Conquest (1937)

Directed by six time (career directing) Oscar nominee Clarence Brown with a screenplay co-written by Samuel Hoffenstein (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)) this average historical costume drama earned Charles Boyer as Napoleon his first of four Best Actor Oscar nominations; Cedric Gibbons’s & William Horning’s Art Direction was also nominated. Greta Garbo plays his lover the Polish Countess Marie Walewska; Josephine is never shown. The rest of the cast includes: Reginald Owen who seems miscast as Napoleon’s scheming Ambassador to Poland; Alan Marshal as one of Napoleon’s trusted aides spending most of his time informing the Emperor when his mistress is available; Henry Stephenson plays the 70+ year old Count to whom Garbo’s character is married his third wife and younger than his grandson; Leif Erickson plays the Countess’s brother who’s also in Poland’s Lancers (a military unit); Dame May Whitty plays Bonaparte’s protective loving mother; and Maria Ouspenskaya plays the Count’s out-of-touch sister – the best scene in the movie involves her ignorant character’s confrontation indeed dressing down of Napoleon before he would give Marie the monologue that would win her heart. Claude Gillingwater plays Marie’s trusty servant and Scotty Beckett appears uncredited as Napoleon’s & Marie’s love child in the film’s final 20 minutes. Despite some noteworthy performance (Boyer Whitty Ouspenskaya and even an atypical light & airy Garbo to some degree) overall the film feels ploddingly long as it follows Napoleon’s affair and downfall even though it’s less than 2 hours in length. This probably explains why it was a big money loser for MGM.

Purchase this DVD now at