Mademoiselle Désirée (titled Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary in France - "The Fabulous Destiny of Désirée Clary") is a French 1942 historical biopic film directed and written by Sacha Guitry. As the year can tell, it was made in German-occupied/Vichy France.
In France in the second half of the 18th century, Julie and Désirée Clary are two sisters from a bourgeois family of Marseille. During The French Revolution, they are courted by the Bonaparte brothers, Joseph and Napoleon. Julie and Joseph get married, and Napoleon and Désirée get engaged. Said engagement is endangered when one Joséphine de Beauharnais enters the picture...
See also Désirée (1954), starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Merle Oberon, about the same subject.
This film provides examples of:
- Absurdly Long Wait: Julie and Désirée have to sit and wait six hours inside a hall to meet the People's Representative so Julie can ask him to pardon their imprisoned brother who was arrested during the Reign of Terror. There's over 300 people before them, and it's so long that Désirée falls asleep and gets forgotten at the hall when night has fallen. Fortunately, the gentlemanly Joseph Bonaparte finds her and safely accompanies her back home.
- Author Appeal: Part of the dozen of works Sacha Guitry dedicated to the Napoleonic era, which he was particularly fond of. It culminated in 1955 with his epic Napoléon.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Désirée and Julie start dating military men after their father's death, despite his wishes that they should marry non-military bourgeois men, since he's not there anymore to prevent this.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: Bernadotte is introduced as a staunch Republican with "Death to Kings" tattooed on his arm. Near the end, when he is greeting his subjects as King of Sweden, Désirée asks him what he is thinking about, and he replies: 'I think about what the words they might read on my arm.'
- Has a Type: Désirée is particularly attracted to military men.
- Narrator: Sacha Guitry provides narration. He's first seen introducing Désirée's story in his private office.
- Offered the Crown: As in real life, Désirée eventually becomes the Queen of Sweden because her husband is chosen by the Swedes to succeed their current king. However, she is not at all pleased by the prospect, not least because she cannot even locate Sweden on a map.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Three actresses played Désirée — child actress Carlettina as a child, Geneviève Guitry as a young woman, and Gaby Morlay in her 40s.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Unlike Marmont and Junot who are mentioned later in the film, and Bernadotte who obviously becomes a major character after marrying Désirée, Duphot does not appear and is never mentioned after Désirée's tea party*.
