This movie is quite dated now but it is still an excellent example of early British cinema and George Arliss, as usual, is very good as Wellington. The only problem is that the near 70 year old Arliss is supposed to be playing the Iron Duke when he was in his forties. As good an actor as Arliss was, even he can't pull that off. He actually plays the Duke as he probably was in his later years; prone to cackle a lot, friendly with the young ladies, and a bit of an eccentric. The rest of the cast is just okay, with Gladys Cooper a bit ahead of the rest as Madame, King Louis VIII's vengeful niece. The Waterloo battle scenes are stilted and poorly staged but the interiors are fine, most notably the scenes of the Duchess of Richmond's ball. For a better view historically of Wellington during his fighting days, see Christopher Plummer's characterization in the 1970 Dino De Laurentis production "Waterloo".
Review of The Iron Duke
