This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week the theme is an easy one, "Period Dramas". It's been used before, more or less, so I wont be surprised if one of the movies I pick is one I've already used. The other two I'm pretty certain I haven't only because I've just seen them recently. And since this was an easy theme I decided to go with three movies all set in the same era, the Napoleonic era:
Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951). Gregory Peck plays Hornblower, a naval captain who gets sent to Mexico to find an ally against Napoleon and winds up finding the betrothed sister (Virginia Mayo) of the Duke of Wellington. He gets into a bunch of adventures along the way, and then gets into more adventures upon his return to England when he's asked to participate in the naval blockade of France.
Désirée (1954). Jean Simmons plays Désirée, a young woman in southern France during the late Revolution who meets Napoleon Bonaparte (Marlon Brando) on his way up to power. She keeps meeting him and becomes a well-to-do society wife in Paris once he's in power. The two are even in love although for political reasons they can't do anything about it. The political situation gives both of them an out, however.
The Duellists (1977). Harvey Keitel plays a French officer circa 1800 who has a thing for duels. The only thing is, he picks one with Keith Carradine, a fellow officer, that ends inconclusively. Keitel wants his revenge, and keeps challenging Carradine to a duel every time they run into each other over the years as they rise through the ranks of the military. Based on a story by Joseph Conrad, and the feature film debut for director Ridley Scott.
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