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Reviews
Inside Daisy Clover (1965)
Bill Frawley Died After Seeing This Movie
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. Set in the mid-1930's, Daisy looks and behaves like a proto-hippie of the 'mid-60's.
Depictions of the radio and recording industries of the 1930's more closely resemble the advent of rock & roll radio in the late 50's. And don't even get me started about the 45 RPM (the 7" discs with the large hole) records shown in the movie, despite the fact that they first appeared in 1949.
Melodrama abounds, too. An LGBT theme is handled poorly (much to a young Robert Redford's chagrin). 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". Actresses who would have been an appropriate age, and who would have portrayed Daisy more believably, include Mia Farrow (age 20 in 1965), Teri Garr (18), Patty Duke (18), Kim Darby (18), or any number of other young, working actresses who could have played a believable teenager.
I watched this entire movie, but only because I felt I had to, once.
The Outer Limits: Starcrossed (1999)
A Clever "Casablanca" Update
Nathan Fillion ("Firefly", "Castle") is Rick to Angeline Ball's ("The Commitments", "Eastenders") Ilsa in this thinly veiled homage to Casablanca. "Star Crossed" is great fun for fans of "Casablanca", but this time the events take place 114 years after the original 1942 movie. Occupying aliens stand-in for Germans and Captain Louis Renault is now a Russian woman, all crossing paths at a coffee bar in a remote neutral city. Deals are cut, threats are made, and old romances are rekindled. It's all very familiar, right down to the crucial confrontation just before take-off. There's no piano player, but Angelina Ball displays the talents which made her a star in her native Ireland.