_**A Dialogue-Heavy Historical Film Featuring Brando, Jean Simmons and Michael Rennie**_ The story follows Napoleon Bonaparte’s (Marlon Brando) ascent and decline between 1794 and 1815, viewed through the experiences of Désirée Clary (Jean Simmons), a young hat shop employee from Marseilles. She initially has feelings for the man who will become emperor of France, but eventually marries one of his leading generals, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (Michael Rennie). He later becomes Crown Prince of Sweden and seemingly aligns himself with those opposing Napoleon. Adapted from Annemarie Selinko’s popular 1951 novel, “Désirée” (1954) is a historical romance that focuses on a love triangle and the political maneuvering behind it all. Those seeking action sequences similar to what's in Brando’s "The Young Lions" (1958) will be disappointed. Marlon apparently disliked taking this part because he was dealing with legal problems after declining the lead role in “The Egyptian” (1954), and it shows in his acting. Nevertheless, the film earned more money at the box office than his other 1954 release, the highly praised "On the Waterfront." Despite his apparent lack of enthusiasm, Brando conveys the core personality of Napoleon—a brooding man consumed by a desire for conquest—making the movie worth watching. However, you really need to be in the right frame of mind for a historical costume drama that relies heavily on conversations. The screenplay doesn’t go into detail about this, but Bernadotte was made Crown Prince of Sweden because he had treated Swedish prisoners of war well when he was a Marshal of the French Empire. Remarkably, Jean and Désirée became King and Queen of Sweden & Norway, yet neither of them ever managed to learn any Swedish beyond the word "kom," which means “come” in English. The film has a running time of 1 hour, 50 minutes, and filming took place in both France and California. GRADE: B/B-

Source on TMDB