Gräfin Walewska (1920)

The story takes place during Napoleon’s campaign in the East. When he conquers Warsaw in 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte meets the young Maria Laczinska, who is entitled to call herself Countess Walewska thanks to her marriage to the much older and unattractive Count Walewski—a tactically astute arrangement made by her mother. While Walewska welcomes Napoleon as the liberator of Poland from the Russian yoke, the diminutive yet formidable Corsican sees the beautiful Polish woman merely as another conquest. Countess Walewska, for her part, has no interest in this at all, since she feels no emotional, let alone erotic, attraction to Napoleon. The ardent patriot is all the more disappointed when Napoleon, as in his campaigns before, proceeds recklessly and seems to show no interest in her political cause. For purely tactical reasons, however, Polish nobles urge their fellow conspirator to become the powerful Frenchman’s mistress. In their calculation, only he has the power to make Poland rise again as a nation. Maria Walewska gives in, but only reluctantly. In truth, the Polish woman has long been in love with the emperor’s adjutant, Count d’Evians. When Napoleon learns of this, he flies into a rage, unused as he is to being rejected. He promptly sends the troublesome—and more attractive—rival on a mission to Breslau. Adjutant d’Evians pretends to obey, but instead disguises himself and slips away to the nearby castle of Madame Czytkowska, where he goes into hiding and waits for Maria Walewska. Madame Czytkowska, meanwhile, makes advances of her own to Napoleon, but he shows no interest in her, being completely fixated on Walewska. Eventually, after the countess has managed to preserve her virtue for a long time, Napoleon succeeds in dragging her into his bed. In the meantime, Madame Czytkowska discovers d’Evians’s secret hiding place and tries to use this knowledge to harm her fiercest rival for Napoleon’s favor, Countess Walewska. When Walewska is summoned to meet the French emperor at a secluded country house, Czytkowska arranges for her rival to receive a farewell letter from d’Evians. At the same time, she makes sure that Walewska’s sweetheart, d’Evians, is nearby. D’Evians abducts the woman he loves, who is deeply hurt by his farewell letter. Napoleon hears the story from his personal Mameluke and has his men pursue his rival. Once d’Evians is in his hands, Napoleon abruptly sentences him to death. Just before d’Evians is due to be shot, Countess Walewska secures his release after showing Napoleon Czytkowska’s forged letter. She also tells the Corsican emperor that she is expecting his child.