War and Peace (1956)

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

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Leo Tolstoy (based on the novel by), Bridget Boland (adaptation)

Stars:

Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

By 1812, Napoleon's forces controlled much of Europe. Russia, one of the few countries still unconquered, prepares to face Napoleon's troops together with Austria. Among the Russian soldiers are Count Nicholas Rostov and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. Count Pierre Bezukhov, a friend of Andrei's and self-styled intellectual who is not interested in fighting. Pierre's life changes when his father dies, leaving him a vast inheritance. He is attracted to Natasha Rostov, Nicholas's sister, but she is too young, so he gives in to baser desires and marries the shallow, manipulative Princess Helene. The marriage ends when Pierre discovers his wife's true nature. Andrei is captured and later released by the French, and returns home only to watch his wife die in childbirth. Months later, Pierre and Andrei meet again. Andrei sees Natasha and falls in love, but his father will only permit the marriage if they postpone it for one year until Natasha turns 17. While Andrei is away on a military mission, ...

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Plot Keywords:

russian soldier | french invasion of russia | napoleon bonaparte | year 1812 | tsarist russia | 

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Taglines:

WORLD'S GREATEST NOVEL NOW ON THE SCREEN! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for violence

Details

Country:

USA Italy

Language:

English Italian Russian

Release Date:

21 August 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Krieg und Frieden

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$12,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

208 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) Perspecta Stereo (as Perspecta Stereophonic Sound ® by Suonitalia Studio - Rome -)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (as Technicolor®)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

May Britt and Anita Ekberg had their voices dubbed by others.

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Goofs

Although the Battle of Austerlitz was fought in December, the trees seem to be in full summer bloom.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Closing credits epilogue: The most difficult thing - but an essential one - is to love Life, to love it even while one suffers, because Life is all. Life is God, and to love Life means to love God. Tolstoy "WAR and PEACE"

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Connections

Referenced in Rec: Sensou to heiwa (2006)

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Soundtracks

Grande Valse Brillante
(uncredited)
by Frédéric Chopin (Waltz n°1 in E flat major)

User Reviews

Looks as good as GWTW but doesn't sound like it!

This film came out on DVD yesterday and I rushed to buy it. This version is the first to render all the detail and perfection of Jack Cardiff's amazing compositions and brilliant, varied photography. As a collection of memorable images, this film is better than any comparable historical epic of the period and even gives GWTW a run for its money. King Vidor's direction is a series of 'tableaux vivants' where the characters are not posing but acting in a very natural, period-specific way. I have never had a problem with this adaptation of Tolstoy's novel. I think it is a wonderful introduction to the period and the novel and that it is a very poetic, very original work in its own right. Henry Fonda's characterization is especially moving, including great memorable interactions with/reations to Mel Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn, Helmut Dantine and John Mills, but all members of the cast are actually perfect. The harrowing last 45 minutes of the film manage to convey a sense of history, a sense of grandeur as well as to communicate very clearly Tolstoy's ideas about the meaning of life, by relying mostly on the power of memorable images. The most conspicuous handicap of this movie, in my opinion, is its soundtrack (in glorious mono).

The barely hi-fi recording of dialogues and music sounds pinched, hollow and tinny and it always has in very version I have ever seen: in the theatres, on TV and on video. Even the soundtrack album is an atrocity. In some scenes, before the necessary adjustments of bass and treble, Audrey Hepburn's and Mel Ferrer's voices actually hurt your ear. Nino Rota's very Russian-sounding score is serviceable and melodic, although rather sparse in its orchestration and in the number of players. One can only wonder what 'War and Peace' could have sounded like with a cohort of Hollywood arrangers, decent recording facilities and lavish, varied orchestrations in true high fidelity and stereophonic sound. According to Lukas Kendall of 'Film Score Monthly', the original recording elements of the soundtrack have long ago disappeared, which is the common lot of international, independent co-productions of the era. Someone somewhere is certainly guilty of skimping on quality or embezzlement for this 1956 movie to sound so much worse than a 1939, pre-hi-fi epic like GWTW. Like all VistaVision films, this one was meant to be shown in Perspecta Stereophonic Sound where the mono dialog track was meant to be channelled to three different directions, making it directional, while the separate mono music + sound effects track was generally directed to all three speakers at the same time. The results fooled the viewers into thinking everything was in true stereo and the reproduction of the music was usually in very high fidelity. Maybe the soundtrack used on the DVD is a mono reduction of those two separate tracks that has squandered that fidelity and maybe the DVD can be issued again with better results in some kind of 4.0 presentation. When they do, very little electronic restoration work will be needed to make the image absolutely perfect.

But let's concentrate on the positive: This film is a summit of visual splendour and its sets, costumes, colour photography, composition and lighting achieve, in every single scene, wonders of artistry, creativity and delicacy that will probably never be equalled. Suffice it to say that it has, among many other treasures, a sunrise duel scene in the snow that still has viewers wondering whether it was shot outdoors or in a studio and that will have them wondering forever.