Desirée

I've never seen a Brando film before. I've never seen a Napoleon film before. But after studying Napoleon in World history class and seeing Desiree, I've come to the conclusion the Brando must be a descendant of Napoleon or something. He IS Napoleon. I wasn't that interested when my grandmother suggested it, but I don't take things at face value. I check it out. True it's not incredibly accurate, historically speaking, though a lot of it is true and someone certainly did their research. If I recall my history class correctly someone once called Napoleon "The greatest Godless man alive." or something like that. But Brando IS Napoleon. No Question.

Recently I viewed for the umpteenth time CONQUEST with Charles Boyer's brilliant Oscar-nominated performance as Napoleon. I have just seen DESIREE for the first time and am intrigued by Brando's take on the man. The make-up department has given him a Napoleonic nose bridge and he has supplied the rest. He plays N. as a moody, passionate, obsessed man, but plays him in a quiet, controlled manner. Only twice in the film does he lose his temper. This is a performance I will go back to and study. Brando's insight is as always stellar. His Napoleon believed so much in his "destiny," that he assumed the rest of the world would fall into place around that obsession. Fascinatnig to watch.

The film itself is a pretty, early CinemaScope epic with Oscar-nominated Art Direction and Costume Design. Jean Simmons does her very best to bring this woman to life, but as others here have observed, Desiree was a rather dull child, noted for her beauty, and little else. That her life was a Cinderella story (from milliner to Queen of Sweden) is of no doubt, but she never seemed to have deserved her good fortune. It is really Brando's film. He has 19 scenes and makes the most of every one.

If you are a Brando or Napoleon fan, do see it, but don't expect much from the story. It's pretty straight-forward with little drama (though the circumstances make for much drama if written properly).

I fell in love with Marlon Brando's and Jean Simmons's chemistry in Guys and Dolls, but I didn't know until recently that they'd made another film together prior to their musical pairing. In Desiree, Brando plays Napoleon Bonaparte, and once again, he's paired up with Jean Simmons, the title character. Yes, we all know Bonaparte married a woman named Josephine, not Desiree, so what's the story about?

Daniel Taradash wrote a very interesting script, with exciting, passionate characters. The film lasts decades, starting from Bonaparte's introduction to Desiree, before he changed his name, through the memorable Battle of Waterloo. As famous a figure as he was, the film actually focuses on Desiree, the woman torn between Bonaparte and Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. She's vivacious, loving, strong, and smart. It's easy to see how the two very powerful men fell in love with her. And if you thought Jean and Brando had sizzling chemistry together, just wait until you see her with Michael Rennie. He's absolutely adorable in this movie, and when Brando humiliates Jean by leaving her for Merle Oberon, it's no wonder she considers crying on Michael's very tall, comforting shoulder.

The Oscar nominated costumes, designed by Charles Le Maire and Rene Hubert, are exquisitely beautiful. Jean gets to wear a different gown in every scene, even in the diary-writing montages. She wears a gorgeous turquoise dress for only ten seconds, but it's a beautiful ten seconds. If you've only seen Jean in The Big Country or Guys and Dolls, you've got to rent this movie if only to see how beautiful she looks when she really dolls up (no pun intended). Even though Brando gets first billing, it's her show.

This film is about Désirée Clary, a common French woman who was the one-time fiancée of Napolean and who later became queen of Norway and Sweden. She had a very remarkable life and it SHOULD have been an exciting film, though I found the movie to be very mannered and subdued...too subdued. As a result, it is not an especially exciting film...and it should have been. It follows her from her first meeting Napoleon and moves up through he ascending the thrones.

Désirée Clary is played by Jean Simmons, Napoleon by Marlon Brando and her husband by Michael Rennie. The film is also sumptuous to look at--with lovely sets and in full Cinemascope color. What it does not talk about at all are the marital infidelities by Napoleon, Josephine as well as Désirée's husband--all which could have made the movie much more interesting. So it's pretty but sanitized...and a bit dull because of this. It also just never sparked my interest at all and much of it is because the film is too episodic. Her life might better be told as a mini-series instead.

My first introduction to this stroy was when my best friend gave me a copy of a very battered "Desiree" by Annemarie Selinko. When I found this movie, I was skeptical. I love the book, and most often, when books are made into movies, they are ruined. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie fit in so well with the book, and in fact used some of the same dialogue.

I felt that all of the actors did a remarkable job. Desiree was almost exactly the way that I had pictured her. Jean-Baptiste was also very like the image I had previously formed. Napoleon was amazing. He was so like the real Napoleon, I didn't have any trouble beliving that it really was him. Even though there were some things left out, like the end of the book and therefore the end of the story, I enjoyed it very much. I would not object to seeing this movie more, and it made my love for the book increase a great deal.

If you loved the movie, and even if you didn't, I would suggest getting a copy of the book. The romance between Desiree and Napoleon is much more pronounced as well as Desiree's love for Jean-Baptiste. The story-line is the same, but the end gives you the much needed satisfaction of seeing Desiree back in Sweden.

In my opinion, this is a first-rate movie, and I reccommend it to all.