Daisy Kenyon

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Movie
German title Daisy Kenyon
Original title Daisy Kenyon
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1947
length 99 minutes
Rod
Director Otto Preminger
script David Hertz
production Otto Preminger for 20th Century Fox
music Alfred Newman
camera Leon Shamroy
cut Louis Loeffler
occupation

Daisy Kenyon is an American feature film with elements of film noir from 1947. The leading roles in the love triangle are played by Joan Crawford , Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda , directed by Otto Preminger .

action

Successful lawyer Dan O'Mara has had an affair with illustrator Daisy Kenyon for some time. Daisy is increasingly dissatisfied with the overall situation, especially since Dan shows little inclination to leave his wife and family. After a heated argument, the relationship is on hold for some time. In the meantime, Daisy meets the former soldier Peter Lapham. Peter did not process the war experience sufficiently. He and Daisy get closer in intense conversations about their respective emotional problems.

Dan now has violent arguments with his nagging wife, who accuses him of having failed as a father. His distance and lack of affection led to the mental problems of the youngest daughter, Mary. Daisy is no longer sure whether she really still feels love for Dan, or whether she would rather live with Peter, who needs her and to whom she can give strength and confidence. In order to finally force things on, she accepts Peter's marriage proposal out of an impulse.

Development is now also driving Dan into action. He demands a divorce from his wife, which ends in a mud fight in court, where Daisy has to testify as a witness. Just as the divorce is about to be pronounced, Dan learns that Mary is being physically and emotionally abused by her mother. Daisy, who has already separated from Peter, now realizes how much little Mary would suffer if the birth parents actually split up. She feels overwhelmed by making a decision and flees the responsibility to a small hut in the mountains. Dan and Peter follow her; After long discussions, Daisy decides for Peter, who needs her more than Dan.

background

Joan Crawford joined Warner Brothers in 1943 after 18 years at MGM . For her portrayal of Mildred Pierce in Solange a Heart Beats , she won the Oscar for best leading actress at the Academy Awards in 1946 and the next film Humoresque also proved to be a success with both critics and audiences. In contrast to the mostly shallow triangular stories at MGM, Crawford took on dramatic roles at this point in her career, in which she has to fight for her place against the hostility of society. Joan Crawford had first tried to acquire the rights to the novel Daisy Kenyon from Elizabeth Janeway. Finally, 20th Century Fox won the bid for $ 100,000.

Otto Preminger had an exact replica of the famous New York nightclub "The Stork Club" built for the film. The numerous celebrities who appear as extras as guests during the club scenes include the two columnists Walter Winchell , Leonard Lyons as well as John Garfield , Damon Runyon , Mae Marsh and Tito Vuolo .

Theatrical release

The film proved relatively popular at the box office, with grossing $ 1,750,000 in the US. The success enabled Joan Crawford to sign a new contract with Warner Brothers in 1947 . She received a fee of $ 200,000 per film and a say in the casting, the choice of the director and the script.

Reception of the film

After the film was seen as a high-level soap opera for a long time , Daisy Kenyon is now understood as a realistic and realistic portrayal of emotional upheavals. All three protagonists are lonely in their own way and struggle with their own problems from their past. Crawford is not a calculating adulteress who wants a rich man, but a woman whose own happiness can only be achieved at the expense of her lover's wife and family. The men in her life are not princes dreams who promise the heroine a life without worries and full of harmony.

Georg Seeßlen was one of the first critics to analyze the subtext of Daisy Kenyon . For him the film sets:

"[...] openly presents the generally hidden motifs in woman's films. The figure represented by Andrews is a type of man that most women dream of as a husband - extremely successful in business, rich and powerful [...] ] In "Daisy Kenyon" - not a dream film - the successful businessman is seen as he often really is, inconsiderate, without scruples and without any interest in his wife or children. [...] Fonda is here [not a pleasant alternative and] is instead laden with its own problems. Daisy herself doesn't know exactly what she actually expects from life. She can only fight her way through and in the end choose between the two men "

Joan Crawford herself was less convinced of her performance.

“... if Otto Preminger hadn't directed, the film would have been a failure. The script was pure cliché. The usual love triangle with two attractive young men. .. That came across in the end, somehow. "

Reviews

The New York Times critic did not want to see an innovative approach in the film:

“Joan Crawford is in trouble with the men in 'Daisy Kenyon' again […] but this time […] in a slightly more mellow, adult way than usual in films of this kind. [...] Miss Crawford is an old expert in portraying emotionally insecure and frustrated women and she plays her role with a lot of expertise. "

Howard Mandelbaum expresses himself far more positively with the distance of over 50 years in an article in the Bright Lights Film Journal :

“Otto Preminger was one of the few who managed to bring Crawford down to a more human level. 'Daisy Kenyon' stars her, but she's only one side of a triangle and the male roles are better written than hers. Daisy is neither a sadist nor a masochist, but a sensitive, intelligent woman who can be hurt, but then does not strike back. Crawford does not for a moment give the impression that you are watching an Oscar winner at work. It's better than brilliant, it's real. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Cinema of feelings - history and mythology of the film melodrama , published as volume 9 in the Roloff and Seeßlen program, ISBN 3-499-17366-2 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legendaryjoancrawford.com
  2. ↑ Seeßlen p. 106f.
  3. ↑ .. if Otto Preminger hadn't directed it the picture would have been a mess. The script was cliche. The usual triangle helped out by two very handsome young men ... It came off. Sort of.
  4. ^ Joan Crawford is having man-trouble again in "Daisy Kenyon" [...] but it is] ...] somewhat more mature and compelling than the usual run of pictures of this sort. [...] Miss Crawford is, of course, an old hand at being an emotionally confused and frustrated woman and she plays the role with easy competence.
  5. ↑ Otto Preminger was one of the few able to scale Crawford down to mortal dimensions. Daisy Kenyon gives her the title role, but she is one-third of a triangle and the male roles are as well developed as hers. Daisy is neither sadist nor masochist but rather a sensitive, intelligent woman who is capable of being hurt yet doesn't revel in it or lash out at others. Not for a moment does Crawford remind us that we are watching an Oscar winner at work. She's better than magnificent; she's real.