    the elusive pimpernel is a 1950 british period adventure film by the british-based director-writer team of michael powell and emeric pressburger, based on the novel the scarlet pimpernel (1905) by baroness emmuska orczy. despite having been shot in color, it was released in the united states in black and whitedeming, mark overview and retitled the fighting pimpernel. the film stars david niven as sir percy blakeney (aka the scarlet pimpernel), margaret leighton as marguerite blakeney and features jack hawkins, cyril cusack and robert coote. originally planned to be a musical, the film was re-worked as a light-hearted drama, not entirely successfully. ==plot== during the french revolution, the scarlet pimpernel (david niven), who is really sir percy blakeney in disguise, risks his life to rescue french noblemen from the guillotine and take them across the english channel to safety. as cover, sir percy poses as a fop at court, and curries favour with the prince of wales (jack hawkins) by providing advice about fashion, but secretly he leads the league, a group of noblemen with similar views. chauvelin, french ambassador of the revolution to england (cyril cusack) wants to find out who the pimpernel is and bring him in to meet his fate under french justice. when evidence points to sir percy, chauvelin blackmails blakeney's wife, marguerite (margaret leighton) by threatening to expose her criminal brother armand (edmond audran), but marguerite doesn't believe her husband is capable of being the daring pimpernel. ==cast== *david niven as sir percy blakeney/ the scarlet pimpernel *margaret leighton as marguerite blakeney *jack hawkins as [[george 
1950_films 1950s_adventure_films British_films English-language_films Films_by_Powell_and_Pressburger Scarlet_Pimpernel_films