Daisy Kenyon

This is a well-crafted "love triangle" movie in the visual style of film noir, but without the plot development typical of film noir. No murders, gangsters, or cops. The cinematography is excellent and Preminger shows his mastery as a director, eliciting stellar performances from Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.

Crawford in particular shows her star quality with superbly nuanced articulation and facial expressions. Her opening lines are amazing to listen to, her voice quavering nervously to show that she is under tremendous emotional pressure.

Dana Andrews gives probably the best performance of his career as the cheating husband who really wants to make things work, but is torn between his neurotic wife, his adorable kids, and his mistress.

Henry Fonda gives a brilliantly understated characterization of an eccentric war-torn hero hiding behind a veneer of gentleness and innocence, who cleverly but compassionately manipulates the situation in order to bring about a satisfactory resolution.

There a few plot twists and a happy ending. Highly recommended.

Joan Crawford is "Daisy Kenyon" in this 1947 film about a woman torn between two men - one, a married, successful man (Dana Andrews), and the other, a returning soldier and widower (Henry Fonda). Directed by Otto Preminger, it's a good noir, better than "Dark Angel" but nowhere near "Laura."

Andrews is married to Ruth Warrick and has two daughters who need him, as their mother, when unhappy, tends to be abusive. He has a long-time relationship with Daisy, who is a successful commercial artist.

The situation isn't ideal for her, but she's in love. One night she meets a soldier who wants to build a life with her. Can she break from Andrews - and will he let her?

There are several striking things about this film. One is the casting. In order to play the lead in "Grapes of Wrath" in 1940, Darryl Zanuck forced Henry Fonda to sign a 7-year-contract, for which Fonda never forgave him.

One can see an example of why here. In this film, he has to share leading man duties with Dana Andrews in what is, in fact, a Joan Crawford movie. To me, Fonda's role in this seems very inauspicious and one where a lesser star could have been cast. Just an opinion. He's excellent as a lonely, unhappy man who falls for Daisy - Fonda at this point still had some traces of boyishness.

The second striking thing for me was the subtlety of the acting. There is a scene in which Dana Andrews, returning from an 18-day-trip, can't get the usually reliable Daisy on the phone, so he goes to see her.

It's a scene that should be shown in acting schools - full of atmosphere and subtext, so little is said in dialogue; so much is what lies beneath the surface. Both Crawford and Andrews give wonderful performances.

The third striking thing is the Greenwich Theater, which I had no idea was torn down until now. There was indeed a restaurant across from it, too. That's also my old neighborhood, and it was a delight to see. I believe I went to the opening day of "Fargo" there.

Throughout the film, the symbolism of a New York cab is used: if you were staying where you were, you let the cab go; if not, you asked it to wait. The theme reinforces the ending of "Daisy Kenyon" very well. A good movie.

I liked this film a lot because it's a rare movie where Joan Crawford doesn't overshadow her male co-stars and here she is pitted up against two fine male actors who match her emotions and intelligence. Dana Andrews was never better stepping out from his usual good guy roles to play a heel with compassion. Mr Andrews acting is both subtle and emotinaly strong. Coming off his strong performance a year earlier in the Best Years of Our Lives he was clearly at his peak at this time. There is a lot going on in this film from suggestions of child abuse on the part of Ruth Warrick to an interesting spin on the theme of infidelity where the most sympathetic character is the "other" woman Daisy Kenyon. I can see why this role would have appealed to Ms. Crawford having played variotions on it in "The Women" and "Rain" among others throughout her career. She is the wise one here and it makes the movie very interesting for that reason. I won't say who wins her in the end but it leaves a nice smile on your face and you have a little laugh to boot.

Though the second half descends into more suds than the first, the movie is more uncompromising than I expected. Daisy (Crawford) gets caught up in a triangle between married man O'Mara (Andrews) and returning soldier Lapham (Fonda). The latter is a sweet guy who more importantly wants to marry her, while the high-powered attorney O'Mara seems more interested in himself. The trouble is Daisy can't seem to resist the self-centered attorney. Worse, he's got two loving little girls at home and a wife who would respond if he just treated her right. So, Daisy's head is pulled in one direction, while her heart is yanked in the other.

Surprisingly, it's really Andrews's movie as he plays the cad to forceful perfection. At the same time, dear Joan's more restrained than expected as she anguishes over the next tug on her heart strings. Fonda slyly low-keys it until the end when we finally get some insight into the ex-soldier's taciturn style. Together, the three play off one another effectively, and they better since their interactions comprise the movie.

The first half sets up the predicament pretty compellingly as we get to know the three main characters. It's hard to like O'Mara and his abrupt manner until we see him soften with his enchanting daughters (Garner & Marshall). Then too, the problems with his wife appear more his doing than hers. But is divorce the answer and does Daisy really want something more permanent with a guy who would leave such a promising family, especially with a nice guy like Lapham waiting in the wings.

No need to give away the ending, except I think it's more unsparing than I expected, particularly for the two little girls. All in all, it's Joan hitting the right emotional keys, even if Andrews steals the film.

This one may seem quite turgid to a modern audience's sensibilities but, for its time, it was fairly strong stuff, with solid performances by its three leads, Crawford, Fonda and Andrews, under Otto Preminger's brisk direction. Dana, who never really achieved the recognition he deserved for the subtlety of his work, in an extremely difficult role, gives it all the shadings one could wish for. Nice production values and one of the talented David Raksin's best scores enhance a very watchable story with an outcome that isn't as predictable as it seems, come the final clinch.