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'Pimpernel' Smith

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7.1/10 • 25

1941-07-282h 0m

AdventureDramaThriller

The man the Gestapo hates!

Eccentric Cambridge archaeologist Horatio Smith takes a group of British and American archaeology students to pre-war Nazi Germany to help in his excavations. His research is supported by the Nazis, since he professes to be looking for evidence of the Aryan origins of German civilisation. However, he has a secret agenda: to free inmates of the concentration camps.

Directors
Leslie Howard
Editors
Douglas Myers

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Leslie Howard

    Leslie Howard

    Professor Horatio Smith

  2. Francis L. Sullivan

    Francis L. Sullivan

    General von Graum

  3. Mary Morris

    Mary Morris

    Ludmilla Koslowski

  4. Hugh McDermott

    Hugh McDermott

    David Maxwell

  5. Raymond Huntley

    Raymond Huntley

    Marx

  6. Manning Whiley

    Manning Whiley

    Bertie Gregson

  7. Peter Gawthorne

    Peter Gawthorne

    Sidimir Koslowski

  8. Allan Jeayes

    Allan Jeayes

    Dr Benckendorf

  9. Dennis Arundell

    Dennis Arundell

    Hoffman

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 25, 2022

7/10

Leslie Howard is on good form here as the outwardly fastidious academic with a secret to keep. He decides to offer some of his students an holiday trip to Germany (just the boys!) so they can try to establish once and for all whether there was an "Aryan" race there. Quickly we discover he also has an hand in rescuing many creative and scientifically minded for the evil clutch of the Nazis and their chocolate eating boss "General von Graum" (Francis L. Sullivan). As the students get in on the act, it's the American "David" (Hugh McDermott) who is most itching for action and it's also him who falls for the charms of "Ludmilla" (Mary Morris) who is treading a very dangerous path trying to save her imprisoned father whilst not betraying this updated iteration of Howard's "Scarlet Pimpernel". There's some lovely writing here - especially from the swastika wearing propagandists who insist that their nation is the ideal place to live and work. As the story progresses, there becomes something effectively sinister about the denouement and the battle of wills between Howard and a very much on form Sullivan that delivers one of the more memorable wartime thrillers.

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  • 'Pimpernel' Smith poster
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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
naziworld war iibritish spy