Brassy, singing tomboy near Hollywood in the 1930s gets a screen test and is soon thrust into the crazy spotlight of Tinsel Town. Ham-handed soaper intends to paint show business as cool, decadent and uncaring, but director Robert Mulligan is unable to set an appropriate tone, and his bad guys are enigmatic shadies who conspire in whispers. This combined with Natalie Wood's raucous rendering of a 15-year-old results in some problems. Still, the look and atmosphere of the film are really extraordinary, and Christopher Plummer gives off sparks of neurotic heat as the head of the movie studio. Robert Redford is a good screen match for Natalie, although his love-interest role is steeped in the hypothetical; Wood herself runs hot and cold, though she has some very strong early moments. The pacing might've stood some picking up, and the movie is much too long, but it looks stylish and has a lot of talent behind it. **1/2 from ****
86 Reviews
the good with the bad
sweetpea329 February 2004
Warning: Spoilers
After discovering that Natalie Wood was 27 when she made this film, it was somewhat difficult to believe she was only 15. But ignoring her age and concentrating on her acting helped. At times she is campy, but other times she is absolutely stunning. The movie has beautiful scenery and a good story line, but it is quite random in some spots. Though it leaves a lot to be desired as far as credibility is concerned, the acting is outstanding. Natalie does as best as can be expected as an adult playing a teenager. I keep picturing her as Susan in "Miracle on 34th Street." A very young Robert Redford is a treat. He plays handsome homosexual actor Wade Lewis and you cannot help but fall in love with him just as Natalie's character Daisy Clover does. Roddy MacDowell's role gets quite annoying after awhile but it is still funny. And Christopher Plummer is absolutely incredible as movie producer Raymond Swan. He is simultaneously creepy and fascinating. I could not take my eyes off of him for a moment. There are four good scenes in the movie. 1.) Daisy and Wade meeting for the first time in the white bedroom with the waterfall. 2.) Melora's drunken outrage over Wade's abandoning Daisy. 3.) Raymond's poolside lecture to Daisy. 4.) Raymond's love/hate lecture when he visits Daisy at her beach house. This movie is worth watching for its ability to keep your attention even though it is slow and overdramatic. The ending keeps you guessing as to what happens to Daisy afterwards.
Natalie Wood reflects on herself
lee_eisenberg5 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Natalie Wood was probably the right person to cast in Robert Mulligan's "Inside Daisy Clover". It focuses on a teenage girl wrung through the Hollywood machine, something that Wood herself experienced. Dolled up and presented as the next big thing, Daisy has all manner of unpleasant experiences with stardom.
One particular parallel to Wood's life is Daisy's romance with a closeted gay leading man (Wood dated a number of gay men in real life, and even gave Mart Crowley the funds to stage "The Boys in the Band"). I figure that the depiction of homosexuality must've been risky for the time, considering that the Hays Code was still in effect. But whatever the case, the result is a fine and often intense piece of work. In addition to Wood are Christopher Plummer as a machiavellian executive, Ruth Gordon as Daisy's mom, and Robert Redford as the closeted gay actor.
One particular parallel to Wood's life is Daisy's romance with a closeted gay leading man (Wood dated a number of gay men in real life, and even gave Mart Crowley the funds to stage "The Boys in the Band"). I figure that the depiction of homosexuality must've been risky for the time, considering that the Hays Code was still in effect. But whatever the case, the result is a fine and often intense piece of work. In addition to Wood are Christopher Plummer as a machiavellian executive, Ruth Gordon as Daisy's mom, and Robert Redford as the closeted gay actor.
Dearheart vs The Prince of Darkness
roobozart10 December 2003
It's always amazed me that this movie doesn't get more respect--sure it's campy, but the performances are fantastic: Christopher Plummer's speech to Daisy by the pool after she's been abandoned by her new husband (a super young Robert Redford playing a gorgeous pansexual for God's sake--what more could a person ask?) is stunning and Natalie Wood's "The Circus is a wacky world"-induced breakdown in the sound booth is brilliant and scary. Roddy McDowell's killing smile as he says "Good night, Miss Clover." Redford getting away with lines like "Good night, sweet, sad, lonely lady" and a drunken Malora (great name) screaming at Daisy "They say I've got a headache, BUT I'VE GOT A HEARTACHE!!!" The gorgeous black and white promotional video of Daisy singing and bouncing her way through the cardboard galaxies. All incredible stuff--why isn't this on DVD yet? Wake up, Hollywood, and give us this treasure on DVD!
Lonely At The Top.
rmax30482328 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Natalie Wood is fifteen year old Daisy Clover, a feisty kid who lives in a shack with her dotty mother, Ruth Gordon, in 1936 Los Angeles. She comes to the attention of Christopher Plummer, owner of Swan Studios, who smooths the rough edges off her cygnet image, dresses her as Alice in Wonderland, and puts her in "major motion pictures" as "America's New Valentine." It's what Wood has always wanted -- fame, money enough to lift her mother out of poverty, and, mostly, self actualization. It's all expressed in the theme song we hear her sing -- "You're Gonna Hear From Me." An ambitious movie, it has some sizzling moments but they're constantly undercut by some incredibly unimaginative elements. Let me get them out of the way first.
That theme song. "You're Gonna Hear From Me." It's not badly constructed, it's appropriate to the story of Wood's rise to fame, her thumos, as the Greeks would have called it. But it's one hundred percent generic. It belongs in the same category as "Tomorrow" and "I've Gotta Be Me" and "The Impossible Dream." Worse, the orchestration, by Albert Woodbury, is thoroughly modern in its instrumentation and harmonies. I presume the motives were commercial. "You're Gonna Buy This Record." You get to hear it in all its prodigiousness three times.
And the narrative itself is rather like a soap opera. Wood is betrayed at every turn. The charming, extremely handsome, poetry-quoting Robert Redford first seduces her, then is forced by circumstances to marry her, then deserts her -- REALLY "deserts" her, leaving her alone, without transportation, in a shabby motel in the middle of Arizona -- for a male lover.
She turns to Plummer, studio owner, who offers her understanding and comfort -- then he begins schtupping her too.
Tragedy upon tragedy. Her beloved mother dies. Wood goes into a mute depression, delaying the picture she's making, until Plummer's patience runs out and he begins slapping her face while she mourns. By this time, the viewer aches more intensely than Wood herself for her luck to turn.
We don't get to see much movie making, only one scene of Wood doing a musical number about a circus, and it there is a complete absence of any sense of realism. According to the movie, the complicated scene involves singing and dancing and it's all shot in one take. In the middle of it, Wood walks up to a mirror and looks into it, and the director, Robert Mulligan, commits the stupidest move any director can be guilty of. Wood peers into the mirror but instead of looking at her own face, as she should, she's gazing obliquely into the glass and looks directly at the camera lens behind her. Isn't there SOMEBODY who's job it is to see that the audience isn't hit over the head with such a clumsy device that can only serve to undercut the suspension of disbelief? I mean, when is the last time you saw your face in a mirror by looking at the reflection from an angle of 45 degrees?
But there is some good stuff too. First, Natalie Wood gives what is probably her finest performance. She was never a Great Actress, but she shows more skill here than in anything else she's done, probably with help from Mulligan. She is into her cynical and determined character, but she's vulnerable too. She's no cutie pie here. And watch her face as Plummer introduces her to her audience and accompanies her down a long staircase. Half a dozen emotions -- happiness, satisfaction, fear -- all flit across her features second by second, colors across a frenzied chameleon. A marvelous scene.
And, here and there, Mulligan challenges the conventions of the genre, of films in general. Wood's breakdown during a looping session is well done. And there is a long scene in which Plummer explains Redford's treacherous character to a devastated Wood. She's been awake all night and is lying on a lounge next to the pool. Plummer's performance is a tour de force. And Mulligan shoots him from behind Wood's reclining figure. Her head is propped on her hand. She never utters a word. And not ONCE does Mulligan cut to a reaction shot. Through the entire scene we see nothing but her tousled hair. It take self confidence to do something like that, and it takes guts.
The skill and the buffoonery just about cancel each other out and what we're left with is a formulaic story of someone's rise to the top, the disillusionment that follows, and a couple of magnificent performances and well-stage and edited scenes.
That theme song. "You're Gonna Hear From Me." It's not badly constructed, it's appropriate to the story of Wood's rise to fame, her thumos, as the Greeks would have called it. But it's one hundred percent generic. It belongs in the same category as "Tomorrow" and "I've Gotta Be Me" and "The Impossible Dream." Worse, the orchestration, by Albert Woodbury, is thoroughly modern in its instrumentation and harmonies. I presume the motives were commercial. "You're Gonna Buy This Record." You get to hear it in all its prodigiousness three times.
And the narrative itself is rather like a soap opera. Wood is betrayed at every turn. The charming, extremely handsome, poetry-quoting Robert Redford first seduces her, then is forced by circumstances to marry her, then deserts her -- REALLY "deserts" her, leaving her alone, without transportation, in a shabby motel in the middle of Arizona -- for a male lover.
She turns to Plummer, studio owner, who offers her understanding and comfort -- then he begins schtupping her too.
Tragedy upon tragedy. Her beloved mother dies. Wood goes into a mute depression, delaying the picture she's making, until Plummer's patience runs out and he begins slapping her face while she mourns. By this time, the viewer aches more intensely than Wood herself for her luck to turn.
We don't get to see much movie making, only one scene of Wood doing a musical number about a circus, and it there is a complete absence of any sense of realism. According to the movie, the complicated scene involves singing and dancing and it's all shot in one take. In the middle of it, Wood walks up to a mirror and looks into it, and the director, Robert Mulligan, commits the stupidest move any director can be guilty of. Wood peers into the mirror but instead of looking at her own face, as she should, she's gazing obliquely into the glass and looks directly at the camera lens behind her. Isn't there SOMEBODY who's job it is to see that the audience isn't hit over the head with such a clumsy device that can only serve to undercut the suspension of disbelief? I mean, when is the last time you saw your face in a mirror by looking at the reflection from an angle of 45 degrees?
But there is some good stuff too. First, Natalie Wood gives what is probably her finest performance. She was never a Great Actress, but she shows more skill here than in anything else she's done, probably with help from Mulligan. She is into her cynical and determined character, but she's vulnerable too. She's no cutie pie here. And watch her face as Plummer introduces her to her audience and accompanies her down a long staircase. Half a dozen emotions -- happiness, satisfaction, fear -- all flit across her features second by second, colors across a frenzied chameleon. A marvelous scene.
And, here and there, Mulligan challenges the conventions of the genre, of films in general. Wood's breakdown during a looping session is well done. And there is a long scene in which Plummer explains Redford's treacherous character to a devastated Wood. She's been awake all night and is lying on a lounge next to the pool. Plummer's performance is a tour de force. And Mulligan shoots him from behind Wood's reclining figure. Her head is propped on her hand. She never utters a word. And not ONCE does Mulligan cut to a reaction shot. Through the entire scene we see nothing but her tousled hair. It take self confidence to do something like that, and it takes guts.
The skill and the buffoonery just about cancel each other out and what we're left with is a formulaic story of someone's rise to the top, the disillusionment that follows, and a couple of magnificent performances and well-stage and edited scenes.
Unclassifiable, odd film
kwindrum1 February 2014
This movie often seems surrealistic, sometimes comic, sometimes despairing and it has musical numbers which come from another dimension entirely--they are a mix of Busby Berkeley and 1960s design. The film seems like an eccentric comedy at first with 15 year-old tomboy Daisy (Natalie Wood) and her wacky mother (Ruth Gordon) both competing over who can chew scenery faster. Suddenly, she's plucked by sinister studio head Christopher Plummer and turned into a star. The studios of the time were certainly often sinister, but I found the dispatch of Ma Clover to the mental institution a bit of a stretch. The film has other implausible moments plus a tone of anachronism as the songs, by Andre and Dory Previn, are 1960s Broadway in style. Many scenes of loneliness and isolation--a strangely deserted Santa Monica pier,an empty desert motel, a studio that always seems empty, even the sound stages seem empty. You rarely see the bustle you expect in a film set at a studio or in Hollywood. This is an odd, fascinating, 1/2 successful film.
an above-standard film industry accuser, rather bold at its time and needs a fair reappraisal from its contemporary audience.
lasttimeisaw25 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
Even worse than I remember back when I saw it in the theatre in the 60s
HeathCliff-228 February 2009
I would speculate that this is one of the worst major studio motion pictures ever made, starring and directed by A-list talent. I was a teenager when this came out in the theatre, and even then, I distinctly remember - because I was a Natalie Wood fan -- that I hated this movie. I expected forty years later that I would embrace it more deeply, partially for nostalgia, partially for being more forgiving of its foibles. Well ... it's even worse than I remember a lurid, melodramatic potboiler where not a scene, or piece of dialogue, rings true. Natalie Wood acts like a silent film star, mugging atrociously, and playing tomboy like a truck driver in army boots. I am reminded of the numerous Razzie worst actress awards she got from Harvard back then. Someone on IMDb assumed that 60s audiences accepted this -- but it was a critical bomb back then. The story is beyond far-fetched as she dreams of being a singer, she sends in a recorded disc of her voice -- and the studio head himself pays her a personal call at her pier-side shack because he's so excited about her talent and when we watch her screentest her singing is mediocre. She's immediately signed to a contract, but never shows a shred of pleasure or excitement that she has gotten her wish, but only seems to want to escape. The costumes and hair are maddeningly anachronistic teased hair, pink lipstick, eyeliner, shaggy bangs, turtlenecks, Capri pants, empire waist dresses, narrow suit lapels, pure 60s. Her musical number belongs more on Hullabaloo than a 1930s movie screen. Scenes on the 1930s studio lot, and on the soundstage, are always as deserted as a tomb, and the studio head who is so evil he should be twirling his moustache like a silent film villain -- seems to have no other duties or interests than meeting incessantly with, and watching over, Daisy. Worth renting only for curiosity value -- or Wood fans who need to round out their viewing repertoire. The one positive is Robert Redford not the most interesting of actors but more animated than in some of his later roles, and gorgeously handsome beyond belief.
A brilliantly made damning indictment of the inherent insincerity of Hollywood
GusF14 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Gavin Lambert who adapted it for the screen, this is a brilliantly made damning indictment of the inherent insincerity of Hollywood. The film takes place in the Golden Age from 1936 to 1938 at the height of the studio system but many of its criticisms of Tinseltown were readily applicable to the 1960s and some even apply to 2016. It has a first rate script which does not pull any punches and the direction of Robert Mulligan, whose forte was sensitive period dramas, is wonderful.
The film stars Natalie Wood in an utterly fantastic performance as Daisy Clover, a 15-year-old tomboy and livewire who lives in a dilapidated trailer on Angel Beach in California with her highly eccentric mother. Like many teenage girls in the 1930s, she dreams of making it big in Hollywood. When she sends a recording of her voice to the highly prestigious Swan Studios, her dreams come true and she is signed by the movie mogul Raymond Swan. However, she soon learns that fame is not all that it is cracked up to be as Swan and his wife Melora manipulate her at every turn in order to protect her burgeoning career and reputation. Most notably, they have her mother Lucile, otherwise known as the Dealer and played in a great performance by Ruth Gordon, committed to a mental institution after she nearly burns down her trailer and put out the cover story that she is dead.
The Dealer may not exactly be June Cleaver but Daisy adores her mother and she is rightly extremely angry and upset when Swan tells her that she cannot see her anymore, though he eventually relents. Her death is the catalyst for Daisy's nervous breakdown later in the film but there were certainly other contributory factors. There are traces of many Hollywood starlets in Daisy. Her nickname of "America's Little Valentine" is reminiscent of Mary Pickford's "America's Sweetheart." In that she is much used and abused particularly by men, however, the similarities to the recently deceased Marilyn Monroe are the most pronounced. At 27, Wood was too old to play a 15-year-old but the strength of her performance is so strong that I forgot about the large age gap between actress and character after the first ten minutes. Of course, she first found success as a child star in the 1940s but I hope that her rise to stardom was less painful than Daisy's. She should have received a Best Actress nomination for the role.
Although he is a little over the top in a few instances, Robert Redford, in one of his first major roles, is nevertheless very good as Daisy's fellow Swan Studios star Wade Lewis. A swashbuckling action hero in the mould of Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, he is the apple of every teenage girl's eye and women wish that their husbands were exactly like him. Wade is such an interesting character as he really represents the stark difference between reality and Hollywood-style illusion. He wines and dines Daisy and uses the considerable charm at his disposal to get her to marry him. However, only after he leaves her in a dirty little Arizona motel does she learn the truth: he's gay and their marriage was one of convenience to hide that fact. This was likely inspired by Rock Hudson's marriage to Phyllis Gates in 1955, not least because Gates did not know that he was gay when they got married. Although it was unknown to the general public in the 1960s, his homosexuality was an open secret in Hollywood.
There is some suggestion in the film that Wade may be bisexual but I do not believe that this is the case. He is an actor and he was merely playing the role that other people would have him play when he pretended to be attracted to Daisy. I get the feeling that we never get to see the real Wade as his sexuality means that he can never let his guard down as his career would be finished overnight. Unsurprisingly for the time, none of the words that I have used were used in the film but it is notable for depicting a gay man who was comfortable with his sexuality. He hides it for professional rather than personal reasons. When he first meets Daisy, he tells her that his real name is actually Lewis Wade as opposed to Wade Lewis and that is the only thing that the studio changed about him, which can be seen in retrospect as a defiant reference to his sexuality. In spite of his callous behaviour, I certainly do not think that Wade is a bad man but merely one is extremely self-centred.
Although Redford has the most interesting role of any man in the film, the male lead is the great Christopher Plummer in an excellent performance as Raymond Swan. He presents himself as a warm, caring man to the outside world but this is merely a veneer. Swan is a ruthless Hollywood mogul who cares nothing for Daisy as a person, only as a money maker for his studio. He is verbally and physically abusive to her after she has her breakdown as his continued convalescence is costing him a great deal of money since she still has to finish her last film. He then tells her that he does not care what happens to her so long as she fulfills the terms of her contract. The only other actors to particularly stand out are Katharine Bard as Melora, who seems to be a very collected woman for most of the film until we find out that she attempted suicide when she found out that Wade was gay, and Roddy McDowall as Swan's assistant Walter Baines.
Overall, this is an excellent film which very effectively excoriates the falsity and artificiality of the Dream Factory.
The film stars Natalie Wood in an utterly fantastic performance as Daisy Clover, a 15-year-old tomboy and livewire who lives in a dilapidated trailer on Angel Beach in California with her highly eccentric mother. Like many teenage girls in the 1930s, she dreams of making it big in Hollywood. When she sends a recording of her voice to the highly prestigious Swan Studios, her dreams come true and she is signed by the movie mogul Raymond Swan. However, she soon learns that fame is not all that it is cracked up to be as Swan and his wife Melora manipulate her at every turn in order to protect her burgeoning career and reputation. Most notably, they have her mother Lucile, otherwise known as the Dealer and played in a great performance by Ruth Gordon, committed to a mental institution after she nearly burns down her trailer and put out the cover story that she is dead.
The Dealer may not exactly be June Cleaver but Daisy adores her mother and she is rightly extremely angry and upset when Swan tells her that she cannot see her anymore, though he eventually relents. Her death is the catalyst for Daisy's nervous breakdown later in the film but there were certainly other contributory factors. There are traces of many Hollywood starlets in Daisy. Her nickname of "America's Little Valentine" is reminiscent of Mary Pickford's "America's Sweetheart." In that she is much used and abused particularly by men, however, the similarities to the recently deceased Marilyn Monroe are the most pronounced. At 27, Wood was too old to play a 15-year-old but the strength of her performance is so strong that I forgot about the large age gap between actress and character after the first ten minutes. Of course, she first found success as a child star in the 1940s but I hope that her rise to stardom was less painful than Daisy's. She should have received a Best Actress nomination for the role.
Although he is a little over the top in a few instances, Robert Redford, in one of his first major roles, is nevertheless very good as Daisy's fellow Swan Studios star Wade Lewis. A swashbuckling action hero in the mould of Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, he is the apple of every teenage girl's eye and women wish that their husbands were exactly like him. Wade is such an interesting character as he really represents the stark difference between reality and Hollywood-style illusion. He wines and dines Daisy and uses the considerable charm at his disposal to get her to marry him. However, only after he leaves her in a dirty little Arizona motel does she learn the truth: he's gay and their marriage was one of convenience to hide that fact. This was likely inspired by Rock Hudson's marriage to Phyllis Gates in 1955, not least because Gates did not know that he was gay when they got married. Although it was unknown to the general public in the 1960s, his homosexuality was an open secret in Hollywood.
There is some suggestion in the film that Wade may be bisexual but I do not believe that this is the case. He is an actor and he was merely playing the role that other people would have him play when he pretended to be attracted to Daisy. I get the feeling that we never get to see the real Wade as his sexuality means that he can never let his guard down as his career would be finished overnight. Unsurprisingly for the time, none of the words that I have used were used in the film but it is notable for depicting a gay man who was comfortable with his sexuality. He hides it for professional rather than personal reasons. When he first meets Daisy, he tells her that his real name is actually Lewis Wade as opposed to Wade Lewis and that is the only thing that the studio changed about him, which can be seen in retrospect as a defiant reference to his sexuality. In spite of his callous behaviour, I certainly do not think that Wade is a bad man but merely one is extremely self-centred.
Although Redford has the most interesting role of any man in the film, the male lead is the great Christopher Plummer in an excellent performance as Raymond Swan. He presents himself as a warm, caring man to the outside world but this is merely a veneer. Swan is a ruthless Hollywood mogul who cares nothing for Daisy as a person, only as a money maker for his studio. He is verbally and physically abusive to her after she has her breakdown as his continued convalescence is costing him a great deal of money since she still has to finish her last film. He then tells her that he does not care what happens to her so long as she fulfills the terms of her contract. The only other actors to particularly stand out are Katharine Bard as Melora, who seems to be a very collected woman for most of the film until we find out that she attempted suicide when she found out that Wade was gay, and Roddy McDowall as Swan's assistant Walter Baines.
Overall, this is an excellent film which very effectively excoriates the falsity and artificiality of the Dream Factory.
The Hardest Candy in the World.
Loomis_Orange6 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Daisy's fifteen today "but quite sophisticated for her age." He sister Gloria "ran off with some guy in real estate", her half-witted tobacco-voiced gypsy mother has finally started around the bend and on top of that a Limo drives up in front of their old wooden shack sitting on the bean side of Angel Beach. Ma thinks it's a Hurst. "Daisy would ya please send that Hurst away" Daisy excitedly replies "It's going away Old Chap .. With ME in it" and so it goes. Daisy sings. Raymond Swann of Swann Pictures asks Daisy why she sings? She replies "My mama says this world's a garbage dump'n we're just the flies it attracts, but when I sing, the smell doesn't seem so bad". So begins this studio-owned teenager's meteoric rise to the "top of the heap" which includes an extended stay at a sanitarium for her senile media dead mother. A lost trip to the desert town of Jawbone, Arizona for a honeymoon with a homosexual heart throb "who never could resist a charming boy". A torrid what-the-hell affair with her middle-aged studio head boss, while her mother's silently dies on her daughter's beach house bed clutching in her stiff bony hand, eights and aces... The Deadman's Hand! A nervous breakdown in which the sad, lonely, lovely lady .. Mr. Swann's wife suggests a little trip "around the world". for the two of them, A meeting in Daisy's bedroom where her boss ...her boyfriend ..Raymond Swann says to her "You Don't LOSE me money you MAKE me money" The funniest part of this movie and the one I laugh at every time I see it is Daisy trying to knock herself off at the end. Phone off, door locked, head in oven. Door bell, sign autograph, phone used. Phone on, door locked, head in oven. burner on, burn hand, out of gas, kick chair, Door bell, phone ring
Screw it - Just have some coffee Daisy!
Screw it - Just have some coffee Daisy!
Quirky view of Hollywood
eyecandyforu29 June 2010
This film seems way ahead of it's time, made in 1965 it's one of the first to show a darker side of Tinsel Town. Natalie Wood plays a tomboy who's plucked from obscurity and becomes a teen singing star. Her character is almost immediately jaded by the experience, manipulated by a studio head and a dubious male heartthrob, played by a stunning looking Robert Redford. Ruth Gordon once again stands out as the teen stars' mother. Christopher Plummer is excellent as the smooth studio head with Roddy McDowall as his cold assistant. Katharine Bard plays Plummers' wife, and her character is fascinating. She seems to float and flow when she moves and her character sums up the film's overall feel. Distant, detached and alien yet seething with anger and disappointment.
The problem with the film is that it's very dark in tone. That is to say the slick big budget production is overshadowed by a strange menace, highlighting the fact that the studio system was basically a people factory, uncaring and cannibalistic. Audiences at the time must have been very confused, expecting a light, breezy musical. Instead it's a realistic yet stylized downer, reminiscent of Valley of the Dolls, which was yet to come. There's very little genuine romance, sentiment or humor, just a steady flow of odd scenes.
This is one of those movies that many have never heard of, it remains obscure despite it's almost epic appeal. It's certainly worth a look, but just try to nail it down to any specific category.
The problem with the film is that it's very dark in tone. That is to say the slick big budget production is overshadowed by a strange menace, highlighting the fact that the studio system was basically a people factory, uncaring and cannibalistic. Audiences at the time must have been very confused, expecting a light, breezy musical. Instead it's a realistic yet stylized downer, reminiscent of Valley of the Dolls, which was yet to come. There's very little genuine romance, sentiment or humor, just a steady flow of odd scenes.
This is one of those movies that many have never heard of, it remains obscure despite it's almost epic appeal. It's certainly worth a look, but just try to nail it down to any specific category.
The Gal Really COULD Act!
ferbs5426 April 2017
Last night I had the pleasure of watching my third Natalie Wood film of the week, and it was 1965's "Inside Daisy Clover," which I had never seen before. In this one, Natalie lives with her senile mother (Ruth Gordon, in her first picture since the '40s) in a little shack on Angel Beach, California. She sends a recording of herself singing to studio head Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer...yes, in the same year that he appeared in "The Sound of Music"...quite a year for him), who sees something in her and turns her, practically overnight, into "America's Valentine," and a movie sensation. Daisy soon starts to realize that the Hollywood life has its perils and pitfalls, and eventually marries another popular star, Wade Lewis (the ridiculously, almost angelically handsome Robert Redford), who turns out to be gay, or at least wildly bi. A nervous breakdown of sorts and a run-in with the satanic Swan lead to a suicide attempt for poor Daisy, before she sees the light. Anyway, this film is not as great as I was hoping it would be, but is still pretty darn good. Like 1963's "Love With the Proper Stranger"--another Natalie film, and one that I watched the other day--it was directed by Robert Mulligan, but is not as fine as that earlier film. And it is not as fine, I thought, as the film that Natalie and Redford appeared in the following year, "This Property Is Condemned." Still, as I say, it does have much to offer. The promotional film that introduces Daisy is a wowser, filled with amazing special FX (especially for the mid-'30s), although the song that Daisy sings in it hardly sounds as if it comes from that era; it almost sounds like a 1960s Vegas lounge act kind of number. As would be expected, Natalie and the other performers are all aces. Almost forgot to mention that Roddy McDowall is in here also, playing Swan's unctuous assistant. All in all, great fun, if nothing classic, but so good to see Natalie once again proving the critics wrong. The gal really COULD act!
It's poorly written, and emotionally confusing...
ringsindiamonds30 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
First of all, Christopher Plummer filmed the Sound of Music the SAME year he played this vulgar character, so that was a major turnoff for me. He takes sexual advantage of a 16 yr old girl, who was just dumped by her psycho actor/husband, (Robert Redford), the day before, one day after they were married. It made me sick to see Christopher Plummer kissing a supposed 16 yr old, in any movie. Daisy (Natalie Wood) is a lost child, who is lost throughout the movie. Even the ending doesn't make any sense at all - does she blow the house up, then go finish making her movie? Does she blow the house up, then get sued by the studio? What happens? There is no ending. Where does she end up? There is NO WAY that 27 yr old Natalie could have portrayed a 16 or 17 yr old girl. She was completely miscast in this movie. She looked 30 and acted it. I love Natalie Wood. But man, if my husband dumped me in the middle of the desert with no car, nothing, not a word, I would be bawling my eyes out. But Natalie's character? Nothing...just find a ride back to the producer's home and lie down on a bench til morning. And the songs she sang were all wrong for her even if it was supposed to be the 30s and she was supposed to be some Pollyanna character.
I don't understand it. Then who is sleeping with who? It is a twisted mess. All the characters are screwy - literally, every single one of them! Dysfunctional, immoral, without a compass, and living from one whim to disaster to party. There wasn't a 'normal' day in the entire movie. It left me feeling empty, like they could have done a much better storyline and ending. I was generous with the 6 stars. What a mess.
I don't understand it. Then who is sleeping with who? It is a twisted mess. All the characters are screwy - literally, every single one of them! Dysfunctional, immoral, without a compass, and living from one whim to disaster to party. There wasn't a 'normal' day in the entire movie. It left me feeling empty, like they could have done a much better storyline and ending. I was generous with the 6 stars. What a mess.
A disappointment.
hrd19632 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Depression-era, rags-to-riches story with Natalie Wood as the tomboy-heroine abandoned by her father and living with her eccentric mother in a run-down shack by the seashore. Discovered by a film producer (the darkly sinister Christopher Plummer), Daisy quickly achieves stardom as a musical singing star (a la Judy Garland) but, unable to cope with the sudden fame, she escapes into a romance with matinée idol Robert Redford. Later realizing that Redford is gay and that her studio sees her only as a commodity, a disillusioned Daisy has a nervous breakdown and attempts suicide before finally finding the strength to turn her back on Hollywood. On the face of it, this film (based on a novel by Gavin Lambert) sounds compelling but too many cartoonish situations and characters (particularly Daisy's mother and sister) undermine the story. Natalie Wood, herself, is allowed to overdo the tomboyish nature of Daisy's personality (she's like a female Huck Finn). Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford are both very good, however, and, in supporting roles, Roddy McDowall and Katherine Bard lurk mysteriously in the background (Bard seems to belong in a different film entirely. When she confronts Daisy following Daisy's failed marriage to the matinée idol, it's like Jane Eyre coming face to face with Rodchester's mad wife). A disappointment.
The Hollywood industry against itself!
mvk001614 March 2000
Inside Daisy Clover is not just any movie about a wanna-be-star that has her dream come true and in the process witnesses the changes and corruption that bring her to the top. It is a movie about the movie industry itself. Actually it is the BEST movie that Hollywood has ever made about itself. Natalie Wood stars as the 15-year-old child star and manages to pull it through. She is a lot older and we all know, but there are times when just a look or a smile of hers can be nothing but as close to childhood as an adult actress could ever get. On the other hand we have Robert Redford, the young careless and unsteady lover that lifts everyone he meets to the sky and then dumps them to the ground leaving in his passage something more than pain: the realization that what is inevitable will happen and we all know it from the beginning. Somehow we wish it were different but it isn't and the end offers the only solution that could close such a movie without destroying its unique feeling. Redford's role is undoubtedly the greatest of his career. He is so young, strong and handsome that no one can resist him. And yet, there is a lot more hidden beneath his nice facade than anyone could ever think possible. Somehow he is a tortured character that finds content in hurting others but still he does it in such a way that you can't but admire him. Even the most fanatic feminist can try to persuade me he isn't the most charming - and at the same time cryptic - character even written for the big screen but the truth remains the same: like Michael Caine in Alfie we'd love to hate him but we can't! I must say the end is not exactly as dark as I would have expected it given the fact that we all know Daisy's path goes only downhill from the moment she meets Wade (Redford) but the queer thing (and what makes it a little unbelievable and lame) is that she manages to survive in such a random way that even the viewer wouldn't want her to. But that's the beauty of it all!
Odd...a musical starring an actress who doesn't do her own singing.
planktonrules22 March 2019
"Inside Daisy Clover" stars Natalie Wood and it's a film about a girl with a great voice who makes it big. Oddly, however, Miss Wood's singing was dubbed by another woman. Either the studio had no faith in her singing or her voice was weak...either way it seemed unusual to make such a casting choice. But it isn't unprecidented...Hollywood often dubbed its stars in musicals...and as recently as "My Fair Lady" which was made the year before "Inside Daisy Clover". But considering that the story is supposed to be about a teen (and Wood was a bit too old to convincingly carry this off), you do get the impression that the studio was really fixated on casting Wood regardless of her suitablity. By the way, I am NOT criticizing Wood...she was a wonderful actress...just not the best for this particular role.
The film begins in the 30s and Daisy (Wood) is a teen living with her extremely eccentric mother. It's hard to determine when watching the picture how mentally ill or capable Mrs. Clover (Ruth Gordon) was...but she certainly was NOT a normal lady. In fact, after Daisy's gift for music is discovered, the folks grooming her for success somehow have the embarrassing mother institutionalized...and young Daisy, though upset, goes along with this. What else must she sacrifice on the road to success?? See the film and find out for yourself...just know there will be a lot of sacrifices!
In many ways, this film is a lot like "A Star is Born" merged with a cynical movie about Tinseltown such as "The Bad and the Beautiful"....sort of a flip side of success picture. But it's also an odd amalgum of the 1930s...with a strong 1960s look to it. Kwindrum's review of the film and this odd style is spot on.
So is it any good? Yes...but nothing you should run out to see. Good but not as drenched in cynicism and despair as a few of the other anti-Hollywood pics. Much of it is because of the movie's odd style and lack of subtlety. As a result, it's good but just manages to miss the mark which might have made it great.
The film begins in the 30s and Daisy (Wood) is a teen living with her extremely eccentric mother. It's hard to determine when watching the picture how mentally ill or capable Mrs. Clover (Ruth Gordon) was...but she certainly was NOT a normal lady. In fact, after Daisy's gift for music is discovered, the folks grooming her for success somehow have the embarrassing mother institutionalized...and young Daisy, though upset, goes along with this. What else must she sacrifice on the road to success?? See the film and find out for yourself...just know there will be a lot of sacrifices!
In many ways, this film is a lot like "A Star is Born" merged with a cynical movie about Tinseltown such as "The Bad and the Beautiful"....sort of a flip side of success picture. But it's also an odd amalgum of the 1930s...with a strong 1960s look to it. Kwindrum's review of the film and this odd style is spot on.
So is it any good? Yes...but nothing you should run out to see. Good but not as drenched in cynicism and despair as a few of the other anti-Hollywood pics. Much of it is because of the movie's odd style and lack of subtlety. As a result, it's good but just manages to miss the mark which might have made it great.
While a little uneven, Inside Daisy Clover was a pretty compelling Natalie Wood vehicle
tavm12 February 2020
Just watched this with Mom. We both thought it was pretty weird with the changes in tone from full versions of happy-go-lucky musical numbers to the drama of the teen girl who performs them when her off-screen life is depicted. Natalie Wood plays the title character as she goes from a poor 15-year-old dreaming of movie stardom to becoming one but getting disillusioned by how heartless the people surrounding her are. She's compellingly dramatic during her trials along with her co-stars Christopher Plummer as her boss, Ruth Gordon as her mother, and Robert Redford as a fellow movie star who shares her attitude though keeps a secret from her as she falls for him. The movie's pretty long (they really didn't have to show those numbers complete) but the silences do make some compelling moments. The ending seems a cheat but I guess they didn't want it to be tragic...
Quirky but Fun
bbrebozo27 September 2022
I remember this movie was highly publicized in the 1960s, but it had no appeal to me then as a teenager. As an adult, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Natalie Wood plays an oddball 15-year-old. It took every ounce of her acting skills, since she was nearly 30 when she made the film. And it requires a willing - heck, make that mandatory - suspension of disbelief on the viewer's part. But it's worth it.
Wood plays against type, since she's not the suave glamor princess she usually played in other movies. And the movie itself is pretty odd, particularly in a scene where Wood's character has to repeatedly over-dub a musical number. And somewhat shockingly, during the otherwise serious dramatic arc of Inside Daisy Clover, you will suddenly be treated to several minutes of what is - at least in my dark-humor-loving eyes - one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud suicide scenes I've ever seen.
Particularly if you're a Natalie Wood fan, this film is quirky, fun, and worth watching.
Wood plays against type, since she's not the suave glamor princess she usually played in other movies. And the movie itself is pretty odd, particularly in a scene where Wood's character has to repeatedly over-dub a musical number. And somewhat shockingly, during the otherwise serious dramatic arc of Inside Daisy Clover, you will suddenly be treated to several minutes of what is - at least in my dark-humor-loving eyes - one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud suicide scenes I've ever seen.
Particularly if you're a Natalie Wood fan, this film is quirky, fun, and worth watching.
A could have been
ryancm24 February 2009
INSIDE DAISY CLOVER is a could have been good movie. Good plot and story line, but the execution doesn't work. Part of the Natalie Wood collection, CLOVER is about a young slum type girl who wants to be a singer. She submits a record and before you can blink, a studio head wants to test her. Now that only happens in the "movies". Natalie Wood is much to old for the role, but she has many good scenes. Not one character in this movie is sane except for the Roddy McDowell character, but he has so little to do that one wonders what he's doing in the film at all. The movie is very slow paced, yet there seems to be chunks deleted which make the story hard to follow. The ending is very lame. Another strange factor to this strange movie is that the studio scenes are eerie. This is supposed to be the 30's when film making was at its peak, yet there is virtually no one at the studio. The streets and lots are barren of people and even the sound stage which should be full of hustle, bustle is void of people except for a couple of camera men. Also, as studio head, Chris Plummer is always around which is unreal in that he has other stars and VIP's to contend with. Even the studio offices are devoid of people. Very strange indeed. The film depicts the Daisy character of wanting to sing and be in movies, but when she gets the chance she does nothing but sulk and seem unhappy at her success!! Extraordinary. It's been noted that Natalie herself said that she wasn't right for the role and that Tuesday Weld should have played Daisy. Amen.
A brilliant display of Natalie Wood's talent
jeremy319 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This is a great film. It is an almost satirical and comic look at "stardom" in Hollywood during the 1930s. Wood (in her mid to late 20s at the time) plays a teenager living in poverty in L.A. She has a great voice, and is discovered. The next thing you know she is the second coming of Judy Garland. She is exploited and used in every way. Christopher Plummer plays the tyrannical studio boss who bullies and intimidates her to make the most profit possible out of her stardom. Hia character is so brutally cynical and calculating.
Robert Redford plays a Prima Donna actor who has no sincerity and no conscience. In an infamous scene, he leaves his wife (Wood) stranded at a motel in the middle of the desert. He is a charmer, but he is someone who has no conscience or sense of decency. He is all about his perceived stardom, which is probably on the wane at the time.
I especially like Wood's role. She was able to show such depth and extremes of emotions. If her voice wasn't dubbed, she had a great voice, too. The best highlight of her talent is when she starts going insane over her fame. This role made me realize what a great actress she was.
I also liked the subtle humor in the movie. It was obviously satirizing the inaneness of Hollywood. The musical songs were so brilliantly silly and simple minded. It reminded me of the songs in the movie Nashville. I liked many other scenes where it was obvious that the creators of this film were having a good time poking fun of Hollywood.
Robert Redford plays a Prima Donna actor who has no sincerity and no conscience. In an infamous scene, he leaves his wife (Wood) stranded at a motel in the middle of the desert. He is a charmer, but he is someone who has no conscience or sense of decency. He is all about his perceived stardom, which is probably on the wane at the time.
I especially like Wood's role. She was able to show such depth and extremes of emotions. If her voice wasn't dubbed, she had a great voice, too. The best highlight of her talent is when she starts going insane over her fame. This role made me realize what a great actress she was.
I also liked the subtle humor in the movie. It was obviously satirizing the inaneness of Hollywood. The musical songs were so brilliantly silly and simple minded. It reminded me of the songs in the movie Nashville. I liked many other scenes where it was obvious that the creators of this film were having a good time poking fun of Hollywood.
A Harsh Look 'Inside'
cnycitylady26 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Inside Daisy Clover, although it starts off a little dazed, is a solid story of the harsh, sometimes rotten world of Hollywood. Daisy Clover is a street urchin with a golden voice and gets unbelievably lucky when she is signed to be a star. She navigates the realm of celebrity with the naivety of any uneducated fifteen year old but grows in wisdom and strength as the industry and the people who work within it take advantage of her inexperience and vulnerability.
Natalie Wood shows a more serious side of her talent as she expertly and believably suffers through the world that every kid dreams of. Her pathos and subtly pull you into the plight of her character without it feeling overbearing or melodramatic.
Almost without a cohesive storyline--the movie plays out more like a year in the life--but with a plethora of misdeeds that happen to our young heroine, I promise that you will be glued to your seat, hoping that she will not be swallowed up by the greed and manipulation that stardom breeds. 7/10
Natalie Wood shows a more serious side of her talent as she expertly and believably suffers through the world that every kid dreams of. Her pathos and subtly pull you into the plight of her character without it feeling overbearing or melodramatic.
Almost without a cohesive storyline--the movie plays out more like a year in the life--but with a plethora of misdeeds that happen to our young heroine, I promise that you will be glued to your seat, hoping that she will not be swallowed up by the greed and manipulation that stardom breeds. 7/10
Daisy Clover - Get the Weed Killer!
Plymouth-5817 February 2003
Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowell, Ruth Gordon
what a cast! What a waste!
Sheer, unending boredom abounds in this Hollywood story. Wood is unbelievable throughout as the oh-so-talented tomboy. Her hair looks like a wool mop, and is styled in a mid-60s shag even though the story takes place in the mid-30s. There are two equally horrid production numbers featuring Wood one filmed in black and white ("Everything's coming up Clover," she warbles). Watch carefully at the beginning of the black and white song, you'll notice Wood shaking her head as if she can't quite believe it either. Poor Wood. They gussyed her up in the most gawdawful Scarlett O'Hara ballgowns and then made her run around in them barefoot to underscore what wild child she's playing. Much of the time, Wood does not even get to speak, but hangs her head and glares at the camera.
Katharine Bard, who plays the mogul's serene and seemingly noble wife, looks like late period Marlene Dietrich and serves no purpose other than to inform us of Redford's bisexuality. McDowell, playing a secretary, has exciting lines, most of them informing Wood that her car is waiting or that so-and-so is waiting. Gordon, maybe in character, maybe not, looks dazed and confused and longing for the whole thing to be over.
This flick does not even score points for camp value.
Sheer, unending boredom abounds in this Hollywood story. Wood is unbelievable throughout as the oh-so-talented tomboy. Her hair looks like a wool mop, and is styled in a mid-60s shag even though the story takes place in the mid-30s. There are two equally horrid production numbers featuring Wood one filmed in black and white ("Everything's coming up Clover," she warbles). Watch carefully at the beginning of the black and white song, you'll notice Wood shaking her head as if she can't quite believe it either. Poor Wood. They gussyed her up in the most gawdawful Scarlett O'Hara ballgowns and then made her run around in them barefoot to underscore what wild child she's playing. Much of the time, Wood does not even get to speak, but hangs her head and glares at the camera.
Katharine Bard, who plays the mogul's serene and seemingly noble wife, looks like late period Marlene Dietrich and serves no purpose other than to inform us of Redford's bisexuality. McDowell, playing a secretary, has exciting lines, most of them informing Wood that her car is waiting or that so-and-so is waiting. Gordon, maybe in character, maybe not, looks dazed and confused and longing for the whole thing to be over.
This flick does not even score points for camp value.
Inside Daisy Clover Examines Just That ***1/2
edwagreen29 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A remarkable film where Natalie Wood gives her everything to the title part. This is definitely a story of frustration and that success cannot buy everything.
Ruth Gordon, her mother in the film, received a best supporting actress nomination. Shame is that after several excellent opening scenes, Gordon is not heard from again until the near end of the film. (She lost the coveted Oscar to Shelley Winters for "A Patch of Blue.")
Christopher Plummer is a standout as the hard driving, nasty producer Swan who uses Wood so as to make more money for the studio. He has no personal regard whatsoever. There are two scenes where his swagger is similar to his role of Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music," which was made in the same year as this film.
The curious part here is played by Robert Redford. He is also a star who has a problem with drinking. He weds Wood only to leave her for homosexual pursuits. This comes from out of the blue and is delicately left alone. Was this a takeoff on Rock Hudson?
Katherine Bard is effective as Plummer's long-suffering wife.
Wood's voice steadily improves as the film progresses.
Ruth Gordon, her mother in the film, received a best supporting actress nomination. Shame is that after several excellent opening scenes, Gordon is not heard from again until the near end of the film. (She lost the coveted Oscar to Shelley Winters for "A Patch of Blue.")
Christopher Plummer is a standout as the hard driving, nasty producer Swan who uses Wood so as to make more money for the studio. He has no personal regard whatsoever. There are two scenes where his swagger is similar to his role of Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music," which was made in the same year as this film.
The curious part here is played by Robert Redford. He is also a star who has a problem with drinking. He weds Wood only to leave her for homosexual pursuits. This comes from out of the blue and is delicately left alone. Was this a takeoff on Rock Hudson?
Katherine Bard is effective as Plummer's long-suffering wife.
Wood's voice steadily improves as the film progresses.
worth a see
rupie12 January 2012
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.
Awful...
Mehki_Girl23 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Bad over the top acting. Bad wig. And Natalie Wood was way too old to play a 15 year old.
The movie was overwrought and so was the acting all around. I'm surprised the bad guys weren't sporting handlebar mustaches.
The movie was just plain silly.
Sorry folks. With better lead casting (Ruth Gordon was always good) and a better more subtle script and a director telling Natalie to tone it down, it might have been decent. Indictment against Hollywood.
Did anyone watch the dallies and wasn't disturbed by that thing on her head? Natalie couldn't cut her hair for the movie? Hair grows back!
The movie was overwrought and so was the acting all around. I'm surprised the bad guys weren't sporting handlebar mustaches.
The movie was just plain silly.
Sorry folks. With better lead casting (Ruth Gordon was always good) and a better more subtle script and a director telling Natalie to tone it down, it might have been decent. Indictment against Hollywood.
Did anyone watch the dallies and wasn't disturbed by that thing on her head? Natalie couldn't cut her hair for the movie? Hair grows back!
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