L'amante immortale

In the early scenes, Crawford has a dog that looks like a border collie. His name is Tubby and she appears to dote on him. Suddenly, he disappears.

That said, this is one of Crawford's very best movie's. Twentieth Century Fox, and Otto Preminger, did beautifully by her.

So many things to say ...! It takes place in the neighborhood where I was born and still live. The Greenwich Theater, where Joan attends a movie, was a staple of Greenwich Village. When it was twinned it started showing less interesting things but it was still a landmark. Then it was torn down and in its place stands a health club.

The diner where Henry Fonda waits for Crawford while she's at the movie is still there. The curtain in its window looks the same -- almost 60 years later.

Crawford and Dana Andrews make a somewhat unlikely torrid romantic duo. But they work well together. The same can be said for Crawford and Fonda. Their romance is a bit more implausible but, again, they are directed beautifully and advance the plot admirably.

In a sense, this is Fonda's closest brush with film noir. He is a vet who has also lost his wife. The scene in which he thrashes around a nightmare is brilliantly staged. The background music there, as elsewhere, is excellent.

Most of the characters speak in a sort of Henry Higgins manner. "Hurricane" is pronounced just as Eliza Doolittle was taught to say it: "hurricen." Crawford always had that quality -- "syew" for "sue," "cahn't" for "can't." But the movie withstands these petty issues. It's exciting and it is beautifully cast. Ruth Warrick is superb in the small role of Andrews's wife. Peggy Ann Garner is too, as one of his daughters. So is the girl playing his other daughter. And Crawford's roommate, whose name I don't recognize, is convincing as well.

This is one of the lesser known vehicles of all three of its stars and not one of Preminger's better known, either. But it's fascinating and deserves kudos for all concerned.

I wanted to respond to a few comments about this wonderful film (which was a strong and highly effective character study). Dana Andrews received billing over Henry Fonda because Andrews was at the peak of his career with A WALK IN THE SUN, LAURA, THE FALLEN ANGEL AND THE BEST FILM OF 1946, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIFE. He was a superstar at that time and held on to stardom until the early 1960s but in films of lesser quality as the years went by. He was an excellent and underrated actor.

Henry Fonda, whose first starring role was in 1935, was in the middle of his long career, not in the early stages as one writer said. Fonda, after serving 3 full years in WWII, had a difficult time maintaining his stardom, was never a strong box office star but was an outstanding actor. Fonda did not make any films after 1948 until MR. ROBERTS in 1955, his comeback. He constantly did fine and critically acclaimed stage work. Peter, his son, said he was gray-listed because of his liberal political views also. Fonda worked in major films with lead roles in films and on television until his death in 1982.

Fonda was under contract and was forced to perform in this film by his studio. Andrews liked working with Otto Preminger and did so 4 times. Andrews was easy to work with and the autocratic Preminger liked Andrews because of his professionalism, easy going personality and outstanding acting ability.

I was surprised that something more was not said or done about Dana Andrews' child torturing wife. Andrew shed a tear but did not report this beast to the authorities. (She yanked on her child's ear until the ear bled and the child had a significant ear ache.) That, even in the dark ages, should have been enough to have the child removed from her care, wouldn't it?

Commerical artist Daisy Kenyon (Joan Crawford) is in love with married Dan O'Mara (Dana Andrews). She wants him but realizes he'll never divorce his wife (Ruth Warrick). She instead marries a man she doesn't love (Henry Fonda) to break it off with Dan completely. But things don't turn out all that well...

This starts off as a very interesting Crawford movie. It's beautifully shot in a film noir style which gives an appropriate tone to the film. She plays a woman who wants to move ahead but can't because of her love for the wrong man. The direction is good, the dialogue sharp and the acting is great by Andrews (never more romantic) and Crawford (never stronger). But it falls apart completely at the halfway mark and turns into a dreary romantic triangle. The ending especially was SO predictable it had me rolling my eyes. Still this is worth seeing for the direction and acting alone. Also there's a strong subplot dealing with child abuse! So this is worth seeing. I give it a 7.

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've seen about a dozen Preminger films and this is my favorite. I wasn't expecting too much once the movie began because it seemed I had seen this all done before but Preminger's characters (as is usually the case) are much more realistic than typical Hollywood movies of this era. The characterization actually compares favorably to foreign films of the time, like for example Quai des Orfèvres from the same year; this movie could easily have been a French production. I'm not much a fan of Crawford or Fonda but this is probably the best I've seen Fonda; and Crawford was just fine. Dana Andrews is superb - probably his best movie! What made this movie for me was that I could relate to all three main characters - in many ways they are more ideas (or philosophies) than actual people but the odd thing is that the line was so blurred that even though I knew this was the case I still enjoyed them as people. What puts this above the other Premingers I've seen is the very tight script, the fast pacing, and three fully realized characters that came across not only as real but as themes in themselves. Add in a memorable supporting cast and everything just blends together to make a perfect concoction.