The New York Times Review, February 8, 1935

From the The New York Times review by Andre Sennwald:

"It is a temptation to say that Leslie Howard's newest performance is also his best. This time the need is overbearing. For Mr. Howard is the Pimpernel himself, gallant and resourceful on his perilous missions across the Channel, downright superb when he is playing the simpering poseur in the English drawing rooms. He is an infinite delight even in a cast which is correct down to the smallest rôles and includes Raymond Massey and Merle Oberon among its principals. Robert Sherwood and Arthur Wimperis have struck off a witty, romantic and adventurous screen play, which has been costumed, photographed and set aflowing with the best possible taste. Did the narrative seem a trifle leisurely in places? No matter. It was a leisurely age and here is a succulent and captivating entertainment."

The New York Times Review of The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

[Leslie Howard in a colorized photo as
Sir Percy Blakeney in
The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

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Raymond Massey

I love Raymond Massey (1896 - 1983), especially as Citizen Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel. A more dastardly foe of Sir Percy Blakeney there could not be. But, of course, he was always thwarted by the cunning of the Pimpernel.

[Raymond Massey as Citizen Chauvelin
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1934]

Massey said of his experience filming the movie, "I never had such fun working in a movie as I did on The Scarlet Pimpernel. Of all the heavies I have played on the screen, the most wicked and the most fun to do was Chauvelin. There was a spirit in that company, a feeling of confidence, a sort of élan which I have often found in the theater but never sensed in any other movie."

During the filming of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Massey was not only starring in the play The Shining Hour on London's West End, but he was directing it as well. This meant long days for the director-actor but the film's producer, Alexander Korda, made it easier for him by making a car and driver available to Massey. This allowed him to get in a snooze during the one-hour trip to and from Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. Massey didn't have to worry about meals due to the fact that the play called for him to eat two full hot meals during his performance each night. (The play was known jokingly as "The Dining Hour.")

[Leslie Howard and Raymond Massey
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

The original director of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Rowland Brown, was fired on the first day of shooting. In Raymond Massey's autobiography, A Hundred Different Lives, he recounts how producer Korda watched Brown direct a scene and then told him what he was doing wrong. Brown told Korda that the film was going to be his way or he would walk. Korda replied, "Please walk," which Brown did. Korda had hired a new director, Harold Young, by the end of the day. Massey stated, "The next day Young ostensibly took over, but the direction throughout the months of shooting remained an unofficial but smooth collaboration," which I take to mean that Young figured out that one doesn't argue with the Hungarian.

Raymond Massey also said of Korda, "Alex was Hungarian, imaginative, intelligent, extravagant. Although lacking business sense, he had an uncanny ability to find money, and he also had an uncommon feeling for quality."

Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey and Anthony Bushell in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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Just A Bit Of Trivia

In this scene of The Scarlet Pimpernel you see a fly land on Leslie Howard's right sleeve, which I have noted in the IMDb Trivia section for the movie. Apparently, Elstree Studios, where the movie was filmed, had a problem with flies as I have noticed flies in other scenes as well. The director, Harold Young, either didn't notice the fly or had already become resigned to them by the time this scene was filmed. Honestly, I watched the film at least fifty times before I noticed the fly, probably because I am mesmerized by Leslie Howard's lean in on Merle Oberon instead.

[Leslie Howard and Fly]

Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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They Seek Him Here, They Seek Him There

Leslie Howard and Edmund Breon in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Produced by Alexander Korda and London Films. Distributed by United Artists. Directed by Harold Young. Released in the UK December 23, 1934 and in the US February 7, 1935.

Leslie Howard and Edmund Breon in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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A Very Hungarian Affair

Baroness Emmuska Magdalena Rosalie Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy, born in 1865, was the daughter of aristocrat Baron Felix Orczy, a Hungarian-Jewish musician and composer, who left his homeland in 1868 with his young family after their home was vandalized by peasants. They eventually settled in London. Baron Orczy wanted his daughter to study music but she opted for art school instead. This is where she met her husband, Montagu Barstow. Orczy wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel herself in just five weeks but could not find a publisher for the book. So, together with her husband, she wrote a play based on the book which was produced for the stage in 1903. The novel was then published in 1905.

Enter Alexander Korda who was born in 1893 in what is now Hungary and who had formed his own production company, London Films. It was Korda who originally put The Scarlet Pimpernel on film. Korda had actually wanted Charles Laughton for the title role, but by that time the public already had an idea of what Sir Percy Blakeney looked like and it wasn't Charles Laughton.

And this leads us to our star, Leslie Howard. Howard was born Leslie Howard Steiner to a British mother, Lilian (née Blumberg), and a Hungarian-Jewish father, Ferdinand Steiner. Although born in England, Howard did live for a time in Vienna, Austria, where his father wanted the family to experience the richness of the cultural innovation and intellectual brilliance happening there. That experience is said to have influenced Howard for the rest of his life.

Leslie Howard and Walter Rilla
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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The Scarlet Pimpernel

Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Produced by Alexander Korda and London Films. Distributed by United Artists. Released in the UK December 23, 1934 and in the US February 7, 1935.

[Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

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Service for Ladies

Leslie Howard and Elizabeth Allan in Service for Ladies, aka Reserved for Ladies, 1932.

[Leslie Howard and Elizabeth Allan
in Service for Ladies, 1932]

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New York Times Review of Service for Ladies

New York Times movie review of Service for Ladies, aka Reserved for Ladies, May 21, 1932.

Leslie Howard in an Amusing Comedy Involving a Headwaiter, a King and an Heiress.

[Lobby Card for Service for Ladies, 1932]

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Service for Ladies

Leslie Howard in Service for Ladies (released in the US as Reserved for Ladies), 1932. Howard played Max Tracey, a very popular head waiter. Produced by Alexander Korda and Paramount British Pictures. Distributed by Paramount British Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Released January 14, 1932 (UK) and June 20, 1932 (US).

[Leslie Howard in Service for Ladies, 1932]

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Service for Ladies

Leslie Howard in Service for Ladies (released in the US as Reserved for Ladies), 1932.

[Leslie Howard in Service for Ladies, 1932]

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