To look at foppish British dandy Sir Percy Blakeney (Leslie Howard), one would never assume that he's the Scarlet Pimpernel, an infamously debonair hero determined to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotines of the French Revolution. The dashing Pimpernel must protect his secret identity while staying one step ahead of the ever-pursuant Chauvelin (Raymond Massey) in this swashbuckling adventure based on the classic novel by Baroness Orczy.