War and Peace (1956)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Leo Tolstoy (novel)
Bridget Boland (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 August 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

The Greatest Novel Ever Written ... Now Magnificently Alive On The Screen!

Plot:

Napoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia including his disastrous 1812 invasion serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Inheritance | 19th Century | Love | Opening Monologue

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Audrey Hepburn	...	Natasha Rostova
Henry Fonda	...	Pierre Bezukhov
Mel Ferrer	...	Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Vittorio Gassman	...	Anatol Kuragin
Herbert Lom	...	Napoleon
Oskar Homolka	...	Field Marshal Kutuzov (as Oscar Homolka)
Anita Ekberg	...	Helene Kuragina
Helmut Dantine	...	Dolokhov
Tullio Carminati	...	Prince Vasili Kuragin
Barry Jones	...	Prince Mikhail Andreevich Rostov
Milly Vitale	...	Lisa Bolkonskaya
Lea Seidl	...	Countess Rostov
Anna-Maria Ferrero	...	Maria Bolkonskaya (as Anna Maria Ferrero)
Wilfrid Lawson	...	Prince Bolkonsky (as Wilfred Lawson)
May Britt	...	Sonia Rostova

Also Known As:

Guerra e pace (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated PG for violence.

Runtime:

208 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English | Italian | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | Perspecta Stereo

Certification:

Italy:T | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:16 | Australia:G | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Spain:18 | USA:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In the scene where the Rostovs invite Prince Andrei to go hunting with them, Jeremy Brett is the only actor never on a mechanical horse: in all his shots he is clearly on a live horse. Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Barry Jones and May Britt are all clearly on mechanical horses in their close shots.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first battle, Prince Andrei dismounts to take the flag of the shot soldier who is holding it. Then the wounded soldier kneels twice.

Quotes:

Napoleon: I warn you, gentlemen; I cannot sit here much longer - watching my army decay!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Chris & Don. A Love Story (2007)

Soundtrack:

Les roses de Novgorod

A Worthy (Though Flawed) and Much-Underrated Effort

Given that trimming Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE down to the length of one feature film (even at three-and-a-half hours) is probably a fool's errand to begin with, this 1956 version deserves more respect than it's generally gotten -- though the comments here indicate that the film may actually be gaining the respect that critics and film historians have so long denied it.

The movie does suffer from two undeniable shortcomings. First is the atrocious sound recording that has blighted virtually every Italian movie ever made. As some of the comments have noted, movies shot at Rome's Cinecitta had their sound post-dubbed rather than recorded on the set. But actually, this practice was then (and remains) very common. The sound in Italian movies stands out simply because they were so bad at it. The brutal truth is, even the greatest masterpieces of Fellini, De Sica, Rosselini, etc. are less than they might have been because Italian sound technology was so slipshod. And so it is with WAR AND PEACE: it's hard to suspend disbelief when soldiers struggling across a river sound like someone dropping quarters into a toilet.

The other shortcoming is the appalling miscasting of Henry Fonda as Pierre Bezhukov. It's the worst performance of his career, and he looks and sounds about as Russian as a slice of pumpkin pie. One commenter here said Alec Guinness should have played Pierre. It's an intriguing suggestion, and of course Sir Alec was always good. Even better, I think, would have been Peter Ustinov. In 1956 he was Pierre to the very life.

But the rest of the casting is genuinely inspired. Oskar Homolka as Gen. Kutuzov, Barry Jones as Count Rostov, Jeremy Brett as Nikolai, Herbert Lom as Napoleon -- all could hardly be improved upon. And Audrey Hepburn was simply born to play Natasha. And Mel Ferrer as Prince Andrei ... well, he did have his faults as an actor (to say the least!), but at least he looked the part.

Beyond that, the movie has lavish production values, impressive battle scenes, and one truly great and powerful sequence, the French Army's disastrous retreat from Russia, that takes up much of the last hour.

There's no substitute, of course, for reading the novel (I've read it three times myself). But this 1956 movie makes a worthy introduction, and even helps to keep Tolstoy's complex plot straight when you do get around to reading it.