War and Peace

Audrey Hepburn Director: King Vidor King Vidor

Overview

War and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and personal upheavals attending Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, $6 million was shelled out by coproducers Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures. Some of the panoramic battle sequences are so expertly handled by second-unit director Mario Soldati that they appear to be Technicolor-and-Vistavision newsreel footage of the actual events. Still, the film falters dramatically, principally because of a lumpy script and King Vidor's surprisingly lustreless direction. In addition, the casting is wildly consistent: for example, while Audrey Hepburn is flawless as Natasha, Henry Fonda is far too "Yankeefied" as the introspective Pierre. Proving too long and unwieldy for most audiences, War and Peace died at the box office; far more successful was the epic, scrupulously faithful 1968 version, filmed in the Soviet Union.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/25/2017
UPC:	0032429274168
Original Release:	1956
Rating:	PG
Source:	Paramount
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Time:	3:28:00
Sales rank:	8,434

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Audrey Hepburn	Natasha
Henry Fonda	Pierre
Mel Ferrer	Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Vittorio Gassman	Anatole
Anita Ekberg	Helene
Oscar Homolka	Gen. Mikhail Kutuzov
Herbert Lom	Napoleon
John Mills	Platon
Helmut Dantine	Dolokhov
Milly Vitale	Lise
Barry Jones	Count Ilya Rostov
Wilfred Lawson	Prince Nicholas Bolkonsky
Jeremy Brett	Nicholas Rostov
Sean Barrett	Petya Rostov
Anna Maria Ferrero	Mary Bolkonskv
Tullio Carminatti	Kuragin
Patrick Crean	Denisov
Gertrude Flynn	Peronskaya
Marisa Allasio	Matriosa
Cesare Barbetti	Young Boy
Vincent Barbi	Balaga
Michael Billingsley	Russian Soldier
Georges Brehat	French Officer at Execution
Mai Britt	Actor
Guido Celano	Napoleon's Officer
Geoffrey Copleston	Actor
David Crowley	Actor
Bob Cunningham	Pierre's Second at Duel
Carlo Dale	Actor
Paul Davis	Young French Officer
Mino Doro	Russian General
John Douglas	Actor
Andre Eszterhazy	Dolokhov's Second
Andrea Fantasia	Constand
Charles Fawcett	Russian Artillery Captain
Angelo Galassi	Actor
John Horne	Old Gentleman Dancing with Natasha
Stephen Lang	Tichon
Marianna Leibl	Servant at Bolkonsky's
Alberto Carlo Lolli	Rostov's Major-Domo
Clelia Matania	Mlle. Georges
Richard McNamara	De Beausset
Enrico Olivieri	French Drummer
Piero Palermini	Russian Artillery Lieutenant
Mimmo Palmara	Actor
Teresa Pellati	Masa
Jerry Riggio	Actor
Alfredo Rizzo	Soldiers During the Rostovs' Exile
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	Young Cossack
Umberto Sacripante	Old Man
Lea Seidl	Countess Rostov
John Stacey	Actor
Robert Stephens	Officers Talking with Natasha During Exile
Gilberto Tofano	Young Dying Soldier
Michael Tor	Pope
Gualtiero Tumiati	Pierre's Father
Joop van Hulzen	Russian Officer
Maria Zanoli	Mayra

Technical Credits

King Vidor

Bridget Boland

Mario Camerini

Ennio de Concini

Ivo Perilli

Irwin Shaw

Robert Westerby

King Vidor	Director,Screenwriter
Franz Bachelin	Art Director
Bridget Boland	Screenwriter
Mario Camerini	Screenwriter
Jack Cardiff	Cinematographer
Leo Cattozzo	Editor
Mario Chiari	Art Director
Ennio de Concini	Screenwriter
Dino de Laurentiis	Producer
Maria de Matteis	Costumes/Costume Designer
Franco Ferrara	Musical Direction/Supervision
Piero Gherardi	Set Decoration/Design
Stuart Gilmore	Editor
Guidarino Guidi	Asst. Director
Ivo Perilli	Screenwriter
Gianni Polidori	Art Director
Nino Rota	Score Composer
Irwin Shaw	Screenwriter
Leo Tolstoy	Source Author
Aldo Tonti	Cinematographer
Robert Westerby	Screenwriter

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- War and Peace
1. Chapter 1 [:14]
2. Chapter 2 [2:13]
3. Chapter 3 [5:58]
4. Chapter 4 [1:14]
5. Chapter 5 [4:34]
6. Chapter 6 [:50]
7. Chapter 7 [8:28]
8. Chapter 8 [:15]
9. Chapter 9 [6:57]
10. Chapter 10 [:59]
11. Chapter 11 [4:21]
12. Chapter 12 [2:37]
13. Chapter 13 [3:17]
14. Chapter 14 [4:01]
15. Chapter 15 [3:17]
16. Chapter 16 [3:05]
17. Chapter 17 [1:39]
18. Chapter 18 [7:49]
19. Chapter 19 [:44]
20. Chapter 20 [6:43]
21. Chapter 21 [7:38]
22. Chapter 22 [:47]
23. Chapter 23 [7:02]
24. Chapter 24 [2:25]
25. Chapter 25 [4:30]
26. Chapter 26 [4:22]
27. Chapter 27 [4:49]
28. Chapter 28 [1:56]
29. Chapter 29 [1:47]
30. Chapter 30 [7:38]
31. Chapter 31 [2:44]
32. Chapter 32 [5:21]
33. Chapter 33 [3:31]
34. Chapter 34 [3:55]
35. Chapter 35 [6:02]
36. Chapter 36 [:34]
37. Chapter 37 [5:40]
38. Chapter 38 [1:52]
39. Chapter 39 [7:56]
40. Chapter 40 [:59]
41. Chapter 41 [6:44]
42. Chapter 42 [1:13]
43. Chapter 43 [5:47]
44. Chapter 44 [2:31]
45. Chapter 45 [5:29]
46. Chapter 46 [2:22]
47. Chapter 47 [5:56]
48. Chapter 48 [7:37]
49. Chapter 49 [4:04]
50. Chapter 50 [4:24]
51. Chapter 51 [5:51]
52. Chapter 52 [2:13]
53. Chapter 53 [2:42]

Menu

Disc #1 -- War and Peace
   Chapters

Editorial Reviews

In spite of its three-hour length, this 1956 King Vidor film presents only a surface perusal of the panoramic, character-packed novel on which it is based, Russian writer Leo Tolstoy's two-inch-thick tome War and Peace. Nevertheless, the movie gives viewers just enough of the novel to allow them to browse Russian drawing rooms and battlefields and to eavesdrop on the lives and longings of people affected by the brutal war and social upheaval of 1805-1815. The acting is sometimes very good and sometimes very bad, while the cinematography and historical ambience are outstanding. The camera follows Pierre Bezuhov (Henry Fonda) as he wanders through a degenerate youth, a flawed marriage, and the turbulence of war, finally arriving at his true self: an idealist bent on helping others. Along the way, a dashing, sophisticated soldier, Prince Andrey Bolkonsky (Mel Ferrer) outcharms Bezuhoy for the hand of lovely Natasha Rostov (Audrey Hepburn). Fonda is good, Ferrer is mediocre, and Hepburn is excellent; however, modern audiences -- spoiled by the linguistic derring-do of such actors as Meryl Streep, Bob Hoskins, and Gwyneth Paltrow -- may balk at the hodgepodge of non-Russian accents. As the Russian characters go about their lives, the ominous advance of Napoleon and his army is ever on their minds. Herbert Lom (widely remembered as Peter Sellers' boss in the Pink Panther films) portrays the French despot with as much verve and panache as any actor who ever stepped into the role. On the other hand, buxom Swede Anita Ekberg is simply awful as Pierre Bezuhov's wife. Apparently, her presence in the film was a concession to prurience and box-office draw. All in all, though, Vidor's War and Peace is a decent production -- a keyhole that affords a glimpse into a gigantic novel and a world in turmoil.

All Movie Guide - Mike Cummings