This was the production starring Garbo that did the most damage to MGM, with a high budget for the time and a poor box-office income. Conquest's greatest achievement is really the convincing dynamics between the starring duo, able to uplift a simple biopic and transport us into a relationship of some interest. Directed by Clarence Brown, it focuses on the extramarital romance between Napoleon (Charles Boyer) and Maria Walewska (Garbo), a Polish countess who warmed the powerful dictator's heart. The script, however, evades the historically rigorous policies taken by Bonaparte. The film has as its chronological markers Bonaparte's arrival in Poland, his exile on Elba and his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. It exploits the Emperor's growing ambition as well as the protests that were gradually growing around him. Garbo has in Boyer a co-star of talent, and strong personality. She looks fragile, far from the vamps he interpreted in silent films as "The Flesh and the Devil". Reluctant to start a relationship with Napoleon, she's gradually charmed by his ideals. At the beginning she's married to Count Anastas Walewski, a much older, financially wealthy nobleman who has a grandson about the age of the character played by Garbo, who seeks to respect and love her husband. Care is taken in the use and decoration of the sets, as well as in the selection of wardrobe.
