As a big fan of Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, golden age romance melodramas with a touch of comedy, spy storylines, and the French Revolution it comes as no surprise that I had this great a time with Harold Young’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. It’s so charming from the first minute to the last because of that lovely screenplay and Howard and Oberon bring a lot of charm on top of it, normally in a movie that features its two leads in a romance like this one does I’d be praising their chemistry but this is unique in that regard as they didn’t share the screen all that much, their individual charm with their other screen-mates was fantastic and more than made up for it though and I ultimately really enjoyed the performances from both. And I love what they were able to do with the comedy, from that cold and dark opening you might think this would be purely drama, maybe something akin to Schindler’s List(i haven’t seen that i just know both lead characters are trying to save people from execution by a shitty government), but it transitions into a very similar feel that a lot of other drama/comedies of this era had and considering I’ve grown to adore that so much I see it as a big positive. It admittedly didn’t have to accomplish much in the technical department but this final product is quite pretty, the costume and production design, cinematography, and score were all very well done and complimented the story as well as I could’ve wanted. I’d write more about it if there was more to it but sometimes you really don’t need a whole lot, it’s a story, screenplay, and collection of cast members that entirely appeals to me and I’m happy to say I got the high level of enjoyment out of it that I was hoping for.

As a big fan of Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, golden age romance melodramas with a touch of comedy, spy storylines, and the French Revolution it comes as no surprise that I had this great a time with Harold Young’s The Scarlet Pimpernel. It’s so charming from the first minute to the last because of that lovely screenplay and Howard and Oberon bring a lot of charm on top of it, normally in a movie that features its two leads in a romance like this one does I’d be praising their chemistry but this is unique in that regard as they didn’t share the screen all that much, their individual charm with their other screen-mates was fantastic and more than made up for it though and I ultimately really enjoyed the performances from both. And I love what they were able to do with the comedy, from that cold and dark opening you might think this would be purely drama, maybe something akin to Schindler’s List(i haven’t seen that i just know both lead characters are trying to save people from execution by a shitty government), but it transitions into a very similar feel that a lot of other drama/comedies of this era had and considering I’ve grown to adore that so much I see it as a big positive. It admittedly didn’t have to accomplish much in the technical department but this final product is quite pretty, the costume and production design, cinematography, and score were all very well done and complimented the story as well as I could’ve wanted. I’d write more about it if there was more to it but sometimes you really don’t need a whole lot, it’s a story, screenplay, and collection of cast members that entirely appeals to me and I’m happy to say I got the high level of enjoyment out of it that I was hoping for.

My Watchlist Challenge 2025 #21

this is my dads favourite film

My Watchlist Challenge 2025 #21

this is my dads favourite film

Leslie Howard is giving the absolute most with his flamboyant performance as the titular high-society vigilante, which is so spot on it actually becomes a bit grating. But he’s clearly having fun, so it’s not for nothing.

Leslie Howard is giving the absolute most with his flamboyant performance as the titular high-society vigilante, which is so spot on it actually becomes a bit grating. But he’s clearly having fun, so it’s not for nothing.