Sadly, in On a Clear Day, this blurring of lines manifests in Chabot’s unwarranted contempt for Daisy, which mixes a little too easily with Montand’s post-production complaints. It was unreasonably common for Minnelli films to be so intertwined with real life that it became difficult to know where reality ended and fantasy began. It was a claim Minnelli vehemently denied he was responsible for the final cut, and it was not Streisand but Paramount, realizing that the planned three-hour roadshow format was hopelessly out of date by 1970, who insisted an hour of footage be removed. After the film was released, Montand claimed Streisand had his scenes whittled down in the editing room to soothe her own ego. If Chabot often yawns his way through events that should be a fantastic boost to both his psyche and his career, he’s partly doing so on behalf of Minnelli who, consciously or not, was approaching films at this point with weary familiarity.īut Chabot’s contempt for Daisy mirrors Montand’s dislike of his co-star a little too well. On one level, the character of Chabot is a stand-in for Vincente Minnelli, a man who manipulates for a living, whose ego overrides everyone else’s agency, whose needs are considered a priority by default. Montand plays Chabot with a strange demeanor, as though he were no longer able to experience a positive emotion, even toward that which he ostensibly desires. When a colleague suggests Chabot hypnotize her telepathically, controlling her at whim from a distance and not just when she comes to his office, he balks momentarily, and only because he believes he can’t do it, not that he shouldn’t. He believes Daisy to be unintelligent and without substance and, apparently, undeserving of basic respect. When her answers hint at something unusual, he digs deeper, uncovering what seems to be an even bigger scam: Daisy claiming to be the reincarnation of a sophisticated, sexy socialite named Melinda who lived in London in the early 1800s.Īfter multiple sessions where Chabot induces hypnotic regression on Daisy without her permission, as well as some research and a little soul-searching, Chabot comes to believe Daisy’s tales, and falls in love with Melinda Chabot’s contempt for Daisy, however, remains.
Chabot has by this time pegged Daisy as a con artist, thus he has no qualms about violating her rights, telling her he’ll help her only to ask other questions under hypnosis instead. Chabot later, she returns to ask him for help with her smoking addiction. As he hypnotizes a student at the front of the room, Daisy also goes under, proving to be an easy subject and of interest to Dr. Marc Chabot (Yves Montand), who on this day is demonstrating hypnosis, and sounding a lot more like Bela Lugosi than anyone involved in the film surely intended. On a Clear Day is wild with color and style, and Streisand, in her third film, had finally gained the experience and confidence she needed to create a truly memorable performance.ĭaisy Gamble attends a psychology course taught by Dr. It’s another of Minnelli’s fabulous opening sequences, unique both in technical achievement and because of its then-unheard-of use of a teaser open, Minnelli deftly proving that the cold open could be much more than an attention grab.Įqually stunning are the flashbacks to the Regency era of the early 1800s, with Streisand gorgeous in beaded gowns by the incomparable Cecil Beaton. Her world is overflowing with the bright pop of daffodils and roses, as the spectacular time-lapse photography of the intro can attest. But as we learn in the opening musical number, Daisy has a strange gift: She can make flowers grow quickly. Thus On a Clear Day You Can See Forever was born, featuring the thoroughly modern Daisy Gamble (Streisand) as a vibrant 20-something who attends random courses in a host of schools all over New York City. When Barbra Streisand emerged as a cinematic force of nature strong enough to keep the romantic musical genre alive long past its sell-by date, it must have seemed inevitable that she and Minnelli would eventually work together. He drifted for a few years, though was still remembered as the triumphant director of 1958’s Gigi.
After the fiasco known as The Sandpiper (1965) came and went, stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton moved on to the sure-fire reputation-restorer Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Director Vincente Minnelli was not so lucky MGM let their contract with him lapse without so much as a shrug.
0 kommentar(er)
