NAPOLEON’S ROMANCE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22436, 24 June 1938, Page 5

NAPOLEON’S ROMANCE

: Greta Garbo, who has not been seen In films since her triumph with Robert Taylor in “Camille,” will make her neW and eagerly-awaited appearance in “Marie Walewska.” which begins at the Avon to-day. This time she is starred with the brilliant French actor, Charles Boyer, who has won outstanding distinction in such film hits as “The Garden of Allah” and “History is Made at Night.” As the famous Countess Marie Walewska, a woman who has gone down in history as the only woman who was able to sway not only the Emperor Napoleon but the course of empire, Garbo has a role which is said to transcend in characterisation and dramatic power any of her previous portrayals. Boyer, also, is said to achieve his peak in the part of Napoleon, mad to rule the world and using women as his pawns. In a make-up which required one hour and a half for its application for each appearance before the camera, the noted French star is said to give an uncanily realistic resemblance to the “Little Corsican,” an appearance augmented by his own acting genius. The direction of “Marie Walewska” was in the hands of the eminent Clarence Brown, who of all the directors in Hollywood has achieved the most success with Greta Garbo. Among the outstanding film hits in which he has previously directed her are “Flesh and

Greta Garbo in. “Marie Walewska”

the Devil,” “Anna Christie,” “Romance,” “A Woman of Affairs” and “Anna Karenina.” As is typical of all Garbo pictures the supporting cast of “Marie Walewska” is composed of the finest actors available in Hollywood. In the present instance, heading a group of 30 speaking players together with hundreds of bit players and extras, are Reginald Owen in the role of the scheming Talleyrand. Alan Marshal as Captain D’Ornano, Henry Stephenson as Garbo’s husband, Count Walewska, Leif Erikson as Garbo’s brother, Dame May Whitty, who recently scored in "Night Must Fall,” as Laetitia Bonaparte, and C. Henry Gordon as Prince Poniatowski. Others prominent in the imposing supporting cast include Marie Ouspenskaya, remembered for her brilliant work in “Dodsworth,” Claude Gillingwater, George Huston, George Zucco, Noble Johnson, George Givot, Scotty Beckett, Henry Kolker, Ivan Lebedeff. Bodil Rosing, Lois Meredith, Oscar Apfel, and Betty Blythe. Recreating one of the most glamorous phases of the remarkable Napoleon regime, “Marie Walewska” tells the story of a patriotic Polish countess whose love for and influence with the Emperor aids in liberating Poland from its then-time oppressor, Russia. Its settings, rivalling in splendour any ever created for the screen, include a snowbound Polish village, spectacular Polish palaces, the grand ballroom of Warsaw, street scenes of the period, and Napoleon’s final haven at Elba.