History Film / Napoleon1955

Napoleon is played by two actors, Daniel Gélin as a young man and Raymond Pellegrin in later life. Sacha Guitry himself played the role of Talleyrand, controversial diplomat and first Prime Minister of France (he had [[RoleReprise played Talleyrand before]], in 1948's ''Le Diable boiteux'', adapted from his own stage play) who narrates most of the story. Creator/MicheleMorgan portrayed UsefulNotes/JosephineDeBeauharnais.

The film also features appearances by [[AllStarCast a number of notable actors]], particularly Creator/ErichVonStroheim as Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Creator/YvesMontand as Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre, Maria Schell as Marie-Louise of Austria, Creator/JeanMarais as Charles-Tristan de Montholon, Creator/JeanGabin as Marshal Jean Lannes, Creator/OrsonWelles as Napoleon's Saint Helan jailor Sir Hudson Lowe and many others. Marais and Welles would later appear in another French Napoleonic epic with a big cast, ''Film/{{Austerlitz}}'', and Welles would appear again in ''Film/{{Waterloo}}''.

Napoleon is played by two actors, Daniel Gélin as a young man and Raymond Pellegrin in later life. Sacha Guitry himself played the role of Talleyrand, controversial diplomat and first Prime Minister of France (he had [[RoleReprise played Talleyrand before]], in 1948's ''Le Diable boiteux'') who narrates most of the story. Creator/MicheleMorgan portrayed UsefulNotes/JosephineDeBeauharnais.

** Daniel Gélin played Napoléon as a younger man up until he became emperor, at which point Raymond Pellegrin took over. Oddly, Gélin was 33 while Pellegrin was 29 (it was Pellegrin's dramatic chops Guitry was going for with the change).
** A younger actor played him as a teen during his time at the Brienne military school.

* {{Irony}}: Talleyrand starts talking about Napoleon's story by saying he "was born on an island" ([[UsefulNotes/Corsica Corsica]]), "dreamed all of his life of conquering an island" ([[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom Great Britain]]), "was exiled to an island" ([[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Elba]]) and "died on an island" (Saint Helena).

* {{Irony}}: Talleyrand starts talking about Napoleon's story by saying he "was born on an island" (Corsica), "dreamed all of his life of conquering an island" ([[UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom Great Britain]]), "was exiled to an island" ([[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Elba]]) and "died on an island" (Saint Helena).

It depicts the life of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte from his birth to his death, including of course UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, his rise to the top of the state, his rule as Emperor of the UsefulNotes/{{Fr|ance}}ench and the [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars wars he fought in]], totalling three hours.

** In Désirée Clary's introduction, the narrator mentions her ''destin fabuleux'' ("fabulous fate"). Guitry had previously directed a film about her life, titled ''Le destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary''.