Désirée (1954)

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Annemarie Selinko (book) and
Daniel Taradash

Release Date:

11 February 1955 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | Napoleon Bonaparte | Rise And Fall | Marseille | Balls

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Jean Simmons	...	Désirée Clary
Merle Oberon	...	Empress Josephine
Michael Rennie	...	Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Cameron Mitchell	...	Joseph Bonaparte
Elizabeth Sellars	...	Julie, Désirée's sister
Charlotte Austin	...	Paulette Bonaparte
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	Mme. Bonaparte
Evelyn Varden	...	Marie
Isobel Elsom	...	Mme. Clary, Désirée's mother
John Hoyt	...	Talleyrand
Alan Napier	...	Despreaux
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Stewart
Louis Borel	...	Baron Morner (uncredited)
Sven Hugo Borg	...	Aide (uncredited)
Peter Bourne	...	Count Brahe (uncredited)
George Brand	...	Servant (uncredited)
Harry Carter	...	Coachman (uncredited)
Larry Crane	...	Louis Bonaparte (uncredited)
Richard Deacon	...	Etienne Clary (uncredited)
Florence Dublin	...	Eliza Bonaparte (uncredited)
Edith Evanson	...	Queen Hedwig (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Lady of the Court Holding Baby (uncredited)
Richard Garrick	...	Count Regnaud (uncredited)
Chief Leonard George	...	Pope Pius VII (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Piano Teacher (uncredited)
Sam Gilman	...	Fouche (uncredited)
A. Cameron Grant	...	Montel (uncredited)
Carolyn Jones	...	Mme. Tallien (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Josephine's Escort (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Gen. Becker (uncredited)
Marina Koshetz	...	Singer (uncredited)
Nicolas Koster	...	Oscar, Désirée's son (uncredited)
Kay E. Kuter	...	Lackey (uncredited)
David Leonard	...	Barras (uncredited)
Judy Lester	...	Caroline Bonaparte (uncredited)
Jack Mather	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Lester Matthews	...	Caulaincourt (uncredited)
Dorothy Neumann	...	Queen Sofia (uncredited)
Siw Paulsson	...	Princess Sofia (uncredited)
Joe Ploski	...	Villager Holding Child (uncredited)
Violet Rensing	...	Marie Louise (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Von Essen (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Man at Chaumiers (uncredited)
Richard Van Cleemput	...	Lucien Bonaparte (uncredited)

Directed by
Henry Koster

Writing credits
Annemarie Selinko		(book)
Daniel Taradash

Produced by
Julian Blaustein	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner

Film Editing by
William Reynolds

Art Direction by
Leland Fuller
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Paul S. Fox
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
René Hubert
Charles Le Maire

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Helen Turpin	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Joseph C. Behm	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Eckhardt	....	assistant director
Jack Sonntag	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alfred Bruzlin	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound
John Speak	....	boom operator
Ray Bomba	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Bob Weatherford	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Edward Cronjager	....	location director of photography (uncredited)
Bobby Greene	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)
Ed Wynigear	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Lyman Hallowell	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Lionel Newman	....	conductor
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator
Alfred Newman	....	composer: waltz (uncredited)

Other crew
Stephen Papich	....	choreographer
Prudence Anderson	....	assistant: Henry Koster (uncredited)
Thomas Browne Henry	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Eleanor Johnson	....	assistant dance director (uncredited)
Carl C. Lengay	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Louis V. Pick	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Elizabeth Woodruff	....	assistant: Henry Koster (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1962) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• Key Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan for CBS/Fox Video)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (Austria) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Early in 1953, it was rumored that Audrey Hepburn would star opposite Marlon Brando as Desiree Clary in this film.

Quotes:

Count Brahe:You will enjoy life in Sweden, madame. Stockholm is called the Venice of the north.
Desiree Clary:[Shivering] I prefer the Venice of the south!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Munsters: Munster Masquerade (#1.1)" (1964)

At least a point of departure for a study of a great French leader...

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...