Conquest [Marie Walewska] **** (1937, Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer, Reginald Owen, Alan Marshal, Henry Stephenson, Dame May Whitty) – Classic Movie Review 2921

Director Clarence Brown’s plush 1937 historical romantic drama stars Greta Garbo in a weepie love story about Countess Marie Walewska, the Polish mistress of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Charles Boyer). She becomes Napoleon’s mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she could influence him to make Poland independent.

The entertainment value is high but slightly reduced with a so-so script with some clunky dialogue (‘Do you remember the French Revolution?’, she asks him!) derived from a Polish novel by Waclaw Gasiorowski and American play by Helen Jerome. But the divine Garbo performs very strongly and subtly, and looks beautiful as photographed by cinematographer Karl Freund, though even so she is upstaged by a barnstorming, Oscar-nominated Charles Boyer, helped no doubt by having the film’s best part.

It also stars Reginald Owen, Alan Marshal, Henry Stephenson, Dame May Whitty, Leif Erickson, Maria Ouspenskaya, C Henry Gordon and Claude Gillingwater.

The mix of the luminous two stars, great character actors and a gorgeous MGM production, with enormous care in the sets, costumes and cinematography, makes for a special occasion. However, it didn’t recoup its cost in America thanks to the huge expense of the production, which is spectacularly lavish. And, mostly because of that, it turned out to be the last of the Garbo period or historical dramatic roles, with a couple of modern romantic comedies to follow – Ninotchka (1939) and Two-Faced Woman (1941) – before her retirement at the age of 36.

Also in the cast are Vladimir Sokoloff, George Houston, Stanley Andrew, Oscar Apfel, Scotty Beckett, Henry Brandon, George Davis, Noble Johnson, Henry Kolker, Ivan Lebedeff, Ian Wolfe, George Zucco, Basil Rosing, Robert Warwick and Dennis O’Keefe.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2921

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com