The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982 film) a Special (for production designer Tony Curtis and set decorator Carolyn Scott). Romantic novelist Lauren Willig has cited the 1982 film as "the most direct inspiration" for her 2005 work "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation". The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982 film) The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982 British romantic adventure film set during the French Revolution. It is based on the novels "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Eldorado" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and stars Anthony Andrews as Sir Percy Blakeney/the Scarlet Pimpernel, the protagonist, Jane Seymour as Marguerite St. Just, the love interest, and Ian McKellen as Chauvelin, the antagonist.
The Scarlet Pimpernel to her horror (and simultaneous delight) that "he" is the Pimpernel. He had hidden behind the persona of a dull, slow-witted fop to deceive the world. He had not told Marguerite because of his worry that she might betray him, as she had the Marquis de St. Cyr. Desperate to save her husband, she decides to pursue Percy to France to warn him that Chauvelin knows his identity and his purpose. She persuades Sir Andrew Ffoulkes to accompany her, but because of the tide and the weather, neither they nor Chauvelin can leave immediately. At Calais, Percy openly approaches Chauvelin