Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

MartinHafer I should make you aware of one thing that most IMDb users are not aware of but which several other users have also noticed. There is a small and devoted group that has given all of Miss Davies' films scores of 10--even her lesser or bad films. I'm not sure why, but these folks appear to think EVERY Davies film is a classic and I have been attacked for daring to dislike some of her films--such as "Cain and Mable". Speaking of "Mable", it was one of the biggest box office losers of its time yet currently 61% of its votes are 10s. Compare this to "The Godfather" at 56%, "Gone With the Wind" at just under 39%, "The Shawshank Redemption" (currently the highest ranked film on IMDb) at just under 60% and "12 Angry Men" at 39%! Critics over the years have been pretty hard on her films--though she definitely did star in a few classics (such as the wonderful "Show People"). My suggestion is that you don't be swayed by the scores alone...as well as the reviews (including mine). See the films and make your own decision.From the start, I must admit that for me, at least, the film has a major strike against it. The likable Dick Powell co-stars in the film, however, since it was made during his "singing star" period, he spends lots and lots of time singing...and I don't particularly like it in the film. In fact, Powell himself hated all the singing roles he had through the 1930s and loved when they gave him films where he could concentrate on his acting--which was usually very nice. Why they would have Davies starring opposite a singer like Powell is beyond me--it does not play to her strengths--she was certainly NOT a singer but was more adept at light comedy. Now had the female lead been Jeanette MacDonald, this might have worked better! As for the rest of the cast, Davies got some nice support. Likable and very capable supporting actors like Henry Stephenson, Arthur Treacher (oddly, he's NOT starring as a butler here), Claude Rains, Charlie Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton are on hand--adding a lot of nice color to the film.Oh, and speaking of color, some might feel rightly put off by the slaves in the film. They are pretty happy folks and the white masters are pretty good to them (especially the sweet Davies) and this is pretty tacky. This "happy slave" stereotype is perhaps worse than just ignoring the plight of blacks during the era in which the film was set.The setting for the film, incidentally, is both in France and the US during the early years at the beginning of the 19th century. Napoleon (Rains) need funds for his many wars and is trying to sell the Louisiana Territory to the Americans. During these negotiations, a French agent and brother to Napoleon (Powell) is in the States--though you really aren't sure why. In his capacity as an agent, he wants to remain incognito, so he poses as a French language teacher and is engaged by Davies' family to tutor her. Her family is quite wealthy--and happen to hate Napoleon.Naturally, like romances of the day, you know that eventually the two will be in love. However, where it went from there was hard to predict because, amazingly, this weird and seemingly silly plot is actually based on the real life romance between Elizabeth Patterson and Jerome Bonaparte! And, oddly for a romance of the 1930s, it ends most tragically--not sweetly like the audience probably hoped.So how true is this film? Well, in many ways it's surprisingly close--at least in the first 2/3 of the film. However, the scene with Napoleon convincing Elizabeth to give him up never occurred--as in real life, she tried and tried in vain to keep her Jerome--even though history shows us that he wasn't worth this loyalty (he was a real chuckle-head). I also cringed a bit with the scene between Napoleon and his mommy--it just came off as false and a bit silly. But worst of all was the tacked on happy ending--that never happened in real life!! In reality, Jerome left his pregnant wife and married a German princess!! Oops! This bit of historical liberty is simply unforgivable. How so many people could give this amiable but patently false film a 10 is beyond me.

samhill5215 Once again here's another Marion Davies film totally undeserving of its vote. As of this writing it was an astounding 7.8, a testament to the repetitious fervor of Miss Davies' fans. It appears to me that artificially elevating her scores does her disservice. She was a fine comedian and a commendable person but there were also several turkeys in her career and this is one of them. Leaving aside the utter lack of any historical authenticity apart from names and places this one is a real TURKEY. It tries to be a comedy but the jokes are tired old slapstick delivered by actors who appeared to be there for the paycheck. It tries to be a romance but there's no chemistry between Powell and Davies. There's just nothing there other than Claude Rains who is as always the master. But even he is not enough to save this TURKEY.

writers_reign In some ways this resembles Billy Wilder's The Emperor Waltz; period setting, well-known crooner in the lead, light on songs and a general awkward feel. People like Dick Powell, Arthur Treacher, Charlie Butterworth and Edward Everett Horton just don't 'do' tights and it takes a while to get over this. Claude Rains played both Napolean and Julius Caesar in his distinguished career and he does tend to steal the film, putty nose and all. Marion Davies is probably known today, if at all, solely as the mistress of William Randolph Hearst who was pilloried in Citizen Kane but she shows herself as a more than adequate actress. Frank Borzage began his career around 1913 and turned out several fine movies including Three Comrades and The Mortal Storm and he manages to extract several laughs along the way in what is essentially a large screen soap.

mke I don't generally obsess over the historic errors in films, especially comedies. That may be why I was able to enjoy this picture and the many fine performances. Claude Rains as Napoleon was particularly good. In fact his performance here was the most complex and interesting portrayal of Napoleon I recall seeing which is impressive given the generally humorous tone of the film.While far from a classic this is a fine movie with many good lines and a very talented cast.