Désirée (1954)

Directed by Henry Koster. With Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie. The rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.

Désirée is a 1954 American historical-biographical film directed by Henry Koster and produced by Julian Blaustein from a screenplay by Daniel Taradash, based on the best-selling novel Désirée by Annemarie Selinko.

Director Henry Koster and writer Daniel Taradash speculate mightily in this historical tableau charting the rise and fall of Napoleon (Marlon Brando), all due to his unrequited love for noblewoman Desiree (Jean Simmons). The film takes a chronological view of Napoleon's reign and posits Napoleon's love of a woman he wanted to marry as a young general but abandoned for the sake of his career. Both Napoleon and Desiree go their separate ways -- he to become Emperor of France and loveless husband to Josephine (Merle Oberon) and she to become Sweden's disinterested Queen.

Overview of Désirée, 1954, directed by Henry Koster, with Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle Oberon, at Turner Classic Movies

By 1954 Marlon Brando had become a legit movie star. His first six films were all prestigious and commercial works, such as The Men, A Streetcar Named Desire,

Original title: Désirée. Synopsis: In Marseilles, France in 1794, Desiree Clary, a young millinery clerk, becomes infatuated with Napoleon Bonaparte, but winds up wedding Genaral Jean-Baptiste Berandotte

trailer

A young woman wins the heart of Napoleon, though the two can never be together.