Desiree

Desiree

Napoleon: I want my family to be well established.  Joseph, particularly.  The rest must wait until the victorious culmination of my campaign in Italy.
Desiree: And you think you can do with people precisely what you want?  That life is as you say it is?
Napoleon: Have you ever heard of a thing called destiny, Désirée?

Desiree and Bernadotte (Napoleon in background).

There is one big plus to this movie, and that is Marlon Brando as Napoleon.  He really does an excellent job capturing him, and looks uncannily like him in some scenes.

Marlon Brando as Napoleon and the real Napoleon Bonaparte.

Other than that, the movie is pretty much a dud.  There are some good costumes, but the script and the main character, Desiree (Jean Simmons), are lackluster.

Desiree was engaged to Napoleon, but is dumped when he falls for Josephine.  She then marries General Bernodotte and eventually becomes the Queen of Portugal.  The plot sounded good to me, and it is touted as a great romance, but it never manages to take off.

Empress Josephine with Napoleon and a portrait of the real Joséphine de Beauharnais.

The romance isn't quite there -is she supposed to be in love with Napoleon, who she continues to meet with up until the ridiculous finale (where she convinces him to surrender and accept banishment on St. Helena, and he surrenders his sword to her -come on, really?), or or her husband, who she lives apart from for most of her life?  I was never quite sure.

General Bernadotte and a portrait of the real Bernadotte, later Oscar I of Sweden.

By the time the movie finally floundered to an end, I was relieved, even though it is less than 2 hours long.

Jean Simmons as Desiree and the real Desiree Clary.