Imperial Highness
Imperial Highness is a Franco-Italian drama from 1961 about the short life of the only son Napoleon Bonaparte , the Duke of Reichstadt (1811-1832). In addition to Bernard Verley in the title role, there are a number of well-known German-speaking actors such as Josef Meinrad , Marianne Koch , Paul Hubschmid and Sabine Sinjen .
action
When Napoleon Bonaparte was at the height of his power, Napoleon Franz, the only son of the Emperor, was born in Paris in 1811 from the connection with Austria's Marie-Louise . Barely four years later, his father is exhausted and is sent into exile. Now the ordeal of little Napoleon begins, who as Napoleon II, although not recognized by France's opponents, briefly calls himself Emperor of France. With his mother he turns his back on France and goes to their home country, Austria.
Moritz von Dietrichstein raised the boy at the Viennese court. His grandfather, Emperor Franz I , gave him the title of “Duke of Reichstadt” in 1818, under which the young man will henceforth go down in history. State Chancellor Metternich tries to cut off contacts with the Bonapartists who are still doing dangerous restoration work in France, but he does not succeed entirely. However, he can prevent his Imperial Highness from escaping to France, as Napoleon is called by Franz. Eventually the young man fell ill with a serious lung disease, to which he succumbed in 1832 in Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace , just 21 years old.
Production notes
Most of the exterior shots for Imperial Highness were made in Vienna. The premiere took place in Paris on November 1, 1961, and the film could be seen in Germany from May 11, 1962. In the place of action in Vienna, the Imperial Highness came to the scene exactly one week later.
Wolf Witzemann and Robert Guigand were responsible for the film construction.
Another film adaptation
Viktor Tourjansky had already staged the German version of a Franco-German joint production under the programmatic title "The Duke of Reichstadt" in 1931 . The title role at that time was played by Walter Edhofer .
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: "... with which the much-used, always interesting topic (is) treated romantically but free of colportage."
"The unfulfilled life of the Duke of Reichstadt, son of Emperor Napoleon, from his childhood in the Vienna Hofburg until his death in 1832. Despite the atmospheric coherent production, a rather academic history film."
Web links
- Imperial Highness in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Imperial Highness in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Your Imperial Highness. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
