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Desirée (1954)
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Overview
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Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
11 February 1955 (Belgium)
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Plot:
The rise and fall of Napoleon Botaparte, Emperor of France. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
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NewsDesk:
User Comments:
At least a point of departure for a study of a great French leader...
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Cast
(Credited cast) | Marlon Brando | ... | Napoleon Bonaparte |
 | Jean Simmons | ... | Desiree Clary |
 | Merle Oberon | ... | Empress Josephine |
 | Michael Rennie | ... | Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte |
| Cameron Mitchell | ... | Joseph Bonaparte |
| Elizabeth Sellars | ... | Julie, Desiree's sister |
| Charlotte Austin | ... | Paulette Bonaparte |
| Cathleen Nesbitt | ... | Mme. Bonaparte |
| Evelyn Varden | ... | Marie |
| Isobel Elsom | ... | Mme. Clary, Desiree's mother |
| John Hoyt | ... | Talleyrand |
| Alan Napier | ... | Despreaux |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Mary Stewart | ||
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
110 min
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Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Early in 1953, it was rumored that Audrey Hepburn would star opposite Marlon Brando as Desiree Clary in this film.
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Quotes:
Napoleon Bonaparte:
I want my family to be well established. Joseph, particularly. The rest must wait until the victorious culmination of my campaign in Italy.
Desiree Clary: And you think you can do with people precisely what you want? That life is as you say it is?
Napoleon Bonaparte: Have you ever heard of a thing called destiny, Désirée?
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Desiree Clary: And you think you can do with people precisely what you want? That life is as you say it is?
Napoleon Bonaparte: Have you ever heard of a thing called destiny, Désirée?
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Munsters: Munster Masquerade (#1.1)" (1964)
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This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (19 total)
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Desirée (1954)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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Recommendations
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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...