Conquest ( Marie Walewska )

Conquest (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Original Title: Marie Walewska
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Oscar Academy Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )
French ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
107 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1937 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Clarence Brown

Written By:
Waclaw Gasiorowski
S.N. Behrman

Actors:
Greta Garbo ..... Countess Marie Walewska
Charles Boyer ..... Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
Reginald Owen ..... Tallyrand
Alan Marshal ..... Capt. d'Ornano
Henry Stephenson ..... Count Anastas Walewski
Leif Erickson ..... Paul Lachinski (as Leif Erikson)
Dame May Whitty ..... Laetitia Bonaparte
Maria Ouspenskaya ..... Countess Pelagia Walewska
C. Henry Gordon ..... Prince Poniatowski
Claude Gillingwater ..... Stephan (Marie's servant)
Vladimir Sokoloff ..... Dying soldier
George Houston ..... Grand Marshal George Duroc

Synopsis:

After a brief informal meeting two months earlier when they were impressed with each other, Countess Marie Walewska formally meets Napoleon Bonaparte at a ball in Warsaw. When Napoleon notes her husband is three times her age, and as he is taken with her charms, he unsuccessfully tries to seduce her. She ignores his frequent letters and flowers until a few grim Polish leaders led by Senator Malachowski urge her to give into his desires as a personal sacrifice in order to save Poland. She goes to him despite the humiliation of her husband, who leaves for Rome to annul their marriage. They are extremely happy for a while; Napoleon divorces childless Empress Josephine and Marie eventually becomes pregnant. She is about to tell Napoleon about her baby when he tells her he decided to marry Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. He explains it will be a political marriage to insure his future son could rule securely with Hapsburg blood in him. It will not affect their relationship, he says, but Marie Walewska leaves to have her baby alone without telling Napoleon she is expecting his child.

Conquest was released in England as Marie Waleska, the name of the real-life historical personage portrayed by Greta Garbo. The film begins in 1807, when Marie, a Polish countess, is dispatched by her country to meet with Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Charles Boyer). Marie has been encouraged to press for Polish independence by whatever means possible--and though no one comes out and says as much, it is understood that she will offer herself sexually to the promiscuous Napoleon. She dutifully becomes Bonaparte's mistress, bears his child, and--almost as an afterthought--falls in love with him. Thanks to the political chicanery of Talleyrand (Reginald Owen), Napoleon is obliged to marry Hapsburg princess Marie Louise, and Marie is cast aside, her usefulness at an end. Only after Napoleon has been exiled to Elba in 1815 is he reunited with Marie and their son (Scotty Beckett). Though it stands up pretty well today, Conquest was a flop in 1937, and the beginning of the end of Garbo's screen career.

A polish countess becomes Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to make Poland independent.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 21 January, 2010.

Customers who bought this product also purchased

The Joyless Street / The Other Eye - 2-DVD Set (DVD)	History Is Made at Night (DVD)	The Battle of Neretva (DVD)
Reach for the Sky (DVD)