War and Peace (1956)
Theatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
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. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 208 mins
Complete Cast:
- Audrey Hepburn - Natasha
- Mel Ferrer - Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
- Anita Ekberg - Helene
- Herbert Lom - Napoleon
- Helmut Dantine - Dolokhov
- Barry Jones - Count Ilya Rostov
- Jeremy Brett - Nicholas Rostov
- Anna Maria Ferrero - Mary Bolkonskv
- Patrick Crean - Denisov
- Andre Eszterhazy - Dolokhov's Second
- John Horne - Old Gentleman Dancing with Natasha
- Paul Davis - Young French Officer
- Giacomo Rossi-Stuart - Young Cossack
- Enrico Olivieri - French Drummer
- Alberto Carlo Lolli - Rostov's Major-Domo
- Lea Seidl - Countess Rostov
- Marisa Allasio - Matriosa
- Robert Stephens - Officers Talking with Natasha During Exile
- Joop van Hulzen - Russian Officer
- Maria Zanoli - Mayra
- Alfredo Rizzo - Soldiers During the Rostovs' Exile
- Michael Tor - Pope
- Vincent Barbi - Balaga
- Georges Brehat - French Officer at Execution
- Michael Billingsley - Russian Soldier
- Henry Fonda - Pierre
- Vittorio Gassman - Anatole
- Oscar Homolka - Gen. Mikhail Kutuzov
- John Mills - Platon
- Milly Vitale - Lise
- Wilfred Lawson - Prince Nicholas Bolkonsky
- Sean Barrett - Petya Rostov
- Tullio Carminatti - Kuragin
- Gertrude Flynn - Peronskaya
- Richard Macnamara - De Beausset
- Piero Palermini - Russian Artillery Lieutenant
- Cesare Barbetti - Young Boy
- Guido Celano - Napoleon's Officer
- Andrea Fantasia - Constand
- Teresa Pellati - Masa
- Gualtiero Tumiati - Pierre's Father
- Marianna Leibl - Servant at Bolkonsky's
- Mino Doro - Russian General
- Clelia Matania - Mlle. Georges
- Umberto Sacripante - Old Man
- Charles Fawcett - Russian Artillery Captain
- Bob Cunningham - Pierre's Second at Duel
- Stephen Lang - Tichon
- Gilberto Tofano - Young Dying Soldier
- Director(s):
- King Vidor
- Writer(s):
- Irwin Shaw, Ivo Perilli, Ennio de Concini
- Producer(s):
- Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1956 - War and Peace - Golden Globe - Best Foreign Film
- 1956 - War and Peace - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Foreign Film
