The Many Faces of the Scarlet Pimpernel Quiz

Answer: Sir Percy Blakeney

In Baroness Orczy's series, Sir Percy Blakeney keeps up the appearances of a dimwitted fop to all his acquaintances--including, at first, his wife--except a select group of others, known as the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. In reality, he is, of course, the Scarlet Pimpernel himself; under this alias, he dons a variety of disguises to rescue innocent French from the Guillotine that dominated the politics of the French Revolution in the 1790s.

Baroness Orczy published this first book in 1905, and it was an immediate hit. Her character is considered to have been the first hero to follow this typical double life.

Answer: Ten

There are 10 sequels to "The Scarlet Pimpernel", including "Eldorado" (1913) and "Lord Tony's Wife" (1917); they continued until 1940, when the last was written. In addition to these direct sequels, Orczy also wrote two short story collections featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, and four books that dealt with either Sir Percy's ancestors, or his descendants, or, in the case of "The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World", Sir Percy's view of the 1930s world.

Answer: Stage

A stage production, called "The Scarlet Pimpernel", was debuted in 1905, the same year as the first book. Co-written by Orczy herself and Montague Barstow, it was revived many times until 1985. Fred Terry played Sir Percy in the original West End production of this play.

Answer: 1917

The first filmed version was, of course, a silent movie, as were the next three film versions that were made, in 1918, 1923, and 1928 respectively. It starred Dustin Farnum, an American who made primarily Western movies, as Sir Percy. The next three silent films were not remakes of "The Scarlet Pimpernel", but instead continued in the series.

Answer: Leslie Howard

Leslie Howard was one of Hollywood's biggest box office draws during the 1930s. "The Scarlet Pimpernel", which was made in 1934, starred Howard as Sir Percy and Merle Oberon as his wife Marguerite. The film combined aspects of the book and the 1905 play of the same name.

Interestingly, Charles Laughton was originally going to play Sir Percy; but the public did not like the idea of Laughton playing the dashing and debonair Sir Percy, so Howard was given the role instead. He seems like a perfect fit for the character! His foppish mannerisms are excellent.

Answer: Pumpernickel

While Daffy Duck's version was called "The Scarlet Pumpernickel", Wayne and Schuster's was "The Brown Pumpernickel". In their parody, French aristocrats who were spirited away from prison were not replaced with a scarlet flower, as occurs in the Baroness Orczy books.

Instead, the prison cell would be packed with loaves of pumpernickel bread, to show the French authorities that the hero had been there.

Answer: Seven

These seven adaptations varied from a 1968 Norwegian version, called "Den Røde Pimpernell", to a version of "DuPont Show of the Month" in 1960, with Michael Rennie as Sir Percy and Maureen O'Hara as Marguerite. The 1982 version, however, stars Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, with Sir Ian McKellen as The Scarlet Pimpernel's nemesis, Chauvelin.

It was based on the first and third books by Baroness Orczy, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Eldorado".

Answer: Blackadder

The third series of "Blackadder", "Blackadder the Third", is set in the Georgian period around the French Revolution. In the third episode, "Nob and Nobility", Blackadder is disgusted at London's fascination with the Scarlet Pimpernel, and vows to complete a voyage of his own to France and rescue a French aristocrat. Of course, he really intends to fake the whole thing, and finds a French aristocrat who is willing to be paid to say that Blackadder really did rescue him. Unfortunately, however, this particular Frenchman is actually Sir Percy himself, in disguise! Fed up with Sir Percy, Blackadder poisons him and poses as the Scarlet Pimpernel himself.

Ironically, Sir Percy was played by Tim McInnery, who played a character named Sir Percy in the first and second seasons of "Blackadder".

Answer: Both Marguerite and Lord Tony Dewhurst die

Lord Tony Dewhurst, played by actor Jamie Bamber, is "killed off" in the first episode of the series, by archenemy Chauvelin (Martin Shaw). In the book series, however, Lord Tony is a significant character and even takes the lead in his own book, "Lord Tony's Wife".

Marguerite, played by Elizabeth McGovern, dies in childbirth after the first series. The second season continues without her character. This is a significant plot change, since Marguerite does not die in the book series.

Answer: musical

"The Scarlet Pimpernel" was a hit Broadway musical that ran from 1997 to 2000, and then revived internationally since then. With music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Nan Knighton, the musical was based off of the first book "The Scarlet Pimpernel". The original cast recording features Douglas Sills as Sir Percy and Christine Andreas as Marguerite. Some of the lyrics were adapted from lines from the book, including this classic poem from the book, which is a fitting way to close the quiz:

"They seek him here,
They seek him there.
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere!
Is he in heaven? Or is he in hell?
That damned, elusive Pimpernel."