Désirée (1954)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Désirée |
| Original title | Désirée |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English , some passages in Swedish |
| Publishing year | 1954 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Henry Koster |
| script | Daniel Taradash |
| production | 20th Century Fox |
| music | Alex North |
| camera | Milton R. Krasner |
| cut | William H. Reynolds |
| occupation | |
| |
Désirée is an American feature film ( biopic , historical film , romance film ) directed by Henry Koster for 20th Century Fox and released in theaters in 1954. The film, which was elaborately produced in CinemaScope , is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Annemarie Selinko (1951) and tells the life story of Napoleon Bonaparte from the perspective of Désirée Clary , who later became Queen of Sweden and Norway . The historical Clary and the then insignificant General Bonaparte had been engaged for several months in 1795/1796. The main roles of the film are Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando to see.
action
The place of the action is initially Marseille , the time the year 1794 . Désirée Clary, the spirited daughter from a wealthy cloth merchant family, accidentally made the acquaintance of Joseph Bonaparte and invited him and his brother, General Napoleon Bonaparte, to her parents' house the following day. While Joseph feels drawn to Désirée's sister Julie, Napoleon falls in love with Désirée. He confesses to her that they are poor and that Julie's and Désirée's dowry would come in very handy. Napoleon is arrested for alleged machinations against the revolutionary government, but soon released again with the task of persecuting rebellious royalists in Paris . Napoleon promises Désirée to marry her, borrows money from her, and then sets off for Paris. When he does not return, Désirée follows him to Paris, where she learns that Napoleon is now engaged to Joséphine de Beauharnais. She desperately wants to throw herself off a bridge, but General Bernadotte, who has fallen in love with her, keeps her from doing so.
Three years go by. Napoleon conquered Italy and became a great man. Désirée lives with Julie and Joseph in Rome, where she soon gets tired of the diplomatic environment. She returns to Paris, where Napoleon, who has meanwhile married Joséphine, is preparing for his Egyptian expedition . He explains to her that he married Joséphine mainly for reasons of career tactics and that he would not be averse to a relationship with her, Désirée. Désirée is repulsed and turns to Bernadotte.
Two more years pass. Désirée and Bernadotte are married and have one child. When Napoleon was appointed First Consul of the French Republic , founded in 1792 , he urged Bernadotte to join his Council of State. Bernadotte, who had previously met Napoleon with skepticism, now reluctantly declares his loyalty to him. In 1804 Désirée and Bernadotte attend Napoleon's coronation as French Emperor - Désirée at a cool distance.
Five years later. When Napoleon divorced Joséphine because she could not bear him an heir to the throne, it was Désirée who comforted the former rival. Napoleon continues to desire Désirée, but marries the 18-year-old Austrian imperial daughter Marie-Louise. He is dragging France into new wars. When the childless Swedish king Bernadotte offers to make him his heir to the throne by adoption, Napoleon reluctantly and disappointedly lets him go.
Désirée does not feel at home in the Swedish royal family, which is characterized by strict protocol. She travels to Paris, where she falls into Napoleon's hands again at a ball. He resented Bernadotte's rapprochement with Russia and half-jokingly explained to the present court that he would keep Désirée hostage in order to secure Swedish support for his upcoming Russian campaign .
After the defeat of his army, Napoleon went to Désirée and asked her to write to her husband for support for France. Désirée realizes that Napoleon still loves her and is actually looking for something completely different from her than just her husband's help. She appeals to her husband to stop Napoleon, which Napoleon undertakes as a general and politician with success.
After a short exile on Elba and the defeat of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon retired to Malmaison Castle . The Allies send Désirée there to persuade Napoleon to surrender in a one-on-one conversation. Napoleon comments how strange it is that the two most extraordinary men of their time have fallen in love with her, Désirée. As an expression of his surrender, he hands her his sword and assures her that her dowry was not the only reason why he asked for her hand in Marseilles.
Production history
The 20th Century Fox production is not the first feature film about Désirée Clary. In 1938 Duilio Coletti led the way with La sposa dei rei in Italy . This film was based on Ugo Falena 's play of the same name (1926) and featured Elsa De Giorgi and Augusto Marcacci in the leading roles . In 1942, Sacha Guitry followed in France with Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary , which was based on Guitry's own plot idea and in which the roles of Clary and Napoleon were cast with Gaby Morlay and Jean-Louis Barrault .
In 1951, the young Cologne publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch published a new novel by the bestselling author Annemarie Selinko, Désirée , who lives in Denmark but writes in German . The book sold well and was immediately published in other language versions. In the United States , the book was first published in 1953 by William Morrow and immediately made it to number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list .
20th Century Fox planned to make the film a success that would be in no way inferior to the book. The year before, screenwriter Daniel Taradash had adapted James Jones ' novel Damned Into Eternity for Columbia Pictures and won an Academy Award for it . Director Henry Koster recently staged the box office hit Das Gewand , the first feature film in CinemaScope format; this film earned the 20th Century Fox a Golden Globe . The only 25-year-old Jean Simmons had received three NBR awards in 1953 after the films The Heir apparent , The Robe and Theater Fever ; her successes in The Robe and Sinuhe of the Egyptians had made her one of the top stars of 20th Century Fox.
Marlon Brando had been at the height of his performing arts in his previous film - The Fist in the Neck - and received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for it. Then he had signed up like Jean Simmons for the Fox film Sinuhe the Egyptians , in which he should play the title role. When he realized that the role was not for him and that he was also not getting along with the director, Michael Curtiz , he broke the contract and left the rehearsals. For Sinuhe , Fox then hired the almost unknown Edmund Purdom . Brando was now seen in Hollywood as an unpredictable contract partner with whom studios could potentially lose a lot of money. In order to get rid of this image and to avoid the legal consequences of his breach of contract, Brando undertook to participate in the production of Désirée .
Filming began in June 1954. The interior shots took place on Stage 4 of the 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles , the exterior shots in and around Monterey . Brando made sure to have some of his personal friends on set with him: Sam Gilman as Fouché , Florence Dublin in the role of Napoleon's sister Eliza, and Philip Rhodes as his personal makeup artist.
Brando suffered from having to work on a very bad film, especially since the film Beyond Eden was filmed just a few miles away in the Warner Brothers studios , with James Dean , whom Brando felt was his epigone . Koster's inability annoyed him and Brando set out to shake himself free of his stage directions by acting as a Napoleon expert and systematically taking Koster under the thumb. He was very afraid that his Napoleon would turn out to be stereotypical, argued constantly with Koster about how to portray the figure, and then presented a calculatedly eccentric Napoleon.
Because it made shooting almost impossible, the film's producer, Julian Blaustein , finally gave Brando an ultimatum. Brando relented and cooperated from then on, but made little effort to learn his lines and, overall, delivered a depiction that was little inspired. He only paid attention to his costume and make-up, which included a false nose. Filming was completed in late September 1954.
Theatrical release and reception
The film premiered on November 16 in San Francisco. A day later, it was released in New York City. On November 18, the reviewer for the New York Times criticized the fact that the characters hardly show any emotions - let alone passions - and that the film lacks a fundamental story .
At the Academy Awards in 1955 , the film was nominated for best production design and best costume , but these awards went to the films 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (production design) and The Gate of Hell (costume).
In the German dubbed version, Heinz Reincke Brando lent his voice; Marion Degler lent her voice to Jean Simmons. The theatrical release began in Germany on February 25, 1955. In 2005 Arthaus launched a German-language DVD version on the market.
A little later, Brando and Simmons stood together again in front of the camera for the musical film Schwere Jungs - Leicht Mädchen (1956).
Web links
- Désirée in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Désirée. Turner Classic Movies , accessed July 2, 2017 (with additional staff information).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Désirée. Retrieved July 2, 2017 . New York Times Best Seller Number Ones Listing Fiction By Date. Retrieved July 2, 2017 . Annemarie Selinko: Désirée . Sourcebooks Landmark, Naperville, Illinois 2010 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 381 .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 381 f .
- ↑ a b Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 384 .
- ↑ The Love story of Napoleon in Cinemascope: The Making of Desiree. Retrieved July 3, 2017 .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 387 .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 389 f .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 389 .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 389, 391 .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 389, 391 ff .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 393 .
- ^ Peter Manso: Brando. The biography . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 394 .
- ↑ Bosley Crowthier: Desiree 'and Napoleon; Film on Emperor's Life Opens at the Roxy. In: The New York Times. November 18, 1954, accessed July 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Désirée. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on July 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Desirée. Retrieved July 3, 2017 .