Inside Daisy Clover

Plot synopsis:
In the mid-1930s, Daisy Clover (Natalie Wood) is a teenage tomboy, who lives in a ramshackle trailer with her eccentric mother (Ruth Gordon) on a California beach and dreams of Hollywood stardom. She submits a song recording to the well-known film producer Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer), who puts her under contract. Ray and his wife Melora (Katharine Bard) foster Daisy's rise to fame by any means necessary, forcing Daisy to deal with the pressures of stardom and the Swans' manipulation of her life and career. Daisy reluctantly accepts the placement of her mother in a mental institution, to protect Daisy's reputation as "America's valentine", and is told to tell any interviewers that her mother is dead.
Daisy finds some relief in a fellow Swan-discovered star, Wade Lewis (Robert Redford). The two begin a relationship, though their heavy drinking and partying is not good for either of their reputations. Ray (whom Wade has nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness") fears that the romance will interrupt Daisy's busy schedule. To quell his worries, Wade asks Daisy to marry him, and the ceremony is held on the Swans' estate. However, the first night of their honeymoon in Arizona, Wade drives off while Daisy is sleeping, abandoning her. Daisy returns to the Swan home and runs into an extremely intoxicated Melora who reveals to Daisy that Melora had an affair with Wade who is actually a closet homosexual. The next morning, Ray tells Daisy that he knew about Wade's sexual orientation, but that she had to find out for herself, as did his wife. Ray then scoops her into his arms and kisses her, which begins their affair.
Daisy takes her mother out of the mental institution and moves her into a beach house. After her mother's death, Daisy has a nervous breakdown at the studio. She goes back to the beach house and spends her day after day silently in bed under the care of a private nurse. Melora visits, assuring Daisy she is not jealous of her affair with Ray. Wade comes to see Daisy, but the most he gets out of her is a smile. Ray, impatient that Daisy is taking so long to recover, loses his temper and tells her she must finish the pending motion picture. He also tells her that he has her under contract for five years, but does not care what happens to her after she completes the film. Ray fires the nurse and leaves the beach house.
Right after Ray's departure, Daisy attempts suicide by putting her head in the oven, only to be interrupted by ringing phones and the arrival of visitors. The next day Daisy cuts her hair, changes her clothes, and turns the gas oven back on. She then lights a flame on the stove, grabs a cup of coffee, and strolls out of the house to the beach. The house explodes behind her. When a passerby asks what happened, she shrugs and replies, "Someone declared war!"

Tags: cult, depressing, romantic, melodrama

Review:
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.
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.
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.
seems fake.Natalie Wood, 27 years old, plays 15-year old Daisy Clover, a spunky tomboy/brat/beach bum extraordinaire.
Daisy, who lives with her eccentric elderly mom, played by Ruth Gordon, in a shabby wooden trailer near the beach in Southern California, has Hollywood stars in her eyes.
And when Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer), head of The Swan Studio comes calling, Daisy jumps at the chance to be a movie star.She leaves her mom and lets Swan remake her into America's ideal of a teenage girl.
Natalie Wood acts like a silent film star, mugging atrociously, and playing tomboy like a truck driver in army boots.
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.
Natalie Wood plays Daisy Clover whose manufactured rise to fame is chronicled beginning on her 15th birthday.
At 26, Wood plays the tough talking tomboy for what its worth, but the streetwise Daisy seems to lose her spunk and ambition the minute she enters Swan Studios.
Except for Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford, the supporting cast is forgettable, and the only performance of interest besides Wood's is Ruth Gordon's as her mother.
Gavin Lambert wrote a biography of Natalie Wood in which he says the film was originally some 20 minutes longer, a musical number was cut, and Daisy's narration was heard throughout the film not just at the beginning and end as in the released film.
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!!
A decidedly odd film that is wonderfully script and filmed, with lovely performances from Natalie Wood, Robert Redford and Christopher Plummer (of course).
But of course this film would not be half of what it is without the great and adventurous acting skills of Natalie Wood, who was able to be a convincing fifteen year old when she was in her late twenties.
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.
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.
Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowell, Ruth Gordon  what a cast!
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.
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.
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.
The story is too melodramatric; was never remade for commercial TV or as a Lifetime movie of the week either.As for the acting, I've always felt that Natalie Wood was born at the wrong time for talking pictures - she would have been bigger than Mary Pickford had she been born at the turn of the century.
"Inside Daisy Clover" is a pointless and deceptive film with Natalie Wood in the lead role of Daisy Clover.
Daisy Clover is a naive barefooted teenager tomboy that lives in a shack nearby the sea with her insane mother that out of the blue is discovered as a singer by Hollywood producer Raymond Swan and promoted to be the America´s darling in 1936 (meaning in the Depression decade).
I kept hoping that INSIDE DAISY CLOVER would get over the clumsy opening scenes and turn into an interesting story about Hollywood's past.
On paper, it may have looked like a good idea but something went very much amiss.It's phony from start to finish with Natalie Wood pretending to be the awkward ragamuffin whose recording of a single song turns her into a Hollywood superstar who finds out that Tinseltown is really a nightmare for her sensitive "inside." Her singing (dubbed) is so lacking in anything suggesting a studio mogul would want to summon her for an audition, let alone an interview.Christopher Plummer is unbelievably caddish in the kind of role he ought to want to forget more than he does the captain in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
Robert Redford has a meaningless role as the gay man Daisy loves and Roddy McDowall is simply acting pretty much like himself.The script has as much depth as tissue paper.
The opening voice-over in which Natalie Wood claims to be fifteen years old (she was 27 when this came out) sets the tone for a film in which everyone involved seems to realize that they are falling well short of credibility.
Viewing it from the year 2000, however, it looks like a dreary self-important 60's film attempting to be about the trials of an imaginary wannabee starlet in the 30's, never coming off as believable on any count.The one thing I found interesting about this film is that the story gave Warner Brothers an excuse to use their own movie studio as the setting for some of the shots.
Granted Natalie Wood is playing young when the actress was in her late 20's--but her legend is alive and well in this film.
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.
Natalie Wood is the neurotic teenage star of the title (shades of Judy Garland) signing away her soul and her sanity to Mephisophelian studio boss Christopher Plummer.
A great Hollywood story that unfortunately left me disconcerted by the fact that this is a story that takes place during the 1930s & 40's but Natalie Woods character is dressed and made up like she is in the 1960s.
Natalie Woods costumes are simply horrendous and the films ending looks way off and zany..
However, the performances (Ruth Gordon as "The Dealer" is a standout; Robert Redford in one of his earliest films plays a bisexual) and the settings will likely entertain you to the satisfying ending.
This was a film about people in insufferably painful conditions of poverty and societal rejection and pressure; their consequent needs to escape those realities in their respective ways were expectedly exaggerated, and I think this is something that critics of this film miss.Finally, the portrayal of a restless 15 year old, in my opinion as an actor, was indeed convincing, and the comedic conflict between Natalie Wood's character and her pre-senile mother was played superbly by Miss Wood and Ruth Gordon, respectively; I laugh when I remember Daisy, trying to penetrate her mother's fog in explaining her career aims, saying: "Concentrate," over and over.
Ruth Gordon is annoying as usual as her dimwitted Mother,  and Robert Redford, as always, has a good chemistry with Natalie,as the homosexual movie actor she falls in love with.
15 year old tomboy Daisy Clover (Natalie Wood) lives with her flaky mother (Ruth Gordon) in a trailer on Angel Beach, California and works the picture booth.
She signs up with Hollywood studio head Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer) for 5 years.
Anachronisms abound."Inside Daisy Clover" started to lose me with its opening shot of a 15-year-old girl, played by an obviously 26-or-so Natalie Wood.
Poor Redford (who did his best), Ruth Gordon (in a small, under-appreciated role), and cinematographer Charles Lang (glorious photography), whose best efforts were wasted.Though Ms. Wood was an attractive and talented actress, her being a dozen years older than her character pushed me beyond the boundaries of "suspension of disbelief".
Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy MacDowell and the always extraordinary Ruth Gordon( quite heart rending here).
And the cast - how can you go wrong with Natalie Wood, Ruth Gordon, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford and Roddy MacDowell?
Although Natalie Wood (even at 27 years of age) was uniquely qualified to play the title role of a 15 year old child actress – in this rags-to-riches story of a boardwalk 'street teen' wannabe singer that becomes America's valentine (the screen's latest Orphan Annie) – this drama is a pretty superficial look at Hollywood stereotypes.Directed by Robert Mulligan, the shallow story by Gavin Lambert with its cut-out characters lacks credence.
As insiders, the director and writer seem to have forgotten that their audience might not be able to fill in the blanks by imagining the rest, or they assumed too much.Robert Redford plays an Errol Flynn-like narcissistic sex symbol of his day, Christopher Plummer plays producer Raymond Swan.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I think Daisy is a variety of characters but mostly Judy Garland with a little Deanna Durbin, evident by the end and how Miss Durbin left Hollywood at a very young age.
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.
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.
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.
I admit I haven't read all the reviews of this movie, but of the ones I did read I was surprised to find that nobody mentioned that Natalie Wood has only about 12 lines of dialogue in a film in which she is the star.
Natalie Wood plays teenager Daisy Clover who sends a 45 vinyl record (it's the '30s) to Swan Studios and soon becomes America's "Little Miss Valentine." And she pulls it off, even though we saw her at the same age 10 years earlier in "Rebel Without a Cause." For aspiring writers and directors -- and for working ones -- I challenge you to find a film where the absence of dialogue is used with more effectiveness, in this case, underrated Natalie Wood saying nothing as her world whirls aorund her with dizzying speed, romanced by Wade Lewis (Robert Redford), mentored by Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer), befriended by Mrs. Swan (Katherine Bard in a transcendent performance).
And the name Daisy Clover is just too stupid – I understand the movie is based on a book – still stupid.I'm always entranced at how absolutely beautiful Natalie Wood is.
Not just letting her run all over the place, out of control, after they've just groomed her up for a show – something like a little kid playing in the dirt in their Sunday best – i.e. if this is a studio family, where are the parents?A Miss: Obviously the charming cad Wade Lewis isn't good for Daisy – hijacking her away from her shows and premiere.
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.
Daisy (Natalie Wood) is a lost child, who is lost throughout the movie.
Mulligan's use of absolute silence in the studio when Daisy breaks down in the isolation booth is brilliantly disturbing, an unforgettable scene.By the way, the first few times I saw this film on TV years ago, the reference to the Redford character's homosexuality had been cut out.
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.
Though director Robert Mulligan and actress Natalie Wood did fine work together on "Love With The Proper Stranger", their follow up picture, "Inside Daisy Clover", is a near total disaster.Set in the mid-1930s, the film centres on Daisy Clover (Wood), a teenage tomboy who hopes to escape a life of poverty by singing her way to Hollywood stardom.
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.
The role of a 15 year old tomboy who dreams of and eventually becomes a movie star finally went to Natalie Wood, who works very hard to lose herself in the role.
The stars themselves were disposable, there always were more right around the corner, and the studio could promote them to the public to guarantee they would bring in the crowds.But for me watching this movie was fun to see early roles of Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, and Christopher Plummer.
While Redford was quite experienced in TV roles, it appears that this was his first theatrical movie.Even though she was probably 26 when this film was made, Natalie Wood is a 15-year-old girl, Daisy Clover, living with her mother in a small shack near the southern Califirnia beach, and making money selling fake autographs on photos of famous stars.
( I remember making a speaking record like that myself, in the 1950s, in a booth at the Ponchartrain Beach in New Orleans.) Christopher Plummer is wealthy studio boss Raymond Swan, and he gets Daisy's tape.
They set about making her a star.Robert Redford as Wade Lewis is another studio star and Daisy meets him at a house party.
He was probably playing his age, around 28 when the film was made.There are lots of things wrong with this movie, and the over-acting of Wood in her role as Daisy Clover is the one that bothered me the most.
Natalie Wood played a 1930s teen star who become famous and suffer a price for fame (married a handsome actor who turned out be homosexual, the movie studio made her not visited her mother in mental hospital (so Daisy became more lonely)and had mental breakdown.