On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

On A Clear day You can See Forever is truly a wonderful, feel good movie. Barbra Streisand's portrayl of Daisy Gamble is absolutely endearing. The character of Daisy is so sweet and child-like, and at the same time cooky and hysterically clumsy. In the very same movie she also portrays a sophisticated seductress of Brittish decent from the 19th century. Completely the opposite of her Daisy Gamble character. Daisy goes to see a doctor to help her quit smoking and while under hypnosis reveals the personality of Melinda, the Brittish seductress. Her doctor falls for Melinda, but is not in any way interested in Daisy in a romantic way. However, Daisy thinks the doctor is falling in love with her, and she certainly is falling in love with him. It is this plot, combined with the movies vivid color and great songs, as well as Barbra's wonderful dimmensions of acting in this film, and a terrific supporting cast, that make it such a treat to watch. By the end of the movie, you TRULY, REALLY "FEEL" Daisy's sense of feeling better about herself and loving herself for who she is. Although I have enjoyed Barbra's other musicals,(some more than others),this one is the only one that, I feel, truly leaves you with a sense of wonderment. On A Clear day You Can See Forever is an EXCELLENT, WONDERFUL movie. A visual and audial treat. Enjoy it.

Frankly, I think the discussion of this movie will never end. We don't know what director's cut was like...may have been better or worse. The release was just bad timing. and there was no appetite for this in the "movie going" public.

It is a dinosaur.

Streisand was at her best in this film. Montand wasn't awful, just miscast. I recently watched some of his other movie performances, and was left with a question about the appeal that folks had in him to begin with. The music/songs were only brought to life by Streisand....who else could have held your interest in the lyrics? If this had been released before "Hello Dolly" it would have been a hit. Instead, it made Streisand look like a "one-trick-pony".

Director V.Minnelli was the right choice, in my opinion, and any adaption from stage to screen is always risky. Especially with a musical. No matter how you feel about this movie, try to imagine it without her. Who could pull it off? Your answers will thrill me.

I think, all in all, it was just made at the wrong time. When I watch it now, I feel very nostalgic about the past. Yeah! It was cool to have your bedding match your nightgown!

Okay, granted you have to like Barbra Streisand to love this movie. But for those of you who don't, it's worth a catch just to see Bob Newhart and Jack Nicholson as "young" men. Jack is especially funny in his short scenes with Barbra and her fiancée...

But the main reason to see this flick is the acting and musical talent of Barbra. She has to STRETCH to play a mousy crowd follower, and then switch it up to play a haughty wealthy socialite in a past time period. The costumes are out of this world, and the film should have won an academy award for costume design, although Barbra's figure did her costumes justice. The periods in history represented by the film are stunningly presented. All in all, this is my favorite movie of all time. There is laughter, sorrow, drama, singing, dancing, lots of Barbra skin showing, sexuality, scorn, mocking, a panorama of events and celebrations and Barbra's eventual awakening as her own person. I salute Vicente Minnelli, post mortem.

This is one of those musicals that rarely gets talked about. Even the original stage version is not as well known as say, "Oklahoma!" or "West Side Story", but it should be. It has some wonderful music and an intriguing story.

However, comparing the stage version of this show with the film would be pointless, because all filmed musicals of Broadway shows usually change in more then a few ways. As for this film, it is a charming watch, and an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. You don't need to be fans of either of the lead actors, but it does help if you are a musical fan and are somewhat interested in the science of ESP.

The songs in this film are all great, not one of them are what I would consider "filler". A few of the original songs from the stage show have been replaced here with different pieces, but they are good ones nontheless. My only complaint in them is Yves Montand's singing. It's difficult enough to understand his spoken word, but it's even worst when he sings. John Cullum's singing in the original Broadway version is so clear and strong, and Montand is just not at par with that. Still, the quality of the songs themselves, make up for this. The Technicolor is stupendous, lusch and vivid. It's a shame that the film was cut so badly before it was released. Not having seen that version, it's difficult for me to say whether or not it would have been an improvement over the finished product, but I doubt it. As it is, this is a decent, pleasant musical film, and worth watching if you are a fan of the genre.

This is one of those films that one would like to praise without reservation, but, alas!, some elements are not quite up to the high level of some of its attributes.

Streisand, after that stunning title montage (Love those blooming flowers and the clever lyrics that coax them into the sunshine!) is a bit grating in her opening scenes as Daisy Gamble, though she mellows somewhat as the modern-day plot progresses. However she more than rises to the occasion when Melinda is exhumed and she gets to parade about in Cecil Beaton's absolutely stunning accoutrements. Montand, who seems to have learned his lines phonetically (A foreign accent can be charming but he seems to be exaggerating his!), is serviceable, sings on key, and manfully wades through the machinations of the scriptwriters, what with the absurd brouhaha over reincarnation among the university's powers-that-be and Dr. Chabot's stubborn reluctance to admit that Daisy has psychic powers, et cetera. John de Cuir does his usual eye-filling wonders with the production design, beautifully aided by Harry Stradling, Sr.'s use of the Panavision/Technicolor cameras. And, of course, Burton Lane's score has a few liltingly listenable songs that propel the story quite felicitously. And there's the bonus of two of my favorite actresses, Mabel Albertson and Irene Handl, to add some sly support. (And, one must reluctantly mention Jack Nicholson, youthfully handsome in his brief appearance here, now a gothic ruin of his former self...Must be all those ill-tempered characters he's since played, as well as the reported off-screen dissipation in the decades since.)

But Nelson Riddle, undeniably one of the all-time great arrangers for singers like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, seems the wrong choice to orchestrate and conduct the musical elements. His work seems a little thin and not equal to the lush visual panoply. And, I suspect, Vincente Minnelli was hampered by the producer, Howard Koch, whose credits suggest a level of taste and achievement more oriented to audiences that preferred something less refined than what might have best suited this enterprise. The direction seems a bit diffuse, and even dispirited, and certainly not up to the standard of Minnelli's best in his halcyon days at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Nevertheless, I'll admit I enjoyed it when I saw it during its theatrical release, but beware of non-letterboxed video transfers. "Formatting" will reduce this one to considerably less than its makers intentions. If a DVD release comes along and you're a Streisand (or Minnelli) fan, it'll be worth the wait.