The 'plot summary' for this film really sums up the storyline, but there are so many other nuances going on here. CONQUEST co-stars the amazing Garbo as the MUCH younger wife of a Count ( Henry Stephenson ) and Charles Boyer. What other french-man would they have play Napoleon? He meets the countess on his way up, and cajoles her into being the mistress, which of course gives grounds for the breakup of her marriage. The awesome Ouspenskaya is in here as the batty old aunt Pelagia. Some comedy, as the crazy old aunt plays cards with Napoleon but refuses to belive an emporer could displace the king, and she insults him over and over. Ouspenskaya didn't make that many films, but in so many roles, she played the serious, heavy handed old woman with a past. The story has the Countess reluctantly "spending time" with Napoleon, purely "for the good of the country", but who knows how much of that is accurate. She did leave memoirs for her family, and some information can be found on Wikidepia . The trivia section says that this film was a HUGE money-loser for MGM, but maybe that was due to the length of the film, almost two hours. or maybe the subject matter was distaste-ful for a public that had just accepted the film production code. Napoleon's mom played by the fun Dame May Whitty. Apparently, a good chunk of this story actually occurred. For a period piece, it's not so bad. Some parts are a bit silly, but it does tell a story. Garbo only made two more after this. Near the end of her film career. Of course, she WAS nominated for the next one... Ninotchka. For those interested in when and where "Countess Marie" died, please visit the wikipedia link.
