Best movie of this year hands down!

A Masterpiece!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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. Academy Award nominated screenwriter Ruth Gordon returned to the screen after a more than 20 year absence to pick up her first of two Supporting Actress Oscar nominations as Wood's eccentric yet clueless mother. The film's Color Art Direction-Set Decoration and Costume Design were also nominated.None of the actors seem very committed to their parts and at least 30 minutes could be trimmed from the movie for all the empty scenes given its characters for contemplative moments that aren't adequately illustrated. 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. Roddy McDowall is his most professional assistant. As Swan's wife Melora, Katharine Bard plays a rather ill-defined role, perhaps she was the silent screen version of Miss Clover. Harold Gould appears briefly as a cop on the pier from which Daisy was whisked to stardom.

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.

This movie did not hit the mark on so many levels, but certainly an interesting movie experience. First off I just dislike the title of this film. 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. In this movie she's captivating. Her lip synching isn't great, but her energy in the production numbers is believable. A Miss: Daisy Clover is discovered as a singer, not a musical performer – so I thought it was weird that she goes to Hollywood just because of her voice and miraculously is also beautiful, a dancer, great performer, actor, etc. I would have believed her as 20 maybe but not 15! That made it hard to really feel she was a young and innocent girl, nor feel empathy for what she must be going through. A Miss: What is that colour of hair she has in this movie? It looks like brown with an overlay of concrete dust streaked in. And what is with the gold lame outfit they keep showing her in – it's so 60s! They could have set this the 60s – but if it's in the 30s, show the 30s please.A Miss: Daisy seems to lose her edgy spunk after being absorbed into Swan studio. At the night of her premiere as they are preparing to leave, Plumber is telling her smile big, bigger, and curtsy low. His wife Melora gives her a personal memento gift and the whole time Daisy just smiles a little confusedly – doesn't say a word. Then she walks out alone for some reason (although they were all supposed to go together?) and Roddy McDowell says 'Here's something for your scrapbook." and it's a promo ad out of a newspaper on her premiere. Suddenly Daisy acts like she's been completely insulted and throws it aside and goes outside and has a hissy fit, fling the gift away, etc. and writing on the building "Raymond Swan is a Mother Killer!"…a convenient subplot supports this sentiment, but I'm sure the wink is, yeah, Motherkiller – I get it. And Daisy so hates Roddy McDowell it's lethal, but I never really understood why.A Miss: If they want so much control over this 15 year old, wouldn't Swan and cohorts be making sure she had a friend/mentor to watch over her every second, know all her secrets, and indoctrinating her into studio life? 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. So why is there no one watching out to make sure she doesn't get tangled up with Wade since Raymond and Melora knew all about him? And if she's 15 isn't that statutory rape? The Swans finally get around to stepping in – and so Wade asks Daisy to marry him in front on the Swans. So they get married – same question – is she allowed to marry at 15? A Miss: An elaborate wedding and no plans for the honeymoon? The newlyweds stay in a shabby adobe roadside motel in a place called Jaw Bone where he abandons her? And they arrive like fugitives, albeit stopping in what appears to be the middle of the day totally exhausted, saying it's an hour before dawn – seems so fake. Wouldn't Swan have everything to say about the image of his precious Daisy and take care of her honeymoon? A Miss: The almost comedic ending to this movie – so strange. A better ending would have been that she succeeds - or does herself in with booze, etc. This is a tragedy right?A Hit: I love when Melora screams "She doesn't have a headache – she has a HEARTAAACH!!! Best overwrought line in the show!!A Hit: Plummer is great in his talk to Daisy by the pool. Only thing is they never show Daisy's face – just the top of her head and so you don't get any satisfaction of seeing her reactions to his words. He's such a vampire – giving her deep passionate energy-sucking kisses and the next moment slapping her face. "There's more where you came from."A Hit: Ruth Gordon is worth watching – she's stands out as the only real, flesh and blood person, with any colour at all in the movie.A Hit: Daisy's meltdown in the sound booth - the spooky silence with just cold machinery noises faintly heard while we see her losing it in stages. Very Orson Wellsian.

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.