Conquest (1937) and the Code

This historical romance (based upon a published novel) of the illicit love affair between

Napoleon (Charles Boyer) and Countess Marie Walewska (Greta Garbo) was an outstanding

film of 1937-38.

From the standpoint of the production code, the problem was to comply with the section

stipulating that "Adultery, sometimes necessary plot material, must not be explicitly treated,

or justified, or presented attractively." This film is a LEADING CASE, illustrating the principle,

now well established in scores of pictures, that in order for an illicit sex affair not to be

"justified" or "presented attractively," the dialogue and action must contain "adequate

compensating moral values."

The following "compensating moral values" appeared in the finished picture as the result

of constructive collaboration between the producer and the Production Code Administration

over a period of more than 2 years during which 51 letter opinions were written, numerous

conferences held, and four screenings of the film arranged:

"Compensating moral values"

(l) The day after Napoleon met the beautiful young Polish countess at a ball in Warsaw, and clearly became infatuated with her, two Polish patriots called upon her and her aged husband, suggesting that she yield to any advances Napoleon should make, and thus aid in securing Napoleon's signature to a decree reestablishing Poland as a nation. Dialogue and action were inserted in which the, aged husband strongly resented the suggestion and challenged the patriots to a duel for implying that his wife's adultery would be justified on patriotic grounds.

(2) When the countess does go to Napoleon in an effort to secure concessions for her countrymen, the audience sees her start to leave the emperor's room, only to be pulled back by the amorous Napoleon. The surrounding circumstances indicated that she had made a serious effort to secure concessions and at the same time protect her virtue.

(3) When the countess returns home to her husband, after the affair, he condemns her action, refuses to live longer under the same roof with her, and goes at once to Rome where he secures annulment of the marriage.

(4) The next time the countess sees Napoleon she upbraids him for his conduct toward her, thereby establishing the fact that she recognized her own wrongdoing in committing adultery with him.

(5) When the soldier brother of the countess learns that his promotions in Napoleon's army have resulted in part from his sister's illicit affair with the emperor, he comes to see his sister, upbraids her severely, expresses humiliation, and leaves her in fury.

(6) When the countess comes to tell Napoleon that she is going to have a baby by him, the action was so arranged that Napoleon takes the lead in the conversation, and tells her instead of the marriage of state which Tallyrand has arranged for him with Marie Louise of Austria. The audience is made clearly to understand that the man in the case has taken the woman when it suited his passion and cast her aside when it suited his conveniences. It is clearly indicated that the countess realizes this.

(7) Later when the countess brings her illegitimate son to see Napoleon on Elba, he overhears the little boy saying his prayers and asking God "to bless my father whom I have never seen." Later, the little boy, who has become a hero worshiper of Napoleon, tells him: "Gee, I wish you were my Daddy***I have never seen my father," thereby heaping coals of fire on the head of the man who brought him into the world under such circumstances that his paternity was unrecognized. This scene constituted a powerful portrayal of the tragedy of illegitimacy.

Thus, through constructive collaboration during production the historical fact of this illicit love was not altered but the surrounding details were so handled as to indicate clearly to theater audiences that such conduct was wrong, that it brought tragedy in its wake, and that innocent persons suffered as a result.

From Ruth A. Inglis, “Self-Regulation in Operation”(1947)