pimpernel again rises to save the oppressed, shadow the suspicious, and track down the hiding place of the dauphin's captors. The plot of secret identities and murky alliances climaxes (in the best swashbuckling tradition) with crossed swords but concludes with a sneaky new conspiracy that opens the door for even more sequels. Suzanne Bertish guest stars as the theater star with a secret La Tourain. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Books any child should read?

One reviewer here comments that the Pimpernel books are ones any child should read.

Well, not in the original perhaps: the Barnoness' original "Scarlet Pimpernel" book is blatently anti-Semitic in the very "best" English uppercrust tradition of the sixteenth-twentieth centuries. In order to appear harmless and keep the villain at arms length, the hero disguises himself as a typical old dirty grasping servile cowering cowardly Jew. Let the kiddies watch the videos instead.
April 3, 2008

Wonderful escapism...great story

Perfect when you want to watch something that takes you to a different time and place...romantic, exciting, idealistic, arch and classic. October 11, 2007

I Loved This Production. WONDERFUL!!!!!

I realize that this adaptation is not exactly authentic to Orczy's novel, however I LOVED IT. I feel that A&E/BBC productions are brilliant. This version of Pimpernel is decadent, spicy, fun and hilarious. Watch with an open mind and enjoy. September 27, 2007

Wildly Entertaining

Although no mysteries of life will be revealed in this series, it was entertaining beyond belief. Mr. Grant added a dimension that was unique: he was all the Pimpernel should be and incredibly charismatic. All the acting was excellent, but his stood out in particular since he embodied the hero so well and was so charming. I will miss not being able to watch more of this excellent actor. Someone in an earlier review criticized him as not being their idea of a leading man. To me, he was one of the best leading men I have seen in ages. Granted, he does not have the perfect looks of a Tom Cruise, but he has an inner depth that gives him an appeal that far surpasses any Mr. Cruise or another pretty boy may possess. I highly recommend this series. August 8, 2007

Very Entertaining

My mom and I loved this series. She is a fan of the Leslie Howard movie verision, but this one with Peter Jeffery (and I quote) "They did a GREAT job on this!" She wants more. The settings, costumes, the story were very well done. The script, acting, .. all of it together made the Pimpernel stories come to life. We enjoyed every minute of them all. The French Revolution came to life. Very well done. June 24, 2007

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