Daisy Kenyon [Blu-ray]

Director: Otto Preminger Otto Preminger

Overview

Daisy Kenyon stars Joan Crawford as the eponymous heroine, a Manhattan commercial artist. Daisy is torn between two men: a handsome, married attorney (Dana Andrews) and an unmarried Henry Fonda. Deciding to do the "right thing," Daisy marries Fonda, but carries a torch for the dashing Andrews. When the lawyer divorces his wife, he calls upon Daisy and tries to win her back. She is very nearly won over, but her husband isn't about to give up so easily. Both men argue over Daisy, who is so distraught by the experience that she nearly has a fatal automobile accident. In the end, Daisy realizes that she truly loves Fonda, and gives Andrews his walking papers. Daisy Kenyon is given a contemporary slant with a subplot about child abuse (in a Joan Crawford film!); and, in one scene set at New York's Stork Club, several celebrities (Walter Winchell, Leonard Lyons, John Garfield) make unbilled cameo appearances.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/15/2016
UPC:	0738329206550
Original Release:	1947
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	27,306

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Joan Crawford	Daisy Kenyon
Dana Andrews	Dan O'Mara
Henry Fonda	Peter Lapham
Ruth Warrick	Lucille O'Mara
Martha Stewart	Mary Angelus
Peggy Ann Garner	Rosamund
Connie Marshall	Marie O'Mara,Telephone Operator
Nicholas Joy	Coverly
Art Baker	Lucile's Attorney
Robert Karnes	Attorney
John Davidson	Mervyn
Victoria Horne	Marsha
Charles Meredith	Judge
Roy Roberts	Dan's Attorney
Griff Barnett	Thompson
Tito Vuolo	Dino
George E. Stone	Waiter
Fernando Lamas	Actor
John Butler	Cab Driver
Jimmy Ames	Cab Driver
John Garfield	Man in Restaurant
Les Clark	Taxi Driver
Monya Andre	Mrs. Ames
Robert Cole	Headwaiter
Mauritz Hugo	Mr. Ames
Walter Winchell	Himself
Leonard Lyons	Himself
Norman Leavitt	Cab Driver
Ann Staunton	Secretary
Don Avalier	Hotel Captain

Technical Credits

David Hertz

Otto Preminger	Director,Producer
Fred Sersen	Special Effects
David Hertz	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Fans of Joan Crawford will have a field day with Daisy Kenyon, one of Crawford's "strong woman stuck in a love triangle" melodramas. But Kenyon should also entertain those who aren't always tuned into Crawford in high melodrama mode. One reason for this is that, while Kenyon has more than its share of soap operatics, it also has a fair share of moments that are of genuine dramatic interest. They're not necessarily revelatory or of high dramatic order, but they are fairly realistic and quite palatable. It also helps that the outcome of the film is kept somewhat in doubt until near the end. Also, while Crawford dominates the film with a star performance as big as her shoulder pads, she also has competition from the quieter but nonetheless powerful performances of Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda. Most helpful, however, is the direction of Otto Preminger and the fluid camerawork of Leon Shamroy. Kenyon is not Preminger's best work, by any stretch, but he makes it a much stronger film than it otherwise would have been. The material does not really seem to engage the director on a personal level, but this has an interesting effect. Preminger sometimes uses Shamroy's camera to intrude into the character's lives, as if he's trying to find something beneath the surface that just isn't there. He occasionally lingers just a second too long on a face or a scene, or frames a performer in a manner that is somehow slightly judgmental. All this adds a slight, welcome weight to the film -- not enough to slow it down or get in the way of the pacing (or, God forbid, of Crawford!), but enough to add a subtle sense of discomfort. Kenyon is no great film, but it's quite entertaining.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler