Desirée

The film is partially based on historic deeds but predominates the sentimental drama . It develops parallels lives between Napoleon and Desiree. The story starts in Marseilles 1794 , when Robespierre fall , Napoleon is detained but after is freed . Soon Napoleon is rising through the military ranks in the Grand Armee , winning the loyalty of the people . After the conquest of Tolon , Napoleon forms a Directory and in 18 Brumario executes a coup détat in Saint Cloud , being named first Consul (1799) by means of bayonets . He undergoes the Italian campaign and vanquishes Austrians in Marengo, later the Egypt campaign though is defeated in San Vicente , Trafalgar and Abukir (Egypt). In 1796 , he married Josefina Beauharmais, but she can't give him a child , he has to make some dynastic decision and begins to lose control. As proclaiming himself Emperor (1804) at Notre Dame in the presence of Pope Pio XII. As he marries Maria Luisa , daughter of Austrian Emperor . As he named his brothers and sisters as kings , princes and princesses , as Jose (Cameron Mitchell) who married Julia(Elizabeth Sellars), Desiree's sister, they were proclaimed kings of Spain. As the disaster of campaign of Rusia 1812 (Borodino) , then is formed a coalition between Prussians, Austrians and Russians that defeated him in Leipzig and is banished island of Elba . But he returned , 1815, with the¨ One hundred Days Empire¨ being ultimately vanquished in Waterloo . While Desiree ( Jean Simmons) married French General Jean Baptiste Bernadotte ( Michael Rennie)who was appointed French Ambassador to Stockholm . In 1811, shortly before his death, the King of Sweden without descendants named Bernadotte his heir and the people recognized as successor winning the loyalty of the Swedish, it resulted to be a great decision . One time became King of Sweden he united with other countries for the end of Napoleons wars , collaborating in the battle of Leipzig (1813) and Waterloo (1815). In 1815, the Congress of Vienna acclaimed Bernadotte's title as King, and even granted him lands including Norway taken from Napoleon's faithful ally , Denmark. This forced union lasted until 1905 when both countries were separated . Nowadays the family of the Bernadotte and Desiree still are reigning of Sweden.....This is a lavish production detailing the historic existence and tangled love life of Napoleon Bonaparte . A vivid , sentimental portrayal about the famed conqueror and his relationship to Desiree . It depicts life story of Napoleon through the eyes of Desiree from his days as General in the French Army to his exile on the island of Elba and Saint Elaine . Brando never wished to perform the General but owed 20th Century Fox a film and so reluctantly to play it . This is a romanticized historical epic with excessive soap opera , dealing with Napoleon and his lover , however some might find it too slow for their tastes . Spectacular achievement with its use of color , glamorous scenarios, montage and charismatic titular acting by Marlon Brando. But falls short of the classic 1927 silent movie by Abel Gance or 1955 adaptation also titled Napoleon by Sacha Guitry with Raymond Pellegrin and Orson Welles or recent TV rendition by Yves Simoneau with Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu .

Henry Koster directed many films with considerable charm and flair... His attempts at drama were for the most part less successful but always visually pleasant... He was nominated for an Academy Award for directing "The Bishop's Wife" in 1947... His reputation as a skilled artist led to his assignment as director of the first film in CinemaScope, "The Robe."

Koster does manage to keep the dynamism of "Désirée" and is excellent on both the technical level as on the screen acting... The film won Oscar Nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color & Best Costume Design...

His high moment of the film was 'The Coronation Ceremony' where after the blessing of the crowns Napoleon seizes the crown from the Pope Pius VII and crowns first himself, then Josephine (Merle Oberon), Napoleon's first wife... (This petite brunette looked particularly ravishing as the empress).

Marlon Brando proved his versatility playing the great French soldier-statesman, a man insatiably ambitious, exceptionally intelligent, prompt to make decisions... Brando's performance is cool, calculating, compulsive, using a calm, measured English accent, providing the role its wise temperature of the most celebrated personage in the history of France & Europe...

British actor Michael Rennie plays the revolutionary general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte with a noticed antipathy for his rival... Bernadotte shifts his allegiances, forming alliances with Russia, Great Britain & Prussia, contributing in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig...

Jean Simmons - lovely as ever with her delicate beauty - gives the story fluid charm of a seventeen-year-old girl to a self-confident woman... We see her running through the streets of Marseilles, growing up in the outcome of the French Revolution, recording her daily written account of events, witnessing Napoleon's arrest...

Rescued from the threat of a jump into the Seine, Désirée rejects Napoleon's advances, and marries Count Bernadotte, now a Marshall of France...

Désirée was a romantic figure involved with two opposite characters: one as Emperor of France with an eternal search for wars and glory, and a king, uncertain sometimes about his capacities, with the necessity of a beloved queen besides him...

If not viewed as a history lesson, this fictionalized biopic is good entertainment and at least a point of departure for a study of a great French leader...

The strange thing about this movie is that it really is what its title promises -- the story of Desiree, and nothing more. Made in the dark years before the feminist movement, (indeed, in the worst days of the feminine mystique) the film makers seem to assume that the "ideal" woman is warm, impulsive, kittenish, flirtatious and yet non-sexual. Desiree is forever stuck at the end of childhood. She lives through great events but her "womanly" nature makes her ignore everything but her own physical comfort. She is Scarlett O'Hara without the suffering, cruelty or ambition, and Natasha Rostov without the fellow-feeling, patriotism and mystical sympathy for others. It's odd how you feel enchanted by her, and yet you feel disgusted with yourself for wanting a girl who remains infantile in so many ways. Truly a guilty pleasure.

Some of the things Desiree says in this movie are beyond belief. For example, after she becomes Princess of Sweden, her husband suggests that she needs some tutors, and she cries, "I haven't learned anything since I was ten!" And like, who is supposed to stand up and cheer? You could be the worst sexist pig in the world and this movie would make you feel like Anna Quindlen.

Or take the scene where the Swedes arrive in the middle of the night and tell Marshall Bernadotte (a superb Michael Rennie) that he is now in line to be King of Sweden. Bernadotte tells Desiree, his wife, to hurry up and get dressed. "Put on anything, you understand?" And she wails, "no, no, I don't understand anything!" Some other comments have said Jean Simmons is "whining" in this movie. But it's much worse than that. She's really pure feminist Kryptonite! The whole point is that men find her irresistible because she always, always, plays dumb and does nothing but bleat about being hungry, tired, or confused.

Problem is, Jean Simmons is just so natural and so attractive that it sort of goes down easy. You really do find yourself wanting to hug her every other scene, if you're a man anyway. If you're Anna Quindlen you probably just want to slap her. She's the feminist anti-Christ.

At least she's not a blonde!

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.

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).