Here's another interesting and gratifying, though flawed, biographical film for you history buffs. I have to say that I enjoyed it immensely despite having some gripes about certain of the production qualities. What in history is more thrilling than the story of Napoléon and who better to tell that story than the French?

Historical Background: Sacha Guitry was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on February 21st, 1885, but his parents were French. His father, Lucien Germain Guitry (1860-1925), was a major Parisian actor of his day and worked for nine years at the Michel Theater in St. Petersburg, during which time Sacha was born. Sacha Guitry's full name was actually Alexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry, but he was soon nicknamed "Sacha." Sacha developed into an author and intellectual, writing his first play when he was only seventeen. Some of his best-known dramas include Nono (1905), Deburan (1918), and Jean de la Frontaine (1922). He also began acting while still in his teens. He was part of the Parisian social scene and married star singer Yvonne Printemps (the second of his five wives). Guitry took up film directing in 1935, partly in order to bring his own plays to the screen. Possibly because of his long background in theater, Guitry used little camera movement in his films, but his films were often innovative in other ways. His best-known films include The Story of a Cheat (1937), Pearls of the Crown (1938), and Royal Affair in Versailles (1953). Napoléon was made just two years before his death. Guitry also appeared as an actor in many of his own films.

The Story: The story essentially follows the life of Napoléon I from beginning to end. Napoléon was born on the island of Corsica on August 15th, 1769. His parents were descended from Italian noble families. Napoléon would have been born an Italian but for the purchase of Corsica by France a few short months before his birth. The film briefly recounts Napoléon entering military school at Brienne-le-Chateau on April 23rd, 1779. There he made one key acquaintance that would serve him well the rest of his life, Bourrienne (Bernard Dhéran), who became his personal secretary and close confidant. When Napoléon (Daniel Gélin) graduated, he was awarded the rank of second lieutenant in 1785. He attended the royal artillery school at Auxonne and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1791 and then captain in 1792. The French Revolution had broken out in 1789 and during the early 1790's the French military was in disarray. Napoléon spent many months back on Corsica, where he served in the Corsican National Guard and joined the radical political group called the Jacobins. After King Louis XVI was beheaded in January of 1793, the Bonapartes were declared outlaws by the governor of Corsica and had to flee to France.

In June 1793, a group of Jacobins under Maximillien Robespierre took control of the French government but was immediately confronted by rebellions in several French cities. The situation in Toulon was especially tense because there British ships and troops were aiding the rebels. When the French commander at Toulon was wounded, Louis Bonaparte (Gilbert Gil), who had gained some influence with the Jacobins in Paris, recommended his brother, Napoléon, as a replacement. Captain Bonaparte immediately seized the high ground overlooking the harbor and the forts in Toulon and brought in artillery to bombard the forts and keep the British ships out of range. His strategy proved prescient and he was rewarded with the rank of Brigadier General for his victory.

When Robespierre fell from power in July 1794, Napoléon's meteoric rise was momentarily arrested and he was briefly imprisoned for about a week. The French government was now in the hands of Vicomte Paul de Barros (Pierre Brasseur). One evening at a soirée hosted by Barros, Napoléon met the incomparably lovely Joséphine de Beauharnais (Michèle Morgan). In 1795, Barros asked Napoléon to take charge of the French forces in Paris to disperse an angry mob that was threatening the Tuileries (the National Convention, equivalent to the Congress in America). Napoléon boldly and heartlessly aimed his cannon directly into the crowd and fired, killing or wounding hundreds and quickly clearing the streets, in what became known famously as the "whiff of grapeshot" incident. A few months later, on March 9th, 1796, Napoléon married his beloved Josephine, in a five minute ceremony, though she was a widow with two children and six years older than he.

Napoléon was given command of the entire French army at the Italian/Franco border, which was no more than a motley crew of 38,000 ragged and underfed troops. The idea was for Napoléon to hold the attention of the Austrian forces in that vicinity while the main French army attacked further to the north. Instead, Napoléon simply won the war for France. He proved to be a recklessly courageous leader. At one bridge deemed impossible to cross, Napoléon personally seized his unit's colors and led the troops in a successful charge. On four occasions, Napoléon defeated Austrian armies, each larger than his own. As a coup de grace, he then led his army across the Alps to threaten Vienna, forcing the Austrians to sue for peace. The result was the Treaty of Campoformio, by which France's territory was enlarged.

Napoléon returned to Paris a hero and though he already fostered political ambitions, he recognized that he did not yet have strong enough support among the Parisian powerbrokers. Napoléon quite sensibly refused a suggestion that he lead a French army in an invasion of England, but he agreed to an invasion of Egypt, which was a major trading partner for the British. Reaching Egypt in 1798, Napoléon defeated Mamelukes at the Battle of the Pyramids on August 1st, 1798. The French cavalry under Le Maréchal Murat (Henri Vidal) (who later married Napoléon's sister Caroline) was decisive in the victory. In the meanwhile, however, the British fleet under Lord Horatio Nelson destroyed the French fleet anchored in Abu Qir Bay. Bonaparte's army was thus stranded in Egypt. After defeating Turkish forces at Abu Qir, Napoléon made his way across the Mediterranean with a small contingent, leaving his army behind in North Africa under the command of General Jean Kléber.

When Napoléon landed back in France, he was once again greeted as a hero by the French people, who had received word of his victories in Egypt. The French populace had lost faith, however, in the ruling Directory under Barros and begged Napoléon to take control. Napoléon entered Paris and played a coy waiting game so that the politicians would have to come to him and urge him to act. He had personal business to deal with in the interim, anyway. He had to confront Josephine about her carousing about with a young gallant during his absence in Egypt, but she was able to wheedle her way back into his good graces. Once Napoléon had a sufficient number of influential political backers in his pocket, he staged the Coup d'Etat of Eighteenth Brumaire on November 9th, 1799. It was a simple matter once Le Maréchal Lefebvre (Yves Montand), head of the Paris Guard, opted to back Napoéon. A new constitution was drafted that provided for a three member consulate, with Napoléon as first consulate and the other pair as mere advisors.

Now in full control of France, Napoléon again led an army across the Alps, this time from north to south through the Great St. Bernard Pass, to surprise and defeat an Austrian force at the Battle of Marengo. Britain then signed the Treaty of Amines and Europe was briefly at peace for the first time in a decade. Napoléon took full advantage of the lull. He proved himself an able administrator, overseeing the codification of French laws into what became known as the Napoléonic Codes, which remain in effect for the most part even today. He also created the French Legion of Honor. Napoléon briefly fostered ambitions in the Western hemisphere, forcing Spain to cede the Louisiana territory to France, but after a French army perished in Haiti, Napoléon sold the Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803 to raise funds for an anticipated war with Britain.

In May of 1804, the French people overwhelmingly voted to make Napoléon (now played by Raymond Pellegrin) their emperor and he crowned himself on December 2nd, 1804 in a magnificent event at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, with the Pope in attendance. He then crowned Josephine Empress.

In 1805, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Britain formed a new coalition against France, ending the brief hiatus of conflict. Napoléon left Paris on September 24th, 1805 to lead his army into Germany. He defeated the Austrian army at Ulm in October and defeated the combined Austrian and Russian armies at Austerlitz in December. Napoléon was a tactical genius and the strategy he had perfected was especially evident at Austerlitz. As battle was initially engaged, Napoléon would hold back as large a part of his force as he possibly could, giving his opponent a sense of undue optimism. At a critical moment, he would then thrust his cavalry at the weakest point in the enemy's attack line. Then, when the battle had turned, he would send in his elite Imperial Guard to deliver the final blow. On the seas, however, the British fleet under Lord Nelson continued to maintain full control, destroying the combined French and Spanish fleets near Trafalgar off the southern coast of Spain.

Back in Paris, Napoléon had a brief affair with the saucy Eléonore Denuelle, who later bore him a child on December 13th, 1806. Napoléon spent most of 1806 at war. Prussia had joined with Russia in a new campaign against France, which had now extended its domain through the Rhine. Napoléon continued to be victorious, defeating the Prussian army in October 1806 at Jena and again at Auerstedt. Napoléon occupied Poland, which put up no resistance. In fact, the shrewd Polish leaders placed the comely Countess Marie Walewska (Lana Marconi) at Napoléon's disposal. There's a charming scene in the film where she explains to Napoléon why she had kept him waiting despite his repeated requests for her company. "The first time you requested my presence, it would only have been for Poland. I dislike being a political arrangement. The second time, it was first Poland, then you. The third time, you and then Poland." "And tonight?" Napoléon inquires." "Tonight, I have come for you alone!" Being an emperor does have its compensations. In June of 1807, Napoléon defeated the Russian army at Friedland and, in 1809, he again defeated the Austrians at Wagram (near Vienna).

Napoléon's empire now stretched far and wide and he was becoming increasingly concerned about what would become of it upon his death. He had produced no legitimate male heir and Josephine was already thirty-six years of age in 1809. He decided that he would need to divorce Josephine and remarry – in the interest of France. The divorce was culminated in December of 1809 and Napoléon then married the eighteen year-old Archduchess Marie Louise (Maria Schell), daughter of Emperor Francis of Austria, in April of 1810. The film depicts Marie Louise receiving word of her betrothal during a private concert performed for the royal Austrian family by Ludwig van Beethoven (Erich von Stroheim). Marie Louise bore Napoléon a son, Napoléon II, in 1811. He was a frail child and barely survived to adulthood.

Since Napoléon could not invade England, he tried to weaken British power by instituting the so-called "Continental System" by which the countries on the continent were prohibited from trading with England. Russia withdrew from the arrangement at the end of 1810. In response, Napoléon invaded Russia in June of 1812 with an incredible force of some 600,000 soldiers, drawn from both France and the occupied countries. The Russian army opposing Napoléon was only 200,000 men and poorly equipped. Once again displaying brilliant tactics, Napoléon defeated the Russian army at Borodino in September of 1812, but the Russians withdrew rather than permitting the French a decisive victory. Napoléon then marched on Moscow, virtually unimpeded. Reaching Moscow, in what he fully expected to be his moment of triumph, Napoléon found the city entirely abandoned, doors and windows through open, and large parts of the city ablaze. Napoléon waited in Moscow, expecting Alexander to offer peace, but no such offer was forthcoming. Napoléon had made an uncharacteristic strategic blunder. Unable to supply such a large force so far from France, Napoléon was forced into retreat, but he had waited so long that the retreat took place during the dead of winter, through deep snow and freezing temperatures. All the while, the Russian Cossacks attacked the French force as it fled. All together, a half-million of the French troops were lost, either to battle, starvation, cold, desertion, or capture.

Napoléon himself made it safely back to Paris, but, by now, all of Europe recognized its opportunity. A new alliance hostile to France was soon formed by Austria, Britain, Russia, and Prussia. Napoléon raised a new army and won initial victories at Lützen, Bautzen, and Dresden, but was badly defeated at Leipzig in the Battle of the Nations. Napoléon retreated into Paris, but was pursued by the victorious allies, who captured Paris in March 1814. Napoléon was forced to abdicate at Fontainebleau on April 11th, 1814. Louis XVI was brought back as King of France and Napoléon was exiled to the tiny island of Elba, where he was titular sovereign.

On Elba, Napoléon began plotting his return almost immediately. In February 1815, he sailed for France with 1100 faithful followers, landing at Cannes on the 1st of March. He hadn't come for the film festival! The King sent troops under Le Maréchal Michel Ney (Clément Duhour) to intercept Napoléon, but they joined him instead. King Louis fled Paris shortly before Napoléon's triumphant return on March 20th, when he was carried to Tuileries on the shoulders of the crowd that had gathered. Napoléon raised a new army of 125,000 men to confront the Austrian and British forces once more arrayed against him. On June 18th, he defeated an Austrian army under Blücher at Ligny before attacking the British under Wellington at Waterloo two days later. In an enormous and devastating battle, the French were on the verge of winning until Blücher's remaining force showed up to reinforce Wellington in the nick of time. Napoléon was force to abdicate again on June 22nd and was exiled this time to St. Helena in the South Atlantic.

Napoléon spent his remaining years writing his memoirs. He died on May 5th, 1821, supposedly of cancer, though there is considerable evidence that he was slowly poisoned by arsenic administered surreptitiously under the supervision of the English physician. Sir Hudson Lowe (Orson Welles) supervised Napoléon's confinement on St. Helena. His remains were initially interred in an unmarked grave but were later returned to Paris in 1840, where they rest in the Église du Dôme.

Themes: I have mixed feelings about a film of this nature because I have mixed feelings about historical characters like Napoléon. He epitomizes all the best and all the worst of the ideal of glory. When one looks at the story for all of its epic and historical quality, it's seductive in its appeal. If one stops to consider the countless men who were uselessly slaughtered on all sides in these "heroic" conflicts and all the families that lost these men, then one realizes that glory is not truly all that it is imagined to be or how it is depicted in films.

Production Values: Guitry uses an interesting script device for this tale. He has the story recounted by himself, playing minister Talleyrand, on the day of Napoléon's death, to a group gathered at his home for an evening of conversation. The story plays out as flashbacks with periodic returns to the narrator's gathering. A couple of the principals of the story happen to drop by to fill in some of the segments of the story to which they were witness.

One outstanding feature of this film is that much of it was filmed in the actual historical buildings in which the real events took place two centuries ago. A lot of effort also went into costume authenticity. Guitry juggled a massive cast of thousands for the battle scenes of this endeavor. The battle scenes are not really up to the standards of the best ever filmed. What we see mostly in one side or the other marching or charging forward rather than the actual engagements. The battle scenes are also rather brief, mainly because this film tries to cover Napoléon's entire life, leaving little time for any one episode. Nevertheless, I've seen enough battle gore to last me a lifetime and didn't really mind its absence in this film very much. There's a lovely scene after the battle of Jena where Napoléon and his soldiers are sleeping on the battlefield. A small group of musicians strike up some soft music and two of the officers, Marshall Lefebvre (Yves Montand) and Marshall Lannes (Jean Gabin), lead the singing.

There are some fine performances in this film. I very much liked Daniel Gélin as the young Napoléon. He captured the young man's charisma very effectively. He also appears in such films as La Ronde (1950), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Testament of Orpheus (1959), Murmur of the Heart (1971), and La Nuit de Varennes (1982). Michèle Morgan was suitably simpering as Josephine. She can also be seen in Port of Shadows (1938), Passage to Marseille (1944), and The Fallen Idol (1948). There are also excellent performances turned in by three of the other female leads: Maria Schell as the Archduchess, Lana Marconi as Marie Walewska, and Danielle Darrieux as Eléonore Denuelle. Maria Schell's resume includes The Brothers Karamazov (1958) and Just a Gigolo (1978). Danielle Darrieux's other work includes Mayerling (1936), La Ronde (1950), The Earrings of Madame de . . . (1953), and 8 Women (2001). Orson Welles was effective in his cameo and Erich von Stroheim even better in his. Jean Gabin has a minor role here but has starred in such films as Pépé le Moko (37), Grand Illusion (37), La Bête Humaine (38), Le Jour se lève (39), and French Cancan (55).

Bottom-Line: This is a lovely biographical film and one of the best relating to the Little Corporal. The prints available in America are flawed, however, in several respects. Instead of subtitles, we must make do with poorly-dubbed English. The sound quality is none too good either, and the video is marred by nicks and pings. I resent films that misrepresent themselves on their containers and this one is quite guilty in that respect, since it reads "Starring: Orson Welles, Raymond Pellegrin, Maria Schell, Yves Montand, Erich von Stroheim, Jean Gabin, Jean-Pierre Aumont." Orson Welles, who is listed first, has a cameo near the end of the film. Von Stroheim's performance as Beethoven is excellent, but also very brief. Unless you’re a French film expert, you'll be hard pressed to recognize either Yves Montand or Jean Gabin among the cast. Maria Schell's appearance is delightful but also quite brief. The genuine stars of the film are Daniel Gélin, Raymond Pellegrin, Michèle Morgan, Bernard Dhéran, and Sacha Guitry, but only one of those gets a mention. This is the worst kind of abuse of cameos to sell films.

All in all, this is a fascinating biographical film with more merit than deficiencies. I recommend it for history buffs in particular. Napoléon is in French with English subtitles and has a running time of 123 minutes.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older