Why a lavish 1937 historical epic became one of Hollywood's most expensive failures

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the 1937 historical drama Conquest starred Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer. Despite its star power and massive scale, the film was a financial disaster. While audiences enjoyed the spectacle, the production's ballooning budget resulted in a staggering loss of nearly 1.4 million dollars for the studio.

Directed by Clarence Brown, with uncredited contributions from Gustav Machatý, Conquest tells the story of the Polish Countess Marie Walewska. In the film, Walewska becomes the mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Charles Boyer, in a desperate attempt to influence his political actions toward her occupied homeland. The narrative follows their complicated romance, from her initial resistance to her eventual sacrifice, culminating in Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and his subsequent exile to British captivity.

The film’s production was defined by its excess. Charles Boyer’s initial fee was set at 125,000 dollars, but extensive reshoots caused the budget to skyrocket, ultimately pushing his total earnings for the performance to 450,000 dollars. Although the movie earned 2,141,000 dollars in worldwide gross—with 730,000 dollars coming from the United States and 1,411,000 dollars from international markets—it could not overcome the weight of its own costs, resulting in a net loss of 1,397,000 dollars.

Critical reception at the time was notably harsh. Writing for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene dismissed the film as one of the year's dullest, criticizing its middlebrow dialogue and what he perceived as fake emotions. Despite these contemporary pans, the film has maintained a 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes based on five reviews. Originally titled Marie Walewska, MGM executives rebranded the project as Conquest just before its theatrical release, hoping the punchier title would better capture the public's imagination.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• How a desperate studio gamble created the most expensive film of its era
• The year cinema produced its most expensive box office disaster
• The 1922 film that cost a million dollars and nearly bankrupted its studio
• Why Germany’s most expensive war film became a historic box office disaster
• The 1945 epic that became the most expensive film ever made at its release
• Did a 1997 Hollywood thriller normalize the concept of a deep state?
• Why a critically panned jungle adventure became a surprise box office success in 1995
• Why the 2005 cult classic Constantine was a theological noir experiment in Hollywood
• A final cinematic puzzle from a master of the French New Wave
• A reformed smuggler returns to the underworld to save his family from disaster
• Why this 2004 teen comedy is finally being hailed as a misunderstood cult classic
• Why a photographer turned director shot his debut film in black and white

More in Films · More in Entertainment · Latest · A–Z · All topics