This highly speculative historical tableau posits that the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte (Marlon Brando) rested on his impossible love for a youthful, alluring millinery clerk, Désirée Clary (Jean Simmons). A brooding Napoleon marries worldly widow Joséphine de Beauharnais (Merle Oberon) to advance his career. Still smitten with Napoleon, the fearless Désirée weds General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (Michael Rennie), an aide to Napoleon who later helps bring about the Emperor’s downfall. The stunning costumes and sets, designed to be shown in Technicolor, are as much the stars of this Hollywood epic as the performers. Director Henry Koster was an amateur Napoleon scholar. Though Brando won an Oscar for best actor for his other 1954 movie, On the Waterfront, Désirée (110 min) won at the box office.
The stunning costumes and sets, designed in Technicolor, are as much the stars of this Hollywood epic as the performers. Director Henry Koster was an amateur Napoleon scholar. Though Brando won an Oscar for best actor for his other 1954 film, On the Waterfront, Désirée (110 min) won at the box office.