Marguerite (Spoiler)


I had to wonder why, after employing dramatic licence by suggesting that Marguerite is pregnant, the storyline wasn't followed through at the crucial moment - couldn't Marguerite have 'pleaded her belly' at her trial, or was the innocence of an unborn baby lost on those who fed the guillotine? Her pregnancy isn't mentioned again, after Percy tells his men that they 'all know why' he wants to step down as the Pimpernel. Even when his wife is unceremoniously slung up onto the tumbril behind him, he doesn't try to support her - yet earlier at the cafe, when Percy, disguised as the colonel, heard Chauvelin mention Marguerite's name, he slipped in his act and had to cover his visible hesitation.

Apart from this one ponderance, I love this film, and it's a shame that it hasn't had the same success as the rather stilted 1934 original. Barry K. Barnes is good looking, funny, and the most romantic Sir Percy I've come across yet. Sophie Stewart is a perfectly canon Marguerite, and I swear she's a better actress than Merle! The two films were made only three years apart, and yet 'Return' has none of the stiff, stage-like dialogue, and doesn't really show its age at all, apart from the occasional 'dramatic' facial expression.

Sarah

"Tony, if you talk that rubbish, I shall be forced to punch your head" - Lord Tony's Wife, Orczy

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