MovieChat Forums > The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999) Discussion > Tony devoted - Would he have died?

Tony devoted - Would he have died?

posted 19 years ago by LadyDewhurst
9 replies | jump to latest

Greetings to all of you! I being the sort of person I am (*snort*) only watched parts of the first episode because I am madly in love with Jamie Bamber and my friend was good enough to tape it for me. So I don't know the story at all... only that dear Tony Dewhurst dies!
Okay people... here is the debateable question: Would Tony still have died if he hadn't been shot in the head?
I say... no. What do you think? Should Tony have lived? I know that it is based on a book and the film should stay true to it, (Tony should've died) but wouldn't it have been great if Tony lived (because that stutter and those *cheeks* are soooo cute!)? What do you say?
Let be again say I am a person who hasn't read the book... but...

[–] moss_trooper 19 years ago

I have read nearly all the books and know for a fact the Tony was never threatened let alone killed. LOL I wonder who is responsible for the massacre of sucha great book. I have never seen these films and now don't intend to.
I also agree with you that even if it were in the book no one should EVER harm poor Jamie Bamber :( He is sooo cute!

[–] LadyDewhurst 19 years ago

Hey! Wow someone who understands - finally!
I will one day read the books (after I've finished the one I'm reading now...) and it will be all the better because Tony will live!
I'd also like to know (if anybody can be bothered replying!) if in the books he has a stutter and gets bathed by those damn lucky ladies?
And thank you for agreeing with me... because it doesn't happen often

[–] Flippitygibbit 19 years ago

I've read most of the books, and Tony's orgy would have given Orczy a heart attack - she was much more subtle, preferring romance over romps. The romance is also missing between Percy and Marguerite in this disaster, so it's easy to get the wrong idea. Nor does Tony have a stutter - I don't know why they included that: political correctness, like the female guard, or the dwarf who leads the League along the canal; or maybe to make the character seem younger and more vulnerable than the other League members. Still, I liked 'Chovlon's mocking line of, "I would ssso like to meet him".

Shooting Tony once was definitely anti-Orczy - how could Sir Percy have become the almost superhuman hero that he is, if he let any of his men be injured, tortured, or killed? They all encounter risks, but like any true lead character in a story, everybody lives to see another day. But 'Chovlon' shooting him in the head in a hissy fit - when Tony was back on his feet and would probably have survived - was a blatant piece of modern bloodlust. It was very Tarantino-esque. Like the rest of the film, it completely missed the point.

And I think Richard E. Grant was most seriously miscast - the actor playing Sir Andrew should have been the Scarlet Pimpernel!

If you liked the 'modernization' of this Scarlet Pimpernel film, the books might be slightly tame in comparison.

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

[–] LadyDewhurst 19 years ago

Yes, I was thinking today about Sir Percy, how little he cared when his men (aka TONY) died and yet how much trouble he goes through to save the Frenchies!
I will read the books... even though they are different... as I said it will I think make them all the better because TONY LIVES!
And you are right... Tony would've lived I think if he hadn't been shot again. And I would've continued watching the series!
Thanks for replying
Lady Dewhurst

[–] moss_trooper 19 years ago

In reply to the stutter question. Tony was very slow in speech..I don't remember if he had a stutter but he definetly had a hard time expressing himself. :)

[–] thequidnunc 19 years ago

*hey flippitygibbit! I was pleased to see that someone else had the same impressions as me on the whole Tony thing. After reading the books and seeing the 1982 movie this series really does not compare. and why would they want to kill jamie bamber anyway?

[–] Flippitygibbit 19 years ago

Something I noticed, after watching all of the episodes (much less painful without McGovern's frumpy Marguerite and Shaw's terrible interpretation of Chauvelin), is that the League is more or less written out of the 1998 series. Percy doesn't even bother to keep track of his men (who were also his friends in the book, and were not based in Paris, but lived in England and went across the Channel on some sort of rota basis)! He uses that awful ginger-haired, pinch-lipped tailor, Planchet, to enlist and organise the League, who are rarely seen. Even Andrew is missing in series two! There is a traitor storyline, but it is rather boring, as the audience is unaware of who is actually part of Percy's band of men!

Gah! Why bother? Why bother making yet another version of the Scarlet Pimpernel, if so many elements of Orczy's work obviously bored or embarrassed the 1998 writers? Black masks over disguises, no League (and Percy's strength lay in the men who helped him), no romance (Percy starts lusting after his female rescuees, as soon as he is free of Marguerite), no nemesis (although Martin Shaw was painful). Why didn't they just create something new?

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

[–] BennetDarcy 15 years ago

flippitygibbit, your username makes me smile. Reminds me of The Sound of Music.

http://darciebennett.blogspot.com/

[–] Sarion24 10 years ago

I love this series but Tony's death threw me for a serious loop!

My favorite book of the collection is Lord Tony's Wife. So that trumped any chance of me seeing that made into a movie:( Poor Yvonne.

The books are great, I hope you get a chance to read them!