Conquest (1937)

Directed by

Gustav Machatý, Clarence Brown

Genre

drama film, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 52m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 23 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Polish countess becomes the mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte to try and secure favors for her country. She sacrifices her personal life for a political mission.

romantichistoricalgrand-scalemelancholicslow-pacedintimatedramaticformal

What happens

Conquest (also called Marie Walewska) is a 1937 American historical-drama film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer, Reginald Owen. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It tells the story of the Polish Countess Marie Walewska, who becomes the mistress of Napoleon in order to influence his actions towards her homeland. The supporting cast includes Alan Marshal, Henry Stephenson, Leif Erickson, Dame May Whitty, George Zucco, and Maria Ouspenskaya. The movie was adapted by S.N. Behrman, Samuel Hoffenstein, Helen Jerome and Salka Viertel from the novel Pani Walewska by Wacław Gąsiorowski. An uncredited Gustav Machatý took over some of the direction. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charles Boyer) and Best Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning). Its worldwide gross amounted to $2,141,000, but its massive budget led to a loss of $1,397,000. MGM initially advertised the upcoming release of the film under the title Marie Walewska, but at the last moment changed the title to the more marketable Conquest when the movie arrived in theaters. The Dad's Army episode "A Soldier's Farewell" starts with the platoon in the cinema watching this film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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