Film Review: Conquest (1937)

drax(76)

Published in

Movies & TV Shows

Words

751

Reading

4 min

Listen to this post

~5 min

(source: tmdb.org)

Trailers announcing Ridley Scott's Napoleon have created a lot of interest among cinephiles, but those more familiar with the history of cinema are likely to have their expectations set low. The extraordinary life of the French larger-than-life leader and his spectacular rise and fall have been attracting filmmakers from the very beginnings of cinema, but most such attempts have resulted in disappointing or underwhelming films, so Abel Gance's Napoleon, arguably the most cherished of them all, happens to be the least likely to be enjoyed by the average audience today. Even Classic Hollywood fared poorly when dealing with the French general and statesman, and an example can be found in Conquest, a 1937 period drama directed by Clarence Brown, known as one of the worst flops of MGM during its golden years.

The plot, based on the novel Pani Walewska by the Polish writer Wacław Gąsiorowski, deals with one of the relatively lesser known episodes of Napoleon's eventful life. It begins in 1807 in the eastern part of Poland, a country which had been partitioned between Austria, Prussia and Russia a decade earlier. The latter two are currently at war with Napoleon's France. A band of Russian Cossacks invade the estate of the proud Polish noble Count Anastas Walewski (played by Henry Stephenson) and start to plunder, and just before they are about to have their way with the Count's much younger and beautiful wife Marie Walewska (played by Greta Garbo), the arrival of the French forces makes them retreat. Marie later catches the attention of Napoleon (played by Charles Boyer) and leading Polish nobles and politicians want to use the French emperor's infatuation to win his favour and thus secure the restoration of Polish independence. Walewska is at first reluctant to give herself to Napoleon, but soon becomes fascinated by his extraordinary character and falls in love. Their romance continues for a few years and Walewska, who is secretly having his child, hopes that she would marry him. But Napoleon, in an attempt to secure his imperial legacy by having heirs belonging to ancient dynasties, marries an Austrian princess instead. Walewska is disappointed, but years later, she would come to visit the former emperor who was, following his catastrophic defeat in Russia, reduced to ruler of the tiny island of Elba.

Conquest was titled Marie Walewska in Britain, and this can tell that the main star of the film was, or at least was supposed to be, Greta Garbo, then considered one of the greatest Hollywood icons. The film was directed by Clarence Brown, an experienced filmmaker who had successfully collaborated with Garbo in the past. Yet, despite the obvious filmmaking skill and large amounts of money invested in production, Conquest failed at the box office. This can be, to a certain degree, attributed to a somewhat messy script whose authors apparently didn't know whether the film was about Napoleon or Walewska. French actor Charles Boyer apparently didn't have any such dilemma and he played Napoleon with gusto, trying his best to convey the contradictions of such a character – an extraordinary military genius and noble idealist who intended to bring peace, democracy and the values of the French Revolution to Europe while at the same time being an arrogant despot whose mistakes brought not only doom to himself, but also carnage, destruction and misery to millions. Boyer, who was paid an extraordinary fee for his performance, deliberately made Napoleon physically unappealing but nevertheless succeeded in making his character look charismatic and able to seduce not only young women but also millions of men who would follow him to hell and back. Boyer's performance overshadowed everyone else's, including Garbo who, despite her undisputed beauty and glamour, is burdened with poorly written lines and dialogues and actually lacks proper chemistry with Boyer. Conquest also has a problem with the script, with some of the subplots involving Walewska's family and the actual fate of Poland not being properly addressed. Despite the occasional straying from historical record (which was admitted with a disclaimer in the opening titles) it nevertheless gives a relatively good overview of Napoleon's latter years. But it is far from being the most engaging of Garbo's films or the best dramatic reconstruction of Napoleon's life. Those interested in the latter might be better served by the 2002 French miniseries starring Christian Clavier.

RATING: 6/10 (++)