Ian McKellen as Chauvelin; portrait of Jane Seymour as
Marguerite behind
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When Clive Donner (Alfred
the Great) invited me to work with him again I was a little
disappointed that it was not to play the eponymous Scarlet
Pimpernel, one of the great romantic roles of popular cinema. The
foppish aristocrat who rescues victims of the French Revolution is a
master of disguise transforming himself, years before Clark Kent or
James Bond, into a dashing action hero. Anthony Andrews, fresh from
his startling screen debut in Brideshead Revisited was the
luckier man: but I was pleased to play his principal opponent in
love and war, the steely politician Chauvelin. |
| We filmed, as many British period movies do, on
location at the magnificent Blenheim Palace near Oxford. I felt at
home in the stylish 18th century clothes and wig. The budget
encouraged fast filming, so each day was satisfying as the scenes
were efficiently knocked off. |
The Great Hall, Broughton Castle, used for the duel scene in
The Scarlet Pimpernel
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Ian McKellen (Chauvelin) and Jane Seymour (Marguerite)
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There was much to enjoy. I was reunited with
Jane Seymour after our Broadway season in
Amadeus and made new friends with the Hollywood screenwriters
Bill Bast and his partner Paul Huson (who had played the elder
prince in the tower in Olivier's film Richard III). |
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The film's popularity continues on US television — for
a time there was even a Chauvelin fan club amongst college students. But
why should Americans (whether Republican or Democrat) favour a tale
about an attempt to undermine the French Revolution, whose hero is a
forthright monarchist and whose villain is Robespierre's devotee? —
Ian McKellen, August 2000
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