Country : USA
Medium : Black and white
Duration : 107′
Video : MGM Home Video / Film Office – 1990
Production : Bernard H. Hyman / MGM Corporation
Scenario : Samuel Hoffenstein and Salka Viertel
Screenplay : S. N. Behrman
Music : Herbert Stothart
Director of photography : Karl Freund
Plot : As Napoleon was crossing Poland to reach Warsaw a young woman was waiting for him on the roadside. Her name was Marie Walewska. This meeting was crucial for the capital of Poland and ·for the life of the conqueror of Europe.
Cast : Charles Boyer (Napoleon) ; Greta Garbo (Marie Walewska) ; Henry Stephenson (Comte Walewski) ; Reginald Owen (Talleyrand) ; Alan Marshal (Captain d’Ornano) ; Leif Erikson (Paul Lachinski) ; Henry C. Gordon
Extract : « Alexandre Walewski. – Mother, where is that man going ?
Marie Walawska. – Onto the ship.
Alexandre Walewski. – And after that ?
Marie Walewska. – Hush, Alexandre. He must follow his star. Let us pray that it leads him to peace. »
Review : No use looking for an authentic historical reconstruction in this Hollywood blockbuster, the events surrounding the end of Napoleon’s reign serve as a pretext for a love story between Napoleon and his Polish wife. But don’t let that spoil your enjoyment of a film with excellent scenery and costumes and the legendary encounter of Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer. With the two actors both trying to outdo each other in ingenuity in order to give life to a very poor scenario and helped by images of great quality, the film is (just about) worth seeing.