I like the idea of risks being taken and then having Percy have to face the consequences thereof, but the movie really, really, and I mean really botched the plot by having Dewhurst murdered. That's grounds for war in that era. It's part of the reason it so shocked the Pimpernel fans: Chauvelin would never have gotten away with that.
In the book, Chauvelin is much more calculating and clever. He suspects that members of the English gentry are the ones interfering in the French affairs, so he knows he has to tread carefully. If he wants to stop the Pimpernel and his allies entirely, he has to catch them in the midst of seditious act within France to have any grounds to imprison or execute them. If Percy Blakeney were caught countervening the will of the French Republic or inciting insurrection, England would have little they could do--diplomacy-wise--to prevent the French from trying him for the crime and punishing him if he were found guilty.
On top of that, I found Percy's whole attitude in the miniseries towards the men and women working with him to perform these rescues a little too cavalier. The man in the beginning who they rescue (nam escapes me) who dies. Nothing, not a mention thereafter. The French family who helped the Pimpernel escape were caught and executed--again not something that should ever happen to the Pimpernel's allies. Dewhurst is just the straw that breaks the camel's back. Again, in the book, Percy hardly ever puts the others at risk. He runs the most daring and dangerous parts of any distraction and he is a complete chameleon. He is able to disguise himself so well that even when Chauvelin knows who the Pimpernel is, he doesn't recognize him. It's much more clever, a lot less bullish.
Plus, no offense to him, but Richard Grant isn't handsome enough to be Percy.
It's too bad you never got to see the musical. Douglas Sills played Percy for its entire run, and he was marvelous. He had the most foppish fop act that ever fopped. And he had the silly laugh down pat; he called Chauvelin "Shove-lin;" and at one point (in one production) he wore a waistcoat with giraffe-like spots and managed to take in compliments all around. Then, when he was the Pimpernel or his real self, he was quite angsty (maybe a little too much) but very scarily serious when the need arose.
The silly songs in the play--Percy's poem to song, "The Creation of Man" (in which Percy, surrounded by his foppified friends, convinces the Prince of Wales that a man is supposed to be beautiful, not warrior-like)--those are the ones that hold up best. Otherwise, there's more of the Chauvelin-Marie romance/entanglement and some soppy songs of love and what-not.
I used to have sites for fanfic somewhere. Probably on an old computer, which means in the basement at home and dead to us both. But you can try looking around for book/musical stuff. The book's a quick read, and I can get you the musical on CD.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-03-31 07:27 pm (UTC)In the book, Chauvelin is much more calculating and clever. He suspects that members of the English gentry are the ones interfering in the French affairs, so he knows he has to tread carefully. If he wants to stop the Pimpernel and his allies entirely, he has to catch them in the midst of seditious act within France to have any grounds to imprison or execute them. If Percy Blakeney were caught countervening the will of the French Republic or inciting insurrection, England would have little they could do--diplomacy-wise--to prevent the French from trying him for the crime and punishing him if he were found guilty.
On top of that, I found Percy's whole attitude in the miniseries towards the men and women working with him to perform these rescues a little too cavalier. The man in the beginning who they rescue (nam escapes me) who dies. Nothing, not a mention thereafter. The French family who helped the Pimpernel escape were caught and executed--again not something that should ever happen to the Pimpernel's allies. Dewhurst is just the straw that breaks the camel's back. Again, in the book, Percy hardly ever puts the others at risk. He runs the most daring and dangerous parts of any distraction and he is a complete chameleon. He is able to disguise himself so well that even when Chauvelin knows who the Pimpernel is, he doesn't recognize him. It's much more clever, a lot less bullish.
Plus, no offense to him, but Richard Grant isn't handsome enough to be Percy.
It's too bad you never got to see the musical. Douglas Sills played Percy for its entire run, and he was marvelous. He had the most foppish fop act that ever fopped. And he had the silly laugh down pat; he called Chauvelin "Shove-lin;" and at one point (in one production) he wore a waistcoat with giraffe-like spots and managed to take in compliments all around. Then, when he was the Pimpernel or his real self, he was quite angsty (maybe a little too much) but very scarily serious when the need arose.
The silly songs in the play--Percy's poem to song, "The Creation of Man" (in which Percy, surrounded by his foppified friends, convinces the Prince of Wales that a man is supposed to be beautiful, not warrior-like)--those are the ones that hold up best. Otherwise, there's more of the Chauvelin-Marie romance/entanglement and some soppy songs of love and what-not.
I used to have sites for fanfic somewhere. Probably on an old computer, which means in the basement at home and dead to us both. But you can try looking around for book/musical stuff. The book's a quick read, and I can get you the musical on CD.