Smith tells Graum that the artefacts he has discovered disprove Nazi claims about the Aryan origins of the Germans. Leslie Howard's last leading role (no, I don't count his sharing the lead with David Niven in Spitfire) as Pimpernel Smith was effective and impressive WWII propaganda. Pimpernel Smith a modern (WW2) reworking of the story has little to do with the original tale except that it's about an unlikely, seemingly inoffensive Englishman (in this case a dreamy Cambridge professor) taking great risks to smuggle the persecuted (implicitly, but not explicitly Jewish intellectuals) out of a tyrannical regime (here, immediately pre-war Nazi Germany.) A World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. In both films, the daring and courageous Pimpernel hides behind a mild-mannered, abstracted public persona. We won't compress, alter or take ownership of your content. In his second directorial effort (after "Pygmalion"), Howard casts himself as an eccentric Cambridge professor of archaeology who travels to Nazi Germany with a group of students, ostensibly to do research on the Aryan origins of German culture but whose actual purpose is to free concentration camp prisoners. Looking for a slightly scary movie to watch this Halloween? You will never rule the world... because you are doomed. Sorry, there was a problem saving your cookie preferences. Bertie Gregson. Fantasy. By continuing to use TMDb, you are agreeing to this policy. 1941 Raoul Wallenberg did, however, manage to see it at a private screening, together with his half-sister, Nina Lagergren.[12]. It also removes some of the best bits as well however like the frequent use of the phrase ‘zoinks!’. "Pimpernel" Smith (released in the United States as Mister V) is a 1941 British anti-Nazi thriller,[1] produced and directed by its star Leslie Howard, which updates his role in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) from Revolutionary France to pre-Second World War Europe. The Nazis as portrayed are, to put it mildly, cartoonish, but that does not diminish their menace, and this story is bloody fun to watch. Seeing Francis L Sullivan's von Graum, an oafish Nazi General, claim in all seriousness that Shakespeare was in fact German put me in mind of Jeremy Hunt's ludicrous attempt at suggesting it was the Tories who 'set up' the NHS at the Conservative conference this week. Show All… Looking for something to watch? Concerning this film, I can't decide if my soft spot is for the always superb Leslie Howard, or for one of the old heroes of literature, resurrected to fight the nazi menace. Nuno Filipe de Vilhena Santos. Professor Horatio Smith, while seeming very unassuming, rescues victims of Nazi persecution during World War II. The new puzzles website is now live - sign up now and enjoy a 7-day free trial! The screen's greatest Scarlet Pimpernel, Leslie Howard, updates the character to Nazi-occupied Europe in this smashing piece of wartime propaganda. It’s junk in technical terms. Ludmilla Koslowski Mary Morris. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 September 2019. 22 of 24 people found this review helpful. Pimpernel Smith is a close copy of its older cousin The Scarlet Pimprnel, but with a few important differences. You are doomed, Captain of Murderers, and one day, sooner or later, you will remember my words.". Matthews, Wolfgang Wilhelm Anatole de Grunwald Baroness Emmuska Orczy A. G. MacDonell, 120 mins   Marx. A noblewoman discovers her husband is The Scarlet Pimpernel, a vigilante who rescues aristocrats from the blade of the guillotine. Leslie Howard had played Baroness Orczy's fictional hero Sir Percy Blakney (AKA “The Scarlet Pimpernel”) in the highly successful 1934 British film adaptation of the novel, linking his name forever with the character. A rather standard propaganda movie that takes its plot from a classic novel (the scarlet pimpernel) and updates it to make it topical. When Smith finds out, he promises her he will free Koslowski. It is mid-1939 and both Germany and England are preparing for an inevitable conflict. Tonight you will take the first step along a dark road from which there is no turning back. Professor Horatio Smith, an effete academic, asks his students to come with him to the continent to engage in an archaeological dig. Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show. Use the HTML below. Almost gets another half point for Howard's speech at the end. He also directs skilfully, even if I felt the film sagged a bit in the middle (it is 2 hours long and maybe could have benefitted from losing 15 minutes...maybe). Sign in to see videos available to you. Click here to login or here to sign up. A comedy with social commentary. the Scarlet Pimpernel with Nazis- brilliant! The love interest is surprisingly well played by Mary Morris. This film tells the stories of seven 'gentle' British girls who decide to "do their bit" and help out during World War II. And still, you will have to go on... because you will find no horizon... and see no dawn... until at last you are lost and destroyed. He was the finest actor of his generation and deserves to be known for this, rather than the awful ‘Gone with the Wind’ which he personally detested. [6], Released in the United States as Mister V, the film review in The New York Times noted: "It is all absurd derring-do, of course, and it follows a routine pattern. I especially like the part where Howards character gives "the captain of murderers" a warning about the path the Nazis are going down. By issuing "protective passports", which identified the bearer as Swedish, and housing them in 32 buildings that he rented and declared Swedish territory, he managed to rescue tens of thousands from the German death camps. ", "Wallenberg family mark centenary with plea for truth. But "Mister V" becomes a tense excursion because of Mr. Howard's casual direction, and even more because of the consummate ease and the quiet irony of his performance. Eccentric Cambridge archaeologist Horatio Smith (Howard) takes a group of British and American archaeology students to pre-war Nazi Germany to help in his excavations. I found this re-incarnation of the classic much more enjoyable than the original. Professor Smith is also addressed as "Horace" Smith in the film. This is a retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel set just prior to WW2. When his students discover that the professor is the man responsible for smuggling a number of enemies of the Nazi state out of Germany, they enthusiastically join him in his fight. While not as humanist as Chaplin's masterpiece of pathos, there is something equally haunting about Leslie's WWII Pimpernel. Howards character is shy of the limelight and likes to blend into the background which helps in his quest to free captured men of science & other great minds. A list of films with history, characters, references or themes that are related to the subject of Anarchism, or produced…, Some are good, some are bad. Professor Horatio Smith, while seeming very unassuming, rescues victims of Nazi persecution during World War II. It is primarily an adventure film which saves its message of humanity and human dignity till the end making it all the more powerful. Howard delivers an utterly enjoyable central performance as the eccentric archaeologist Professor Horatio Smith, whose absent-mindedness proves to be something of a cover for his secret heroic activities behind enemy…. Overview. A young American man comes to believe that he can will himself back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meet his ancestors, who lived in the house he has just inherited. An unassuming English professor working on an archaeological dig in Germany leads a double life helping enemies of the Nazi regime escape the country. There is nothing I hate about American or British cinema when they make Germans speak English because they are so lazy to use subtitles, about this film I didn’t like that much and for the end it was horrible to me destroyed anything I liked in the film. Title: From the deeply affecting Schindler's List to the…, Stephen Williamson 7,682 films 268 5 Edit. 4.3 ratio, clear B/W picture, good sound and easy to read optional English subtitles. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Prime members enjoy fast & free shipping, unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Prime Video and many more exclusive benefits. The result feels partly like one of those enjoyable Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies of the period, partly like a Lubitsch comedy, and partly like a Fritz Lang thriller. This delightful WWII update of Baroness Orczy's classic The Scarlet Pimpernel was the brainchild of its star, producer and director Leslie Howard who himself had played Orczy's dashing hero back in 1934. It's propaganda film of that era, but is still a fine film in my opinion. More details at David Tomlinson and Phillip Friend and Canadian Hugh McDermot are 3 of Leslie's team. But things are complicated when one of his students brings a mysterious woman into their circle, a woman who is secretly working for the Gestapo. There's a problem loading this menu at the moment. A modern update of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', featuring the same lead actor, this pokes fun at the regime of the Third Reich while making some patriotic statements about England (note the Rupert Brooke quote) - as a morale booster in the context of the 1940s it must have been effective. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2016. This is a clever update of the Scarlet Pimpernel story. This review is for the OLIVE DVD issued 2016. Frank Gallagher is the proud single dad of a large brood of smart, spirited, independent kids who without him would be... perhaps better off. No Cast List Sorry we do not have cast list for Pimpernel Smith . Second World War adventure based on The Scarlet Pimpernel, directed by and starring Leslie Howard, with Francis L Sullivan, Mary Morris, Hugh McDermott, Raymond Huntley and Manning Whiley. Later, his students guess his secret when they see his injury and connect it to a story about the latter-day Scarlet Pimpernel in a newspaper. Gen von Graum Francis L Sullivan. List of films in the public domain in the United States, "Pimpernel Smith (1941); 'Mr. A role he played in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), Howard took on the updated project as the first film he directed and co-produced. some are respectful, others are NOT. A very good transfer. Certificate: Passed Film data from TMDb. A phonetics and diction expert makes a bet that he can teach a cockney flower girl to speak proper English and pass as a lady in high society. German Gestapo general von Graum (Francis Sullivan) is determined to find out the identity of the "Pimpernel" and eliminate him. Allan Jeayes. Released a year after The Great Dictator, it does not stop short of mentioning concentration camps, also featuring them. Made by fans in Auckland, New Zealand. see full tv schedule . General von Graum. Raymond Huntley. David Maxwell. Or maybe it's also the inevitable truth of Howard's death by Nazis, intentional or not, which makes Howard's speech at the end, postmarking himself as a dead man chilling when he damns the corrupt…. [5][Note 2] Production on "Pimpernel" Smith began in early 1941. With Leslie Howard, Francis L. Sullivan, Allan Jeayes, Peter Gawthorne. The Crown actress Emma Corrin says Diana's bulimia was a "symptom of her turmoil", The Crown's Claire Foy to star in period horror-thriller Dust, ITV thriller The Sister finishes with an open ending that "disappoints" viewers, The Sister's Amrita Acharia explains the show's "creepy" ending - and reveals alternate versions. Excellent All Round AAAAAAAAAAA+++++++++++. He is ably supported by a fine cast of British character actors as both his archaeological team and the ghastly Germans (principally The wonderful Francis Sullivan (sic) and Raymond "Crash" Huntley (that's me calling him "Crash"!!). Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. This movie is evidently a labor of his love; he is writer, director, producer and star, and no doubt hand-picked his cast. Von Graum still has Ludmilla, so Smith comes back for her. View More