I love Simmerson. Especially here. A rape, then he whimpers when wounded. He's heroically cowardly. Simpering Simmerson, they must have called him at King's College or Sandhurst or wherever.
The irony, of course; is that England, Portugal, Prussia, etc. were the ones being bullies. But since this story is being told by an Englishman and from the perspective of an Englishman, we'll let that part slide.
@@chesterstevens8870 This was 19th century Europe. All the great powers were bullying each other. Except Poland. But they didn’t exist anymore. I wonder why?
@@chesterstevens8870 Ah yes, they were being bullies by... *checks notes* Halting the aggressive expansion of an imperalist power with explicit ambitions to conquer Europe
I love the contrast between Sharpe and Simmerson in this: Prior to the battle Sharpe was at death's door after infection due to a horrific battle injury, he still insists on leading his men. Simmerson, on the other hand, breaks down in tears from what appear to be superficial wounds (to me, at least, it is obvious that the scene is meant to imply that Father Curtis intended to only hurt and humble Simmerson, not kill him. Fr. Curtis is clearly portrayed as a vastly superior swordsman who could control the fight without having to land a killing blow at first opportunity)
Fr. Curtis was a sword instructor in a previous life - he was an expert. Earlier in the episode or the one just prior to it - he explains it to Harper - when Harper comes and asks for a sword...
For what it’s worth Sharpe looks looks like he is running around with a World War 1 British cavalry saber. The Priest looks he isn’t the only time traveler in this show.
Yo, everyone in here be ragging on my boy Henry, but can we take a moment to give big props to his actor. When he started crying after getting cut by the priest, that was a real "HOLY FUCK I DON'T WANNA DIE I'M SCARED!!!!" kinda cry. Now that's crying.
2:16 "God forgive me, but I wish it had lasted longer." You can hear the satisfaction the guy had in putting Simmerson in his place. Let's admit it. We all wanted to be in his position.
He's the perfect villain for this time ...weak, a bully but protected by his position....excerpt against people who don't give a shit about position such as the priest and Sharpe.
I remember when this first aired on TV, shortly after, on a show that aired letters and complaints to the TV watchdog, it was reported that there had been a large number of complaints about the phrase 'Tear down that French rag', that it was disrespectful to the French. I do wonder what people watching a show about the Napoleonic war were expecting?
Not in Britain, surely? I would have thought they would appreciate some anti-French sentiments. Even if only from a show, at least for tradition’s sake.
@@jimtaylor294 Eh, I didn't like hearing this, but well... this is supposed to be set during the Napoleonic Era. So I guess it's accurate enough on that part.
Besides, why are Brits in the UK complaining about what part of a British TV show--set in the Napoloeonic Wars, no less!--the French might get offended by in France? I would be surprised if the French public complained about the inverse, and nor should they. Being that sensitive on behalf of yourself is foolish; being that sensitive on behalf of somebody else is madness.
The fella who plays Henry Simmerson, Michael Cochrane, really nailed playing the coward in this series. The expressions and sounds he made in that sword fight were absolutely spot on. He really nailed that "oh shitshitshit" moment when one's fear overtakes one's pride. The moment when one realises that they are bested.
I could watch an entire TV series featuring Simmerson trying to bully people immediately followed by him getting _destroyed_ by better people every time.
a year late, but a show like black adder, but the main character is Simmerson, or equivalent and every episode/season culminates with him getting owned after being a bully and crawling away crying like a baby. now that's good television.
If a non-English speaker like me wants to learn what 'getting owned' means, plz go take a look at a scene in which Sir Henry Simmerson truly gets owned by an Irish priest.
IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT THE BAGPIPE TUNE IS: I sent an email to Robert White (who played the Pipe Major) and he replied with this: "it is Johnny Cope, my own version based on a song version of the tune"
Dude, awesome! "I really wanted to know what that was, so, instead of just simply looking it up, I E-Mailed the guy that actually played it." Total Boss Move, my man.
The bit where Simmerson crawls away is an excellent touch. He orders a woman at swordpoint to kneel with the intent of defiling her. Only to be set crawling away on his own knees in humiliated defeat.
"Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?" "Quite specific. It is somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."
The commandment is "You shall not *murder* " not "You shall not kill", but I suppose it would have been a bit hard to explain if Simmerson had been killed.
@@voice_of_reason5604 Dunno about fort battles, but in open field battles at that time sometimes only like 10-15% of soldiers fell in battle, rest retreated or was captured, so taking prisoners was quite realistic.
After the second cut is when Simmerson really loses his composure and starts to fear for his life, realizing that the priest could have killed him with the first blow, and is vastly superior in swordsmanship to the likely pampered Simmerson who thought he was a good sword fighter due to teachers paid to lose to him. I like to think part of his sobbing was because he realized that he was badly outmatched and both the Priest and the woman he wanted to rape would tell the truth if he wound up killed and his legacy would be ruined.
1:16 my favourite part another Irish man comes to the rescue Again haha 🇮🇪👌👍🇬🇧 🤭. Only messing love you guys hello from your neighbours across the Irish sea.
Ali Silcox The Irish like the rest of the British Isles hade been having famines since before this but yes, the main famines hadn’t occurred in Ireland yet.
We'd become a reasonably good neighbour (John Bull!) too until 2016 when we decided as a nation to shove our collective heads up our collective arses :/ As you would say we've got a load of "Feckin' eejits"
My father is a priest; I've seen him angry with another just once. While he is not a violent man, my father did also rise to the rank of lieutenant in the Norwegian Air Force at an early point in his life.. .. Yes, angering a priest beyond rhetorics can be a bad idea.
My father was a simple blue collar man before he became a priest. But the one time someone tried to start something with him, Dad just stared at him, comely, quietly, as if daring him to try. The other man backed down and ran.
Curtis was a soldier in the service of the Spanish (and therefore the French) at Trafalgar, his possession of a Toledo blade meant he must have been an officer or petty officer
In a former life I was a soldier and now I am a minister (the work that I do is that of a priest) training for ordination. The number of former servicemen (oddly enough not women) who find themselves in ministry is surprisingly high.
This reminds me of when i was a wee lad and we had “neighborhood fights”. The budgets seem comparable too. I never knew what the conflict was, i just cared that there was fun to be had.
Simmerson literally went from a grown man, a lord, to a crying boy bully from school - I’ve never seen such an on screen portrayal of Benjamin Button done in seconds
3:08 Pretending to be winded or getting a stitch in your side so the lads can run past you thereby shielding you from French shooting, that’s Sharpe soldiering!
Avec vos grandes gueules d'anglais vous avez omis l'aide que vous ont apportée les espagnols et parfois même des troupes autrichiennes. Ce feuilleton est une merde comme seuls les trous du cul d'Angleterre peuvent pondre. La guerre d'Espagne fut une boucherie et nos troupes se sont battues souvent à un contre cinq et voir des batailles où on voit uniquement les britanniques s'opposer aux français est un immense mensonge.Mais vous êtes coutumiers du fait!!
Yeah, there's a lot that has changed. Priests are making their way back to this, one step at a time. Bishops take longer, but they'll eventually get there.
Always loved the priest's action and the riflemen's moments in this sequence. Although it's low budget (not demeaning it) they really put professional effort in several things.
It's part of the honour and customs of war for defeated officers to surrender their swords (or more recently, sidearms) as a sign of both surrender and respect for those who had just beat them, in some cases it also meant the officer was giving his word that he wouldn't attempt to escape.
I think the writers threw it in as a joke because of all the trouble giving parole to Laroue caused in this episode. It was probably the last word Sharpe wanted to hear.
They could fight to the death, but surrender was preferrable as they would be treated as officers with a chance of parole or at least less detestable prison conditions. In Hornblower the title character takes surrendered swords to a shop to help pay for his rent, only to find himself in a time of peace and swords being really cheap. The whole thing started with Leroux violating his parole and lying about his identity.
You know what's the fun thing about rapiers and small swords? When you duel someone you don't need to kill them, but you can still hack them to pieces while they stand.
One of the unfortunate paradoxes of war movies is that the ways you use a spear or bayonet that are the most dangerous to enemy soldiers are also the ways that are the most dangerous to extras
How unnerving is it hearing Simmerson say "Made me HOT!" Lol! Perfect clip, especially watching Simmerson crawl away 'literally', like a worm at the end.
Nope they aren't. Not at all. NTW and ETW are perfectly accuarate in that regard. Cannonballs didn't explode on impact like in Sharpe. They were round solid ball projectiles and either stuck or bounced off the ground and cut through several ranks of men, or didn't do nearly as much damage as intended or at all, depending on where they hit, just like in those games. Most movies and shows, including this one, are incredibly inaccurate with Napoleonic artillery. In media every cannon is like a howitzer with explosive shells. That was not the case. Cannons fired either round shots or carcass, but not explosive shells.
@@lkvideos7181 I meant I was talking about the explosive shells, they literally never do anything useful when I'm playing besides being a round shot that explodes and kills maybe one more person.
@@nahx6205 I thought the point is in the demoralization effect. I only played easy mode for now, the cannons usually don't kill much but it made sure my line infantry units win the fights.
TW exploding shot did seem useless. These exploding shot are not supposed to be accurate, just a cheaper substitute. Simple pyrotechnics and live actors rather than CGI a bunch of guys getting turned to red mist and Swiss cheese.
For the most part artillery of the period used solid shot, but the effect of that is hard to imitate, so instead film and TV directors tend to use fake explosions all the time. In "Culloden" (1964) they did go with solid shot but spoiled it somewhat by greatly exaggerating the rate of fire.
Just exactly what, I wonder, did Henry Simmerson ever do to get knighted? I'd be willing to bet he was hiding behind a tree while somebody else got killed doing something heroic, then he came out and took credit for it.
He is a member of the Order of the Bath, which means one of two things- meritorious service like Sir Edward Pellew , or higher up connections at court that have recommended him; he did raise the South Essex after all.
The actor who plays Sir Henry is really good at making us dislike him. I wonder how difficult that is for an actor? Does it get to you playing a scumbag?
It takes a lot for a professional actor. Forest Whitaker had recurring nightmares about being Idi Amin (his Oscar winning performance in The Last King Of Scotland) and even murmuring in Swahili in his sleep.
According to a book I have on the making of the series, Micheal Cochrane (who played Simmerson) was one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet, and was friends with everybody on set.
Allegedly Robert Englund quit playing Freddy due to the nightmares he had of killing teens. Some people use the role to emphasize what they despise in human nature. I think some people can hold up better depending on just how horrific the character they are playing is, how it resonates with them as a person, and if it's a one time thing, a multi time thing, and something they can disassociate from. But with Englund it can still affect the psyche. I doubt he has nightmares now because he has been separated from the role for years, but that wasn't always the case in the 80s.
That was beautiful seeing simmerson taken apart by a priest. It was great seeing him finally get his ass kicked. And then him breaking down crying. Hahaha
I realize it's television, but an old soldier like Sharpe would have tried to get better odds for the attack on the fort, like going at the east wall at sunrise, or maybe an hour before with the troops moving quietly until just before they came to the wall, and then having the artillery blow the gates. Then, their single volley when they were within 30 yards of the walls and going in with the bayonet. Rather than going in broad daylight and getting your brigade plastered in the process.
