War and Peace (1956)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

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

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 | Battle | Inheritance | Russian Soldier | Duel

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 8 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
Wilfrid Lawson	...	Prince Bolkonsky (as Wilfred Lawson)
May Britt	...	Sonia Rostova
Jeremy Brett	...	Nikolai Rostov
Patrick Crean	...	Denisov
Sean Barrett	...	Petya Rostov
John Mills	...	Platon Karataev
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	House Servant (uncredited)
Mario Addobbati	...	Young Servant at Rostov's (uncredited)
Inna Alexeievna	...	Governess (uncredited)
Marisa Allasio	...	Matrosha (uncredited)
Luciano Angelini	...	Young Soldier at Borodino (uncredited)
Cesare Barbetti	...	Young Soldier Shot in Front of Pierre (uncredited)
Vincent Barbi	...	Balaga (uncredited)
Patrick Barrett	...	Russian Soldier (uncredited)
Michael Billingsley	...	Russian Soldier (uncredited)
Augusto Borselli	...	(uncredited)
Georges Bréhat	...	French Officer at Execution (uncredited)
Mario Cardoni	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Guido Celano	...	Victor (uncredited)
Carmelo Consoli	...	(uncredited)
Geoffrey Copleston	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Tiziano Cortini	...	(uncredited)
Giorgio Costantini	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Dave Crowley	...	Russian Soldier (uncredited)
Robert Cunningham	...	Pierre's Second at Duel (uncredited)
Alex D'Alessio	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Carlo Dale	...	Young French Officer (uncredited)
Henry Danieli	...	(uncredited)
Paul Davis	...	Young French Officer (uncredited)
Richard Dawson	...	(uncredited)
Lucio De Santis	...	Young Officer at Orgy (uncredited)
Carlo Delmi	...	Young Guard (uncredited)
Mino Doro	...	Russian General (uncredited)
Andrea Esterhazy	...	Dolokhov's Second at Duel (uncredited)
Andrea Fantasia	...	Constand (uncredited)
Charles Fawcett	...	Russian Artillery Captain (uncredited)
Gertrude Flynn	...	Mariya Peronskaya (uncredited)
Francis Foucaud	...	French Soldier (uncredited)
Alan Furlan	...	Russian Officer (uncredited)
Angelo Galassi	...	Russian Soldier (uncredited)
Nándor Gallai	...	Bezukhov's Servant (uncredited)
Stephen Garret	...	Coachman / Doctor (uncredited)
Dino Gelio	...	(uncredited)
Micaela Giustiniani	...	Woman (uncredited)
Christopher Hofer	...	French Officer (uncredited)
John Horne	...	Gentleman at Ball (uncredited)
Sdenka Kirchen	...	Old Maid (uncredited)
Dimitri Konstantinov	...	Young Officer at Orgy (uncredited)
Mauro Lanciani	...	Young Prince Nicholas (uncredited)
Stephen Lang	...	Tichon - Old Servant of Bolkonskty (uncredited)
Arcibaldo Layall	...	(uncredited)
Marianne Leibl	...	Vera - Natasha's Sister (uncredited)
Don Little	...	Gentleman at Ball (uncredited)
Alberto Lolli	...	Prokofi - Rostov's Butler (uncredited)
Gianni Luda	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Clelia Matania	...	Mademoiselle Geoges (uncredited)
Richard McNamara	...	De Beausset - French Messenger (uncredited)
Nino Milia	...	(uncredited)
Enrico Olivieri	...	French Drummer (uncredited)
Eric Oulton	...	Russian General (uncredited)
Piero Palermini	...	Russian Artillery Lieutenant (uncredited)
Mimmo Palmara	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Piero Pastore	...	Bolkonsky's Servant (uncredited)
Teresa Pellati	...	Liudmila (uncredited)
Frank Pex	...	(uncredited)
Paola Quagliero	...	Young Girl Protected by Pierre (uncredited)
Savo Raskovitch	...	Czar Alexander I (uncredited)
Jerry Riggio	...	French Officer (uncredited)
Alfredo Rizzo	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Giovanni Rossi-Loti	...	Young Russian Officer (uncredited)
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	Young Cossack (uncredited)
Umberto Sacripante	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Aldo Saporetti	...	Guest at Dolochov's Party (uncredited)
John Stacy	...	Russian General (uncredited)
Robert Stephens	...	Officer Talking with Natasha (uncredited)
Eschilo Tarquini	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Gilberto Tofano	...	Young Dying Soldier (uncredited)
Michael Tor	...	Pope (uncredited)
Gualtiero Tumiati	...	Count Kirill Bezukhov (uncredited)
Joop van Hulzen	...	Russian Officer (uncredited)
Henri Vidon	...	(uncredited)
Robin White Cross	...	Young Officer at Orgy (uncredited)
Maria Zanoli	...	Mavra - Rostov Housekeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
King Vidor

Writing credits
Leo Tolstoy		(novel "Voyna i mir")
Bridget Boland		(screenplay) and
Robert Westerby		(screenplay) and
King Vidor		(screenplay) and
Mario Camerini		(screenplay) and
Ennio De Concini		(screenplay) and
Ivo Perilli		(screenplay) and
Gian Gaspare Napolitano		(screenplay) and
Mario Soldati		(screenplay)

Produced by
Dino De Laurentiis	....	producer
Carlo Ponti	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Nino Rota

Cinematography by
Jack Cardiff		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Leo Cattozzo		(as Leo Catozzo)

Art Direction by
Mario Chiari

Set Decoration by
Piero Gherardi

Costume Design by
Maria De Matteis
Giulio Ferrari		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Alberto De Rossi	....	makeup supervisor
Grazia De Rossi	....	hair stylist
Bud Bashaw Jr.	....	makeup artist: Audrey Hepburn (uncredited)

Production Management
Giorgio Adriani	....	production manager
Fernando Cinquini	....	production supervisor
Fausto Saraceni	....	production manager
Bruno Todini	....	general production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Guidarino Guidi	....	assistant director
Bernard Vorhaus	....	assistant director (as Piero Mussetta)
Carlo Lastricati	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Mario Soldati	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Franz Bachelin	....	associate art director
Mario Garbuglia	....	construction coordinator
Gianni Polidori	....	assistant art director
Italo Tomassi	....	head scenic painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Aldo Calpini	....	sound engineer
Achille Filo Della Torre	....	sound engineer (as Filo Della Torre)
Leslie Hodgson	....	sound editor
Charles Knott	....	sound recordist
R.D. Cook	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Nick Gerolimates	....	sound cable (uncredited)
Hayden Hohstadt	....	mike grip (uncredited)
Harold Lewis	....	sound mixer (uncredited)
Bud Parman	....	sound boom (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Costel Grozea	....	special effects (as Tell Grozea)

Camera and Electrical Department
Aldo Tonti	....	director of photography: second unit
Mal Bulloch	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bud Fraker	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Guy Harris	....	electrician (uncredited)
Al Holton	....	electrician (uncredited)
Otello Martelli	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Bill Neff	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Lorne Netten	....	best boy (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Stuart Gilmore	....	editorial supervisor

Music Department
Franco Ferrara	....	musical director

Other crew
Arthur Fellows	....	production assistant: Mr. Vidor
Aurel Milloss	....	choreographer
Ralph Serpe	....	production assistant: New York
Guy Thomajan	....	dialogue coach
Auriel Millos	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Art Sarno	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Films (1957) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1963) (USA) (VHS) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1964) (USA) (TV)
• Paramount Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Associated British Film Distributors (ABFD) (195?) (UK) (theatrical)
• Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica (????) (Italy) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video (19??) (Australia) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Tuena  antiques for set decoration

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for violence

Runtime:

208 min

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English | Italian | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) | Perspecta Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:G | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Spain:18 | USA:PG | Canada:PG | Italy:T | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:12 (f) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1957)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Henry Fonda later admitted he had known from the beginning that he was too old for his character, and had only made the film for the money.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The marching band in the opening parade are all playing modern musical instruments.

Quotes:

Platon Karatsev:[explaining why a boy was executed] Where there's law, there's injustice.
[to his dog]
Platon Karatsev:C'mon, boy, get up, get up!
[to Pierre]
Platon Karatsev:But the maggot eats the cabbage - yet dies first.
Pierre Bezukhov:What did you say?
Platon Karatsev:I say things happen not as we plan them but as God judges.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Producers (1968)

Soundtrack:

Les roses de Novgorod

Less painful than Ben-Hur.

This epic has the reputation for being a limp, lifeless, mechanical thing; a vulgar simplification of Tolstoy. The latter accusation is partly correct, and thank goodness for it. War and Peace, the novel, has many great things, but also many excrescences: it goes on way too long, padded out with tediously detailed philosophies and theories of war; it also studiously refuses loose ends.

There are flaws. The script, though a model of clarity (unlike most literary adaptations, which concentrate on all the big set-pieces, creating narrative confusion), but short on inspiration. There is a dispiriting, unimaginative reliance on voiceover, and unnecessary soliloquys. The whole thing also goes on way too long.

Mel Ferrer is, without doubt, the worst actor in the world; he plays the dashing, tragic Prince Andrei with all the vigour of a mouldy plank. His part is pivotal, narratively, thematically and symbolically, so he features in a lot of scenes where his monotonous lack of expression makes the film stop dead. Henry Fonda, in many ways ideal as the Tolstoy altar-ego Pierre, who must move morally from observer to actor, is frequently defeated by the terrible dialogue, making this wonderful actor seem clumsy and amateurish. (Herbert Lom, however, manages to suggest great humanity behind the hammy pomp of Napolean).

I only mention these faults to show that the film's critics have their point. I also suggest that WAR AND PEACE is nearly a masterpiece for two reasons. King Vidor, whose work I'm largely (and shamefully) unfamiliar with, directs this film with awesome, authoritive lightness of touch. He pays respectful lip service to the big Tolstoyan themes, focusing particularly on families, the relations between parents and children, old traditional reactionary Russia, and the tentative, youthful impulse towards freedom.

I say lip-service, because his main interest in the film lies elsewhere. It lies in the expression of the emotional life of his characters. For although the film is a massive historical epic, it works best as a domestic melodrama. Characters, who can't express themselves in this hierarchical society, are allowed a voice through the film's direction, which forsakes literal realism, to tell us what is going on in their heads (and hearts). Exaggerated colour and carefully contrived composition offer us a second, more subtle and personal story, to the main, surface narrative. This might make WAR AND PEACE a more right-wing work, ignoring the processes of history and the plight of the serfs, in favour of sympathising with a caste of slave-owners, but Hollywood was never very good at socio-economic analyses.

Vidor's other great theme seems to be nature, and man's relation to it. He has little interest in invoking a real nineteenth century Russia; his Moscow is as exquisitely artificial as Sternberg's THE SCARLET EMPRESS, and his use of architecture and space to both show the distances between people, and the the fathomless emptiness of the soul, is positively Antonionian. With the natural world, however, there is a real feeling, beyond mere backdrop scenery, that is unthinkable in any contemporary Hollywood film. Primarily a movie about people and history, it is eternal nature that watches on, the battles, deaths, retreats. Indeed, it is nature that saves the Russian people, in the face of massive military odds, and it is nature that frames the melancholy, yet hopeful, resolution. (It's also interesting to ask why, at the heighth of the Cold War, Hollywood should decide to make a great Russian epic? To tastelessly evoke a 'glorious' pre-Soviet past? Or to enjoy the razing of Moscow to the ground?)

The second reason to love this film is, of course, the incomparable, beautiful, Audrey Hepburn. She is so right as Natasha (when I read the book as a kid, I pictured Audrey all the way through, without even knowing she had played her on film), the saviour of the book, as well as the film. It is one of the great performances - its modernity and truth blows away the dusty period conventions (indeed, at her first ball, she is as moving as a 50s teenager at her prom). Her intelligence, insight, passion (and she is a lot more erotic in this film than her supporters ever give her credit for) and grace are perfectly in tune with Vidor's conception, and her scenes have an extraordinary emotional force. She is the life of the film, and its moral centre in the absence of a convincing Pierre. The film plods to a slow death without her. The film essays three moral developments - Natasha's, Pierre's and Andrei's, but hers is the most moving and tragic. The change to sadness and understanding of the once gay and vivacious Natasha seems a terrible loss.