Watch Inside Daisy Clover For Free

Wonderful Movie

Pretty Good

Overrated and overhyped

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Amazes me how this movie receives so little attention. It is far more complex than many similar Hollywood themed films. Some great actors.. Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy MacDowell and the always extraordinary Ruth Gordon( quite heart rending here). Bearing in mind when it was made and who it was made by. It is a great story, obviously based on Judy Garland, but with a richness that is absorbing and never ceases to be entertaining. Natalie was about 27-28 at the time but she looks great and if you didn't know she was 28 , she does not look that much older than the part she is playing of a street wise old before her time kid. ( Someone in another review says she thought she was miscast and it should have been played by Tuesday Weld, and the reviewer endorses this opinion- well, much as I admire ms weld's talents, it is hard to imagine her as Daisy and harder still to see her improving upon Natalie's performance). I would recommend this movie to any film fan, and while not perfect (how many films truly are?) is much better than it's reputation allows.

From the director, Robert Mulligan, who brought us TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962, 9/10), INSIDE DAISY CLOVER is also a labour of love of its star Natalie Wood when she is at the top of her game. It is Wood's version of A STAR IS BORN, at the age of 27, the baby-face Wood plays our titular 15-year-old tomboy heroine, who is discovered by the producer Raymond Swan (Plummer) of the Swan studio as a red-hot "America's valentine" for her singing gift and darling appeal in the mid-1930s. Nevertheless Daisy's spitfire nature is like a round peg in a square hole of the stardom and all its trappings - studio contracts, star- making procedure and hiding her personal background (she claims to be an orphan while in fact her lunatic mother is in a mental institution).Her uninhibited rebelliousness gets a vent with a kindred spirit, another young actor of Swan studio, the heartthrob Wade Lewis (Redford), together they share romantic moments and take on feckless escapades, to challenge Raymond's patience. Daisy deems that she has found the love of her life, but their hasty marriage lasts only one day, the revelation of Wade's hidden peculiarity devastates her, this is Redford's breakthrough role, and the bisexuality depicted here, although gay activity has never been shown on screen, is quite a bravado here, which also manifests novelist Gavin Lambert's trenchant resolution to debunk the dark corners of the rapacious Tinseltown, on top of its showy Since then, aggravated by her mother's death - Gordon, who plays the cuckoo Ms. Clover, a woman jilted by her man and spends all day playing cards by herself, was honoured with an Oscar nomination, her first in acting category, and soon she would win one for ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968, 7/10) and as a distinguished writer, she had already gathered 3 Oscar nominations before - Daisy succumbs to an emotional breakdown which halts the production and is retreated to a beach house for recuperation, soon her refusal to back on track triggers Raymond to send off his ultimatum which callously reveals how cruel and impersonal showbiz is, out of despair, Daisy decides to commit suicide, however, this part could be the funniest scene in this dragging cautionary tale, her attempt is absurdly interrupted so that eventually she abolishes the idea, instead, declares a war against the disappointing world in the finale. One dominant feature of this poor-received picture is André Previn's pervasive string score, looms large against the film's middling pace, sometimes even becomes at odds with the scenario as if we are watching a taut thriller, very bizarre indeed. Another contention is Wood's acting, although her singing voice is dubbed and all the musical numbers are below-par to be a supposed smash by today's view, she impresses in the beginning with her teenager spontaneity, but when she is inducted to the Hollywoodland, her lines are massively curtailed, most of the time she is merely an observer, and the story preferably relies on her emotional presentation and body movements, but Wood is not a show-stopper in expressiveness, thus albeit her biggest Oscar-inviting showpiece, aka, the crack-up in the studio, is brilliant and heartrending, it is quite understandably why Academy snubbed her that year.Plummer, on the contrary, is well cast as a ruthless magnate reeks of disdain and Katharine Bard, who plays Melora Swan, actually is more awards-worthy than Gordon in my book, her headache to heartache implosion probably is the best part of the film, so is Roddy McDowall, underused as Raymond's assistant, a great scene-stealer with his despised look and utterance as the messenger between Raymond and Daisy. After all, this picture is an above-standard Hollywood industry accuser, rather bold at its time and needs a fair reappraisal from its contemporary audience.

I happened to channel surf onto the very beginning of this on TCM and was so intrigued I stuck with it. First of all it was filmed in Panavision, so the color quality and the aspect ratio were stunning. Today's movies just don't look this good. And the cast - how can you go wrong with Natalie Wood, Ruth Gordon, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford and Roddy MacDowell? The movie is a tad long and could have benefited from some editing and does seem to stall in a couple of places, but on the whole it's a well-done portrayal of the how the Hollywood studio system can chew up a young person. I can't figure out why this flick doesn't get more air time but it's good entertainment.

I enjoyed the movie, even though it has its flaws.One of the problems is that Daisy is really not a sympathetic character. Yes, you feel very sorry for her when Christopher Plummer's character informs her that she is no longer allowed to visit her mother in the asylum. However, she never seems to be grateful for her fame and monetary success. Instead she runs off with Redford's character when she is supposed to sing with a children's choir. She is being groomed for movie stardom the same way Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Kathryn Grayson, Jane Powell, and countless other singing and non singing performers were as well. The viewer doesn't really feel sorry for her since she almost seems to create much of her unhappiness. It is true that teenagers don't always think maturely, but back then with her poverty and fatherless life, one would think Daisy might be more grateful with her chance for success. Natalie's own voice was not good enough to be used for the songs (except for the brief introduction of "You're Gonna Hear From Me"), and it's evident when you listen to the FSM Silver Age Classics double CD recording of the film. I like Jackie Ward very much as a singer, but I don't think she sounded much like Natalie Wood. Carole Richards sang for Cyd Charisse in Brigadoon and Silk Stockings, and she sounded like Cyd. Rita Hayworth's vocal dubber Nan Wynn also sounded like her. If the film contained a more believable sound, I might have been more convinced that Daisy was more realistic. For fun, go to You Tube and look up the videos of lostvocals3. He presents the songs with Natalie's recorded tracks. I have never been a huge Natalie Wood fan. I enjoy her work, and I have seen several of her films. I do think she turned in a good performance, even though she never looked fifteen years old. They could have made the character a bit older but then you would lose out on the parts where they commit her mom due to her being a minor and also Redford's marriage proposal isn't as necessary. However, she does turn in a solid portrayal.I wish Redford's character could have been shown dallying with a handsome hunk, but it was 1965 after all. I enjoyed his performance, but I would have liked to have learned more about his character and his career. Was his career ever in danger due to his drinking and sexual partners? Was he protected as long as his box office stayed strong? I also wish I could have seen some real reaction from Daisy when he reappears long after he leaves her in Arizona. How can he just come back with flowers after dumping her? Well, it's the character all right. He is self absorbed and lacks responsibility.Christopher Plummer's character is ruthless. After kissing Daisy and getting involved with a minor (after he chastises Redford's character on the same behavior), he later says he doesn't care what she does or what happens to after she completes the movie she is in the middle of shooting. That's it. Finish the picture and he can get a new girl to take her place. It's true. When Garland left MGM in 1950, there was Debbie Reynolds, Jane Powell, and Kathryn Grayson to fill in. I enjoyed Plummer's chilling performance.I too wish Roddy McDowall had more to do, but he was fine with his limited screen time. I liked Ruth Gordon and Kathryn Bard was strong too.I agree with the many reviewers and their comments on the hairstyles and clothing not being really from the 1930s. However, I still think the film does a good job at showing the studio system at that time.