Release, runtime and language

1962 · 140 mins · Italian

Directed by

Jean Delannoy

Starring

Gina Lollobrigida, Massimo Girotti, Stephen Boyd, Micheline Presle, Gabriele Ferzetti, Raymond Pellegrin

The film dramatizes the flamboyant life of Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister. After a politically motivated breakup with Fréron, she joins Napoleon’s Italian campaign and falls for the comte de Canouville. The First Consul marries her to General Leclerc; she follows him to Saint‑Domingue, grows attached, and loves him as he dies of yellow fever. Back in France she resumes her libertine ways, is married off to Prince Borghese by Napoleon, but remains devoted to Canouville, whom the emperor tries unsuccessfully to separate from her. The Russian campaign claims her lover’s life, leaving Pauline to reconcile with her brother as exile looms.