The life of Napoleon Bonaparte has always captured the imagination of young and old alike. His career and flamboyant personality have been the subjects of countless books and feature films. Recently, an epic film, produced in 1927 by French filmmaker Abel Cance, based on Napoleon's life, and forgotten for many years has come to light. This silent classic regarded as a masterpiece by filmmakers, scholars, and film historians, uses techniques at least 30 years ahead of their time. By now You're probably wondering "if it was so good why was it forgotten for so long?" The very avant-garde innovations Abel Gance used in NAPOLEON made it difficult to distribute and six months after its release, the first "talkie", The Jazz Singer opened and ended the silent film era. Copies of the film NAPOLEON were all but mutilated in attempts to shorten the lengthy epic, originally six hours long, in an attempt to market the film. Finally, it just disappeared. British author Kevin Brownlow, rediscovered the film in the early 1950's having found two reels on 9.5mm film. The 13-year long search for the missing reels and attempt to reconstruct the picture is an adventure. We do not have the space to recount. The "final" version recently shown for a limited engagement at Radio City Music Hall is still missing a few reels but the film is so exciting and creative that it is not noticeable. Radio City Music Hall and New York gave NAPOLEON a grand welcome. Every performance was sold out and the crowds trying to get in were so large, you would think that Napoleon himself was appearing at the Music Hall that night. The anticipation and enthusiasm for this great epic was evident everywhere. Mayor Koch was on hand for the festivities and veteran actor Gene Kelly stood in for the now 91 Year old Abel Gance. Francis Ford Coppola, who believed in the film and was instrumental in bringing this silent classic back to the screen could not attend. However, his father, Carmine Coppola, who won an Academy Award in 1975 for his original score for Godfather II, composed a new score for Napoleon. The senior Coppola also conducted the 60 piece American Symphony Orchestra during the 4- hour performance. NAPOLEON was magnificent! A truly artistic endeavor, the film is aweinspiring!. One particular sequence of scenes is a montage of Napoleon's battle to survive during a storm at sea and the political storm at the Convention. Mr. Gance had a camera placed on a swing over the crowds at the Convention, and takes the audience on a thrilling ride, swooping down upon and soaring over both the human storm and the one at sea. Another striking factor of the film was the casting. The faces of the actors are hypnotic. Vladimir Roudenko who played Napoleon as a boy, actually looked like he grew up to be Albert Dieudonne, who played Napoleon Bonaparte. Albert Dieudonne was a perfect Napoleon, with his brooding, sullen appearance and dark foreboding eyes. Although Abel Gance took liberties with the life of the man he obviously admired, the costumes were correct down to the minutes" detail. And I think one would be hard pressed to find a more sinister looking Robespierre. Abel Gance was in the movie playing the role of Louis Saint-Just, which was an incredible experience, being able to see the man who created this masterpiece, as he was making it. The one thing I did not like about the movie was a scene depicting the Bal des Victims, which smacked of Busby Berkely and his outrageous flappers. However, the rest of the film was strong enough to erase this minor flaw. The finale of the film is a spectacular one, with each screen bathed in red, white and blue. After the finale, the entire audience, over 3,000, rose in unison for a standing ovation, shouting encore and bravof I sincerely hope that Napoleon will be shown across the country because it is an experience not to be missed. Abel Gance captured the spirit of Napoleon the man. Because as Napoleon himself once said, "To make oneself understood to people, one must first speak to their eyes." Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 2 #5 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1981 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com