IMDb RATING
6.4/10
3.5K
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The rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.The rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.The rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 nominations total
Leon Alton
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Louis Borel
- Baron Morner
- (uncredited)
Sven Hugo Borg
- Aide
- (uncredited)
Peter Bourne
- Count Brahe
- (uncredited)
Paul Bradley
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough Marlon Brando didn't take his role seriously--despite every effort by director Henry Koster--"Desiree" outgrossed his other 1954 film, "On the Waterfront (1954)."
- GoofsNapoleon didn't conceive of the idea of attacking Italy. France had been fighting Austria in the War of the First Coalition since April 1792. France and Austria had armies facing each other in northern Italy. Napoleon was appointed to command the French army in Italy on March 1, 1794. he took command on the 26th and proceeded to inflict a series of defeats on the Austrian Army in the eastern Po River valley.
- 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!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Biography: Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century Filmmaker (1995)
Featured review
Sumptuously mounted, but certainly not a history lesson!
Filmed when CinemaScope's original ratio was still in use by Twentieth's cinematographers and with production values ladled on with an apparently generous budget (though no authentic European locations), "Desiree" is somewhat of a disappointment in many respects. Surprisingly Merle Oberon, as Josephine, remains in my memory as giving a touching (and, of course, glamorous) performance, but virtually everyone else (including Jean Simmons, one of my special favorites) fails to impress. Perhaps the emphasis on recounting the exploits of Napoleon Bonaparte from the perspective of one of his early, and unrequited, romantic conquests is the reason the whole enterprise seems like an undistinguished piece of overstuffed furniture...comfortable but hardly worthy of praise as an artisan's finest achievement. As an entertainment, typical of the Fifties, it was worth the price of admission when first released but I rather doubt that I'll join a chorus requesting Fox Home Entertainment to give this a DVD release in a widescreen format.
helpful•105
- gregcouture
- Jul 23, 2003
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Desirée
- Filming locations
- Paris France(location shooting)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,720,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1
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