The Scarlet and the Black The Scarlet and the Black The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 American made-for-television historical war drama film directed by Jerry London and starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer. Based on J. P. Gallagher's book "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican" (published in 1967), the film tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, a real life Irish Roman Catholic priest who saved thousands of Jews and escaped Allied POWs in Rome. It was directed by Jerry London. CBS distributed more than 500,000 scripts of "The Scarlet and the Black" to students in elementary and high schools throughout the country,
The Scarlet Pimpernel told in "American Pimpernel: The Man Who Saved the Artists on Hitler's Death List". Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty was an Irish priest who saved thousands of people, British and American servicemen and Jews, during World War II while in the Vatican in Rome. His story is told in two books and a film: Harald Edelstam (1913–1989) was a Swedish diplomat. During World War II, he earned the nickname "Svarta nejlikan" ("the Black Pimpernel") for helping Norwegian resistance fighters in escape from the Germans. Stationed in Chile in the 1970s, he arranged for the escape of numerous refugees from the military junta