The Adventures Of Gerard

A swaggering, boisterous hussar officer, McEnery, meets torrid Cardinale, an enticing noblewoman, falling in love with her during Napoleon's 1808 peninsula campaign in Spain. Cardinale, a spy for the British, enlists McEnery in her intrigues against oppressor Napoleon, played with manic fury by Wallach. This full-blown, handsome production eschews budget and sometimes comprehension, but presents a sweeping historical perspective with extras aplenty (the Spanish army, always for hire, it seems, to the highest-bidding movie mogul). The court intrigues tend to be turgid, and the love scenes between Cardinale and McEnery do not rise above the stereotype, but oh, those ...