Monday, September 7, 2015

The Scarlet Pimpernel Trivia Quiz Answers


Books and Movies

1. What color is Marguerite’s hair in the books?

Auburn, red-blonde, and golden are all acceptable answers. Because we get all of those from the fickle and ever-changing Baroness.  :P

2. What is the name of the actor who plays Chauvelin in the 1934 movie?

Raymond Massey.

3. Sir Percy’s catchphrase “sink me!” only appears once in the original book series... do you know which book?

Mam'zelle Guillotine!  You can read the excerpt here.  

4. What is the name of Lord Tony’s wife? (she has a whole book named after her, but Baroness Orczy couldn’t be bothered to call her by her actual name...)

Yvonne de Kernogan.  This was an obscure one, I know. Sorry 'bout that.

5. What is the name of the man who ends up "spiriting away" the dauphin at the end of the 1982 film?

The Baron de Batz.

6. What is the name of Sir Percy's yacht?

The Day Dream!

7. Who does Suzanne de Tournay end up marrying at the end of the first novel?

Sir Andrew Ffoullkes.

8. What distinctive article of clothing (other than his always-flawless cravat) is Sir Percy wearing in the scene where he attempts to rescue Armand and Louise in the 1982 film?

(Sorry, forgot to number this one!)  His CAPE.  Among the Leaguettes of The Day Dream, that scene is referred to as The Scene Where Percy Has a Cape.  Behold.



(I would like to point out, too, that I found this picture by searching "the scene where Percy has a cape" in Google Images.  Boo yeah.  We've infiltrated the system, girls.)

BONUS QUESTION

Who is older, Marguerite St. Just or her brother Armand St. Just?  (This question is harder than it seems. :P)

The reason this question is harder than it seems is that our beloved Baroness O was an inconsistent creature.  "Emmuska, you know, is not very constant," Mrs. Gibson would have said of her.  In The Scarlet Pimpernel, Armand is said to be older than Marguerite, and to have been her chaperone and protector when their parents died-- but in El Dorado, all of a sudden she's eight years his senior! Um what.


Quotes

1. "This little revolution of yours is monstrous intolerable." 
~1982 film

2. “Believe me, I have enjoyed life so much these past two years, I would not give up those pleasures even for that of seeing you and your friends have a bath or wear tidy buckles on your boots."
 ~The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel

3. “M’dear chap, I never would have dreamt of depriving you of your moment of triumph. Alas, a moment was all that I could spare.”
~1982 film

4. "Approval, sir, in my opinion, demands the attainment of perfection. And in that sense, you rather overrate the charms of your society. I'faith, for one thing, it does seem monstrous ill-dressed for any society, even a new one."
~1982 film

5. "Help you, my dear fellow? Of course, we'll all help you, if you want us. What are we here for but to help each other, as well as those poor wretches who are in trouble through no fault of their own?"
~Sir Percy Leads the Band

6. "Open up your sleeves, man. Let your ruffles take the air. Let them flow. Let them ripple."
~1934 film

And now for our winner! 

Let's all give it up for Caroline L., who scored the highest with 13 points! 

Other scores--

Livia Rachelle: 12
Lois Johnson: 12
Erudessa Aranduriel: 11
Molly: 10
Carissa Horton: 9
Awdur: 7
Melody: 6
Vellvin: 5
Sophie: 5
Naomi Bennet: 3

Thanks for playing, everyone!

3 comments:

Naomi Pitts said...

Yay, I'm at the bottom.

:-P

Katie Hanna said...

Sounds like what the Baroness really needed was a character bible--y'know, one of those things where you write down EVERYTHING you know about the age, appearance, personality, politics, religion, backstory, favorite color, and What-Not of your characters. Then if you ever forget something, you look back and bam, there it is. Most useful.

Unknown said...

I agree. One thing that makes my hackles rise while reading any series of books, no matter how beloved or classic or picturesque, is inconsistency in the characters or plot. There is no excuse! If you WROTE the books, surely it is within your cranial capacity to RE-READ your own work before dashing off the sequels. But our dear, gushing Baroness, since her creations are picturesque first and foremost, probably sacrificed continuity to effect. For example, the issue of Armand's age: in the first book, Marguerite is the one vulnerable, needing comfort, and we need the emphasis on the fact that Armand is pretty central to her life - setting up the motivation for her allowing concern for him to over-ride her moral objections to Chauvelin's "either - or"; in El Dorado (by the way - what possessed her to come up with that reasonless title for one of the central books in the canon) Armand is the one who is vulnerable, with the treachery before him, and half the plot hinges on his being "young and ardent" while Marguerite is installed as his comforter. As for the knotty point of Marguerite's hair colour, I believe that the original auburn and red-gold are the conclusive variation, the plain gold or blonde I consider as stemming from the Baroness' growing addiction to blonde heroines in her later novels. Honestly, you can detect the heroine (and often hero) by their radiant blonde-ness from the first mention of them.