The Battle of Austerlitz (1960)

Another of Napoleon's adventures in this epic reconstruction of the battle of Austerlitz, where he had the greatest victory of his career, over the Russians.

Director:

Abel Gance

Writers:

Abel Gance, Nelly Kaplan

Stars:

Pierre Mondy, Martine Carol, Claudia Cardinale

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierre Mondy	...	Napoléon Bonaparte
Martine Carol	...	Joséphine de Beauharnais
Claudia Cardinale	...	Pauline Bonaparte
Leslie Caron	...	Mlle de Vaudey
Vittorio De Sica	...	Pope Pius VII
Elvire Popesco	...	Laetitia Bonaparte
Jean Marais	...	Carnot
Michel Simon	...	Alboise
Orson Welles	...	Robert Fulton
Georges Marchal	...	Le maréchal Jean Lannes
Jack Palance	...	Gen. Weirother
Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Ségur fils
Rossano Brazzi	...	Lucien Bonaparte
Jean Mercure	...	Talleyrand
Anna Maria Ferrero	...	Elisa Bonaparte

Storyline

Another of Napoleon's adventures in this epic reconstruction of the battle of Austerlitz, where he had the greatest victory of his career, over the Russians.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1805 | french empire | military operation | battle | napoleon bonaparte | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

France Italy Yugoslavia Liechtenstein

Language:

French

Release Date:

1960 (Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

The Battle of Austerlitz

Filming Locations:

Studios de Saint-Maurice, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Internationale de Productions Cinématographiques (CIPRA), Lyre Films, Galatea Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of Elvire Popesco.

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Goofs

In the scene in William Pitt's office in London which is set in the early 1800's, you can see in the background through the window the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, 60 years before they were built.

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Alternate Versions

The original French version runs longer than the English dubbed international one. It contains extra scenes including ones with Napoleon visiting his mistress and of Ségur (Jean-Louis Trintignant) imagining the coronation of the emperor for the palace staff.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Seul le cinéma (1994)

User Reviews

Back to history

...and to "Napoleon" whose life Gance transferred to the screen in the silent era.Sandwiched between two very underrated Gance works ("la Tour de Nesles" and "Cyrano et D'Artagnan" )it is a return to "real " "true" history.I will go as far as to write that Gance impressed me much more when his movies dealt with fictionalized history (the two mentioned movies,but "j'accuse" too)."Austerlitz has something academic ,conventional.It has nothing of Gance's madness.The first part is a stream of stars from Martine Carol to Claudia Cardinale ,from Jean Marais to Orson Welles (in a part which reminds us how Gance was interested in the development of science through the centuries ,à la Jules Verne,we find this interest in "Cyrano" and "J'accuse" too).THe lead is a good actor but he might be ,on an international level, the least known of them all:Pierre Mondy's name is buried in the cast and credits and although he is on the screen from the beginning to the end,his name is not bigger than that of Welles who appears barely five minutes.Ah fame! The first part has only one sequence where we find back the inventive Gance:we do not attend the coronation in Notre Dame ;the marechal de Ségur (Jean-Louis Trintignant) tells the whole story with the model in front of a strange audience:servants ;then the "mamma " ("pourvu que ça dure!=lets hope it lasts!") ,Napoleon's mother (Elvire Popesco) enters and her tears begin to flow .Although David put her in his famous painting she did not attend the ceremony.

The second part is more historically interesting ,but if you are not fond of military strategy ,you may stop yourself yawning.Fortunately a soldier of the old guard of Napoléon (un "grognard" )played by Michel Simon brings a bit of life among these troop movements.

Last but not least:I have always asked myself why a convinced pacifist such as Gance (his two versions of "j'accuse" may be the strongest anti-war films ever)could be so fascinated by a warrior such as Napoleon.