The film would have benefited from someone like Emil Jannings lending a touch of silent-era grandeur to the story, which centers on two somewhat conceited intellectuals who become entangled in the Franco-Russian war. The Czar finds himself needing help, with Napoleon pressing at his borders, and must depend on individuals such as the anxious and cowardly “Boris” – who is unmistakably Woody Allen, isn’t he? – to join …