Conquest (1937)
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53% of users liked it
(499 ratings)
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… More 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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Clarence Brown
- Written By
- S.N. Behrman, Waclaw Gasiorowski, Samuel Hoffenstein, Salka Viertel, S. N. Behrman
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 22, 1937 Limited
- Studio
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Though not one of Grabo's best film, the historical romance about Napoleon and Polish Countess Walewska is made in the classy middlebrow mode of MGM in the 1930s. Boyer received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination.
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Cast
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Greta Garbo
as Marie Walewska
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Charles Boyer
as Napoleon
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Reginald Owen
as Talleyrand
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Alan Marshal
as Capt. D'Ornano
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Henry Stephenson
as Count Walewska
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Leif Erickson
as Paul Lachinski
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Dame May Whitty
as Laetitia Bonaparte
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Maria Ouspenskaya
as Countess Pelagia
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George Houston
as Marshal Duroc
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Noble Johnson
as Roustan
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Henry Kolker
as Senator Wybitcki
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Ivan Lebedeff
as Cossack Captain
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Lois Meredith
as Countess Potocka
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Oscar Apfel
as Count Potocka
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George Davis
as Grenadier
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Carlos De Valdez
as Turkish Ambassador
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Roland Varno
as Staos
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Robert Warwick
as Capt. Laroux
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Jean Fenwick
as Maria Louisa
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Rosina Galli
as Bianca
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Vladimir Sokoloff
as Dying Soldier
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Scotty Beckett
as Alexandre
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Betty Blythe
as Princess Mirska
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Claude Gillingwater
as Stephan
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C. Henry Gordon
as Prince Poniatowski
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Ralf Harolde
as Lejeune
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George Zucco
as Senator Malachowski
- Alan Marshal Henry Stephenson
