Spend Friday Night At the Flicks with Elizabeth Ellen Carter
There has been a lot of discussion in authorland over recent months about the exploration of tropes in romantic fiction.
Just as every piece of music ever written from Call Me Maybe to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are made from the combination of the same eight notes, so too it can be equally argued that every piece of fiction (particularly romantic fiction) is also subject to tropes.
Rather than being limiting, as we’ve discussed in this blog here, a framework on which can author can create an original work of fiction is actually quite liberating.
Which gets us to this weeks Friday Night Flicks – The Scarlet Pimpernel.
What tropes get used here – the misunderstood hero – check, the estranged heroine – check, the sneaky villain – check, true love wins out – check.
First published in 1905 The Scarlet Pimpernel has been an enduring classic appealing both to adventure lovers and romantics. In fact the Scarlet Pimpernel is considered amongst fiction’s first superhero (a hero with a secret identity) but for the purposes of Friday Night Flicks, we’ll be looking at Sir Percy Blakeney as leading man, romantic hero.
Sir Percy Blakeney, confidant to the Prince of Wales, is considered a floppish, man about town, an amusing distraction for the Ton but his marriage to the beautiful Margeurite St Just is on the rocks because of a classic misunderstanding. Furthe,r putting strain on his relationship, is his secret mission to rescue aristocrats from France’s Reign of Terror.
But he’s not the only hero in the story. What makes the Scarlet Pimpernel so appealing is the flawed heroine Margeurite who finally emerges from her crysalis of doubt and recrimination to put her life at risk for the man she loves.
The beautiful Merle Oberon with the polished Leslie Howard as our romantic hero and heroine in The Scarlet Pimpernel
Rather than being a light weight adventure, best known for its signature line, the Scarlet Pimpernel is a romance with great maturity that takes place after the first flush of courtship, where the risk of complacency, personal hurt and resentment loom as a greater enemy than the combined forces marshalled by la Republique de France.
Despite danger that hangs over the lovers, there is a happy ending and on a twist from another romance trope, the couple don’t ride off into the sunset but rather, sail off to English by midnight.
No wonder the story has been told and retold and, while Anthony Andrews is fabulous as Sir Percy in the 1982 version, nothing beats the 1934 film with superstars Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey as the menacing Citizen Chauvelin and Nigel Bruce (better known as Watson to Basil Rathbone’s Homes).
Enjoy the 1934 version of the Scarlet Pimpernel below, which is to our delight is out of copyright.
Equally delightfully, the story itself is out of copyright too, which is one of the reasons why I borrowed the wonderful Sir Percy and created a little backstory for him in Moonstone Obsession.
Moonstone Obsession is set three years prior to the Reign Of Terror which is the backdrop to the The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Here’s a taster from Moonstone Obsession:
Jackson, sitting opposite James, tried to catch his friend’s eye. If this was supposed to be a secret meeting to protect the security, wealth and honour of England, then a boozy, frequently loud, and drawn-out gambling session was a damned strange way of going about it.
Then, during a quiet moment and as if sensing the impatience of the American seated to his right, Sir Percy suddenly dropped the affected voice of the dandy and addressed the group in a low voice designed to carry no further than the table.
Jackson was stunned by the man’s abrupt change. It was like he was another person.
“William sends his regrets,” he said as he shuffled the deck and dealt. “He’s playing Rumplestiltskin and trying to turn straw into gold.”