Desiree

I read Alan Schom's biography of Napoleon last year, and wanted a refresher course on the highlights of his life that I may have forgetten in the year since, and the movie delivered. Some of the movie is fictionalized, but a lot of it is very accurate in detail (like how Napoleon's sisters threw hissy fits before his coronation). Brando's one-note performance is disappointing. Did Napoleon really talk constantly in a dour whisper? If I hadn't been interested in the movie as a history lesson, I would have found it a lot more dull. As it was, it was somewhat dull...and dated. But I still enjoyed it.

Hard to believe that anyone could take this overly romantic nonsense seriously. It has little to do with history, even less with cinema. Most of the budget seems to have gone on the stars - the scenery looks cardboard, the costumes are probably left over from previous films, there is no sense of the era, much of the acting is way beyond being merely wooden. Lots of stiff, unconvincing dialogue - little spectacle (flags moving across the screen represent a battle). Of course, the film is based on a best-selling novel of the 50's and, by rights, should have focused on Desiree as played (uncertainly) by Jean Simmons. But the casting of Marlon Brando as Napoleon throws everything off balance. I have read a fair amount about Napoleonic history but none of those accounts revealed that the Emperor mumbled like a method actor. Indeed, Brando seems particularly uncomfortable with both his role and his costumes. Similarly, the ever-stiff Michael Rennie is...well, stiff. On the other hand, Merle Oberon was an inspired choice to play Josephine - if only they had remembered to write a part for her to play. The whole thing looks cheap and not especially cheerful. Napoleon deserves better. So does anyone who tries to watch this film.

I don't know a whole lot about Napoleon and his history, but I found this film thoroughly enjoyable. I was sitting around this afternoon and caught it on tv. Marlon Brando's performance as Napoleon really captivated me and I couldn't bring myself to change the channel so I ended up watching it all. It was very interesting. He was always in love with one-time fiancee Desiree but she is married and shows no intentions of betraying her husband. The scene in which Desiree's husband confronts Napoleon because he wants to renounce his citizenship and claim the Swedish throne is very striking. Excellent acting by everyone. There were a few things they never went back into, like we never see much else of her son. And they never say whether she cleaned up her Royal Princess act or told them to stuff it. Overall, I found this movie to be very entertaining. It's one of those rainy day historical romance classics.