Talk:A Soldier's Farewell

A possible error?
I don't think that Mainwaring could have been dreaming about the battle of Waterloo as he clearly states that he will be sent to Elba "Hence the expression, 'Giving you the Elba!'"; In fact after Waterloo, Napoleon was sent to St. Helena. Timewise, I think it is more likely that the battle was at Leipzig although Wellington wasn't commanding then. An error perhaps?

(Tomkun (talk) 16:08, 28 December 2008 (UTC))


 * No, it's clearly Waterloo, and the episode is clearly parodying the (then) recent Rod Steiger/Christopher Plummer film. That film actually starts with Napoleon's departure for Elba after his marshals turned on him in March 1814; his final imprisonment on St Helena is not shown. Few British people apart from history buffs have heard of the Battle of Leipzig!Paulturtle (talk) 01:08, 25 October 2019 (UTC)

Can we sure that, in the dream sequence, the bus conductress assumes the persona of Josephine. The earlier film is based on the 1937 film Conquest, in it the part played by Greta Garbo is not Josephine (who died a couple of years before Waterloo) but a Polish mistress of Napoleon who was still alive at this point. I know they did not show much regard for accuracy in this sequence, it would have been ridiculous to expect them to, but they might not have thrown all caution to the winds. PatGallacher (talk) 19:32, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

In the film in the cinema at the start, Napoleon addresses the woman as "Marie", confirming that this is Marie Walewska, not Josephine. PatGallacher (talk) 18:44, 5 October 2019 (UTC)

I'm afraid that I still think that the recent edits by an anon person are unnecessary. It's clear enough from the article overall what is happening in this dream sequence, we don't need to labour the point by going into it with every character. PatGallacher (talk) 14:00, 14 January 2023 (UTC)