THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL:

THE KIDNAPPED KING

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: innuendo, violence, language

Rated:

Maybe it was due to the outrage over the first two episodes, but the third addition to the Scarlet Pimpernel series by A&E avoids the rakish impudence and bawdy implications of its predecessors. In fact, I would recommend this one heartily since its flaws are few and the story truly engaging with a shocking twist at the end. This is much more like Sir Percy, although I have to admit he does get severely demeaned in the final duel.

King Louis and Marie Antoinette of France have been executed for 'crimes against the Republic,' and their only child has been taken to a French orphanage in the country where he might be taught to become useful. Here he is forced to repeat a little ditty about his parents' crimes and identify himself as Louis Charles Capa instead of the Prince of France. Robspierre hopes to use him as a bargaining chip if anything else; the prince is the wheel on which the Republic turns. Most opposition has been quenched, but the war is depleting the royal treasuries and the general public are less enthusiastic about involving themselves. Public executions are becoming anticlimactic. 

That's when Robspierre's nightmares come true... in the middle of the night a masked figure breaks into the orphanage, murders the child's keeper, and vanishes with the prince. Other figures in the drama also disappear... one of the guards goes missing, and the keeper's wife cannot be found. Swiftly we sail into England, where Sir Percy Blakeney is the height of London society. In the company of the court and the Prince of Wales, he has a violent argument with his wife Marguerite, a Citizen of France and former stage actress, who proclaims him intolerable and flounces out of his life. Much to the scandal of all London, Marguerite returns to Paris and swiftly becomes the pawn of Robspierre and his assistant Chauvelin.

The latter believes it to be a trick, some scheme of the Scarlet Pimpernel to be advantageous to his cause. Marguerite is forced to return to the theatre, encouraged by Robspierre to play Lady Liberty and demand the people of Paris support the Republic. In the meantime Percy has learned of Louis' mysterious disappearance and seeks to learn the whereabouts of the missing persons in the puzzle. The mystery grows dark indeed when at every turn his plans are foiled by the masked swordsman... who can kill men effortlessly with a twist of the wrist or a flicker of the blade.

The Kidnapped King is by far the best of the three episodes by A&E starring Richard E. Grant and Elizabeth McGovern. I was actually able to overcome my initial prejudice and come to like Marguerite in this version. Maybe it was just my frame of mind at the time, but I even accepted Martin Shaw as Chauvelin, a stretch by anyone's imagination. The film is finely produced and well-acted, with enough surprising twists to keep the viewer engaged. Once again Grant plays Percy to perfection with his ever-charming smile and piercing gray-blue eyes. The climax was fun and above all, this film avoids the troublesome cravats of the others.

There is no sexual content other than some brief veiled innuendo. Marguerite does come to Paris purely to gain the trust of Chauvelin, but she never takes it to extremes and maintains a modest distance. Dialogue implies that the two were lovers in their youth, and Percy cautions her not to take it 'further than the bedroom door; a woman on her back is at a distinct disadvantage.' There are some immodest and/or nude paintings in the background of one scene. Language is mild with a half dozen scattered profanities (mostly used in good fun or for humorous purposes), and the violence isn't overly gory or advantageous. A man's neck is twisted, swiftly killing him. A woman is slapped violently as Louis is kidnapped. A body is found in a vat of water; a brief examination proves she too had her neck broken. A figure is found hanging from the ceiling (only his legs are shown). In a violent duel, a man is cut several times. His opponent is finally stabbed (off-camera and with no blood). Several people are hit over the head.

By no means is it a perfect adaptation, but it was a lot of fun to watch and I'll be quoting some of Percy's wit for a long time to come. His game of Hazard, quipping on the vices of English cloaks, and dramatic show of arguing with his wife in front of the entire court make for a memorable -- if sometimes unorthodox -- return to war-torn France during the height of the Revolution.

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