Daisy Kenyon (1947)

terrible... so disappointed.

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

just watch it!

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

A woman becomes romantically involved with a married man and an army veteran. Given the talents of the star trio and the director, this one is a disappointment. This seems to be an attempt at another "Mildred Pierce," but falls far short. The main problem is the screenplay, which is little more than a soap opera. Crawford has to choose between rich but married Andrews and decent but dull Fonda. There is no exposition, with Crawford and Andrews having a tiff in the opening scene even before we get to know the characters. The dialog is mostly pedestrian. The goings on are mostly mundane until the latter stages, when it starts to become somewhat interesting. There's not much here beyond star gazing.

I'm not referring to the title character, played by the heavily shoulder padded Joan Crawford. I am referring to the embittered wife (Ruth Warrick) of the man (Dana Andrews) that Crawford is in love with. Warrick is an obviously bi-polared woman who shows no love for their two daughters who prefer the love of their much absent father. Warrick is determined to keep her paws on her husband, even if the marriage is miserable. We've seen this type of woman on screen many times, most notably to me Kay Francis in "In Name Only", Barbara O'Neill in "All This and Heaven Too", and most nastily, Constance Ford in "A Summer Place". These characters aren't one dimensional, they are just women who should have remained single (or questioned their sexuality), and prove that not all women should become mothers. Controlling, snobby (not unlike her role of Phoebe on "All My Children") and even somewhat abusive, Warrick is also conflicted inside, and the script gives the impression that she needs a ton of therapy if she is going to have any type of loving relationship with her children and some sort of communication with Andrews.This plot line is nothing spectacular, but with director Otto Preminger at the helm, a lot of psychology is inserted to explore the four miserable adult characters. That also includes Henry Fonda as a recently returned soldier who ends up marrying Crawford on the rebound. Lacking chemistry, Fonda and Crawford seem more like brother and sister than marital partners. It is ironic that Fonda would share chemistry with the three other dramatic divas of the golden age of cinema (Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn), but has absolutely none with Crawford. She looks more masculine here even than she did as "Mildred Pierce". This is the type of film she did better in the 1930's, as the film does not suit the changes in America after World War II ended.

In ten years Joan Crawford went from being "box office poison" to winning an Oscar for "Mildred Pierce" to almost winning again for "Possessed" - most critics felt she should have won but Loretta Young did for "The Farmer's Daughter". Both director, Otto Preminger, and star, Henry Fonda, wished to forget "Daisy Kenyon" later in their careers and it was a film that opted for mushy romance over psychological drama, elements it had in abundance.Commercial artist Daisy Kenyon (Crawford) is being given the runaround by her married lover Dan (Dana Andrews). Initially he comes across as a brash charmer juggling mistress and family but in reality his wife is a neurotic who takes her frustrations out by abusing younger daughter Marie (Connie Marshall)!!! But Daisy is getting fed up with always coming second and the endless waiting by the telephone, so when she meets Peter (Fonda) who impulsively asks her to marry him she says yes.This movie could have gone in so many directions rather than down the road to romance. There was the child abuse angle - Marie was always a bundle of nerves at the thought of being left with her mother and even turns up at court with a bandaged ear but Dan seems oblivious to everything but his own happiness. At the end he even indicates that both mother and daughter would get used to each other in time but he had to be free!! Again, another sequence shows him accepting a brief (he was a lawyer of course) that dealt with a Japanese man who had won the Purple Heart but returned to find his home had been seized. Dan was told accepting this case would make him feel more worthwhile and not just a society lawyer. He takes the case and loses but you only hear about it, by this time the movie is really the Daisy and Dan story!! Oh, and Peter has some psychological problems stemming from the death of his first wife. He often wakes up at night with horrible nightmares. His problems, too, are miraculously righted and the end of the movie shows the three of them snowed in at a mountain cabin where Peter and Dan, like in a court case, put forward their cases as to why they are the best person for Daisy.Peter Fonda comes off best (probably because he is a better actor than Dana Andrews) but his pacing and demeanor are so dreamlike, it was almost as though he was in a different movie - he probably wished he was!!

Artist Daisy Kenyon (Joan Crawford) has been having an on/off affair with married man, lawyer, Dan O'Mara (Dana Andrews) for many years, she was happy with the state of affairs for the most part but their petty squabbles have taken their toll on their relationship and Daisy decides to bring it to an end. In steps mild mannered soldier and widower, Sgt Peter Lapham (Henry Fonda), home from the war to take his place in Daisy's affections. Lapham a yacht designer by trade knowing he is aiming high offers her marriage with the promise of a relaxed life on the cape. Daisy's affections are muddled, what will she do? Well this is the third of Fox Noir's recent releases and it is again badly labeled as Noir, its pure soap opera, that admittedly has some interesting use of light and shadow, but this alone does not a Film Noir make? I can't really believe how all so very nice and cosy all the main characters are with each other, when there should be arguments and fistfights all we get is some shared tears and a great understanding for the others predicaments. Not terrible by any stretch, but not essential either.