Désirée

Désirée (1954) is a Hollywood historical romance you can watch online on iFILM. Director Henry Koster cast Marlon Brando as Napoleon Bonaparte — still a lieutenant with ambitions rather than medals — in 20th Century Fox's adaptation of Annemarie Selinko's bestselling novel.

The story opens in Marseille with Désirée Clary (Jean Simmons), a milliner's daughter swept up in a young officer's orbit. Napoleon moves on to marry the aristocratic widow Joséphine (Merle Oberon), who becomes his Empress — while Désirée, in a quiet reversal of fortune, ends up queen of Sweden as the wife of General Bernadotte. What gives the film its staying power is Simmons: her Désirée watches Napoleon's rise and fall from a distance, and by the end she has clearly won. Stream Désirée (1954) online on iFILM.