Napoléon (1955)

Napoléon is a 1955 French historical epic film directed by Sacha Guitry that depicts major events in the life of Napoleon I of France.The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, and Napoleonic battles including Austerlitz and Waterloo.Daniel Gélin plays Napoléon Bonaparte as a young general, while the older emperor Napoleon I is portrayed by Raymond Pellegrin. Guitry himself played Talleyrand, narrating the story from a drawing room as if just having heard of the death of Napoleon in 1821 on Saint Helena. Napoleon himself is played by two actors, Daniel Gélin as a young man and Raymond Pellegrin in later life; the wry, inevitable switch takes place during a scene at a barber.Yves Montand appears as Marshal Lefebvre and Maria Schell as Marie-Louise of Austria. The film also has cameo appearances by a number of notable actors, particularly Erich von Stroheim as Ludwig van Beethoven, and Orson Welles as Napoleon's British jailor, Sir Hudson Lowe.The English version is a contemporary dub made as part of the original production, but does not run as long as the French version.