From Gance's masterpiece, Napoléon (1927) to Bondarchuk's overblown Waterloo (1970), attempts to bring Napoleon to the screen have tended towards the grandiose. Instead, this nine-part 1974 Thames Television mini-series focusses on The Little Corporal's personal life, telling the story of Napoleon's rise through his relationships with women.
Whether in love or war, Ian Holm plays the diminutive general as virile and intense, and his small-talk with Joséphine (Billie Whitelaw) over the fine points of artillery positions still manages to smoulder.
We first encounter Napoleon as an unemployed general, 25 years young but already put out to pasture in Marseilles. Desperate to return to Paris, he courts Désirée Clary (Karen Dotrice) the daughter of a wealthy merchant, a union which he hopes will fund his return to politics. Clary's father has other ideas, but Napoleon's defence of the Palais des Tuileries earns him favour with political leader Paul Barras (T.P. McKenna), not to mention Barras' former mistress, a certain Joséphine de Beauharnais (Whitelaw).
With a great cast, a clever script and an outstanding central performance from Ian Holm, this is a quality TV series which is long overdue a release.
Featuring an illustrious cast headed by Ian Holm, this dramatised account of the life and loves of Napoleon Bonaparte is a much sought-after classic series from Thames Television. Billie Whitelaw stars as Napoloeon’s first wife, Josephine, with mistresses Desiree Clary and Marie Walewska played by Karen Dotrice and Catherine Schell. Featuring high calibre actors Ronald Hines, Peter Bowles, Gary Waldhorn and Stephanie Beacham, this complete series features all nine hour-long episodes, originally transmitted in 1974.
At 25, Napoleon is already a general in the French army, although on the unemployed list. In Marseilles he woos Desiree Clary, the daughter of a rich merchant; but her family refuse a marriage until he has position and money. Napoleon leaves for Paris, where he is put in charge of the Tuilleries and is soon made Commander of the Army of the Interior. There, he meets and falls passionately in love with Joséphine Beauharnais..
