Movies:
Inside Daisy Clover
- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Psychological Drama, Showbiz Drama
- Themes: Rise and Fall Stories, Actor's Life
- Director: Robert Mulligan
- Main Cast: Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall, Ruth Gordon
- Release Year: 1965
- Country: US
- Run Time: 128 minutes
Plot
Daisy Clover (Natalie Wood) goes from teenage girl to movie star practically overnight when her demented mother enters her voice in a talent-search contest. From a broken-down carnival on the Santa Monica Pier, in no time at all she is attending glamorous Hollywood parties. But Daisy soon learns that misery and pain go hand-in-hand with fame and fortune. Before Daisy completes her first film, the studio execs have her mother committed to an asylum without permission. Daisy tries to find happiness in a series of unfulfilling romances, her one-day marriage to Wade Lewis (Robert Redford) leaving her alone and divorced. After her mother dies, Daisy has a nervous breakdown and refuses to work, but the cold-hearted studio moguls threaten her with starvation if she does not report back to the soundstage. Christopher Plummer, Ruth Gordon (in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Roddy McDowell co-star in this story of a Hollywood dream that turns into a nightmare. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie GuideReview
Natalie Wood certainly seemed to want to be a big musical film star, but she really lacked the basic equipment (as witnessed by the dubbing of her singing in her only successful musical, West Side Story). This lack is one of the problems with Inside Daisy Clover; building a film about a musical comedy star around someone without real musical talent is just not a good idea. Still, Wood is clearly game and gives it her all -- sometimes to the point that the viewer wishes she would just pull back and relax a little. Perhaps if Daisy had been helmed by someone like Robert Aldrich, who has a gift for shepherding stars through ghoulish black comedies about Hollywood, the actress and the film might have been better served. Unfortunately, Robert Mulligan's direction is very hit-and-miss and lacks a cohesive vision. At times, Daisy is played straight, at others, much like the satire that it was in its original novel form. This indecisiveness is damaging, but Mulligan still creates some powerful moments, such as Wood's breakdown scene. Clover's supporting cast comes off better on the whole than its star, especially the always interesting Ruth Gordon and Christopher Plummer, operating in top "oily" mode. Daisy is ultimately unsatisfying, but there's enough "right" about it to make one regret that it didn't become the sharp and devastating picture that it could have been. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie GuideCast
- Natalie Wood - Daisy Clover
- Christopher Plummer - Raymond Swan
- Robert Redford - Wade Lewis
- Roddy McDowall - Walter Baines
- Ruth Gordon - The Dealer
Katherine Bard - Melora Swan; Betty Harford - Gloria Goslett; John Hale - Harry Goslett; Harold Gould - Cop; Ottola Nesmith - Old Lady in Hospital; Peter Helm - Milton Hopwood; Paul Hartman - Dancer; Edna Holland - Cynara
