Inside Daisy Clover (1965)

Daisy Clover is a 15-year-old girl being played by a 27-year-old Natalie Wood. That's a bit of a stretch, and I have to admit that I never really got past that. She's just too old for the part, and I'm not sure that it's absolutely necessary that Daisy is 15. Why can't she just as easily be 25?

Does she need to be 15 so that she can be more vulnerable to the powerful forces trying to use her? She's a minor, so her estranged sister ends up being her adult guardian, signing off on all her official paperwork. That's a small detail, though, and I'm not sure it matters that much. Just let her be 25.

Because she's supposed to be 15, though, it is a lot creepier, although the film doesn't make it as Lolita creepy as it could be. Wade Lewis (Robert Redford) is never given an age, but I suppose he's supposed to be in his 20s. Redford was 29. Anyway, Lewis and Clover end up briefly married. This is sort of where the whole film goes south for me.

What is this film even supposed to be about? A girl records a song and randomly sends it in to Hollywood. Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer) somehow hears the record and decides to make Daisy a star. Not just a singing star, but a full-blown movie star, too, I guess. That's all rather far-fetched, but that must be how he and his wife get their kicks. Maybe they did the same thing for Lewis, not sure.

Lewis, as it turns out, must be the kind of guy that bonks anything. He's bonked Swan's wife, he bonks Daisy, and he even bonks dudes. It makes him into a real creepy creep, because how could he treat other people like that, especially Daisy, but anyone for that matter?

Swan is also an absolutely creep. But at least he's more obvious about it. Daisy, for him, is just a toy. Someone that he can shape and mold and make money from. It's also amazing just how easy, apparently, it is to take a nobody from nowhere and turn her into a star. Granted, Daisy is a good-looking girl with natural talent, but how in the world did Swan know that simply by hearing her voice on one random record?

Still, I wonder what this movie wanted to be. It's not a comedy. It is somewhat creepy but holds back -- maybe just because it's 1965 and it could only imply things without spelling them out.

Did Daisy have a dream to be famous? Did she find out that fame isn't all that she thought it would be? Is she happy just to go back to being the Daisy Clover she was before the movie started?

Rating: 2/5 stars

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