Product Details

• Actors: Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Ruth Gordon, Roddy McDowall
• Directors: Robert Mulligan
• Writers: Gavin Lambert
• Producers: Alan J. Pakula
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: December 6, 1993
• Run Time: 128 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630235417X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,474 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so bad it's good, March 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Daisy Clover [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Despite being uneven and overdramatic in some spots, this movie is absolutely intriguing. The first fifteen minutes are basically pointless, but the rest is fabulous. The characters are so complex that at the end you're still wondering who was the bad guy and who was the good guy. Natalie Wood as Daisy Clover managaes to look beautiful even though she looks like a frumpy teenager. Roddy McDowall is the producer's snippy assistant. Katherine Bard plays Mrs. Swan, who tells Daisy "your husband never could resist a charming boy." Robert Redford looks extremely handsome as bisexual actor Wade Lewis (my favorite scene is when he talks to Daisy in the beautiful white bedroom). But the piece de resistance is Christopher Plummer as the ambiguous studio producer Raymond Swan. That guy is truly an amazing actor. The scenes he has with Daisy are my favorite (the swimming pool and beach house). The memorable script, the main actors, and the gorgeous, glamorous 1930s Hollywood setting make this movie worth seeing.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Side of Hollywood, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Daisy Clover [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Those expecting a light musical concerning glamourous Hollywood beware: hiding behind it's glossy surface, Inside Daisy Clover is an icy-cold depiction of life inside the dream factory. Cast largely against type, the film stars Natalie Wood and Robert Redford (both surprisingly effective in emotionally complex roles) and features sharp performances by Estelle Parsons, Christopher Plummer, Roddy McDowell, and Ruth Gordon. The detached tone of the film will not be to every one's taste, but the film is a must for those who enjoy sophistocated drama. Based on the acidly funny and darker-still novel by Gavin Lambert.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sobering and shattering backstage fable, May 27, 2009

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Inside Daisy Clover (DVD)

1965's INSIDE DAISY CLOVER was a story that Natalie Wood felt a great need and personal responsibility to tell. Starting out as a child star herself in the 1940s, she knew the pitfalls and tricks of Hollywood's dream machine all too well. A gritty backstage melodrama, INSIDE DAISY CLOVER is, in my opinion, one of Wood's most underrated movies.

Fifteen year old Daisy Clover (Natalie Wood) lives in a caravan on Angel Beach with her eccentric, card-reading mother (Ruth Gordon). A tomboy with a grimy sweatshirt and tossled mop of ashe blonde hair, Daisy spends her days operating a booth where people can buy "personally autographed" pictures of the stars; and singing into a 'record your voice' novelty machine. All that changes when Daisy enters a talent competition at Swan Studios. Film producer Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer) recognises an elusive talent in young Daisy and begins to groom her for stardom.... Robert Redford co-stars as Wade Lewis, a dashing matinee idol who hides his bisexuality long enough to marry and dump Daisy after the wedding night. This was his first big Hollywood role, after being personally recommended for the movie by Ms Wood.

Natalie Wood was quoted as saying at the time: "'I have only had this kind of reaction on one other thing really, and that was "Rebel Without a Cause". Where I instantly realized that no matter what, I have to play this part".

Echoes of Judy Garland can be found in the character of Daisy Clover; and Wood does a credible job of acting as a brash young singing star. I also think that Wood used the role to try and exorcise some of the emotional scars she still carried from her own years as a child star. Unfortunately her performance was largely panned and came during a point when Wood's incredible acting talents (in films like "Splendor in the Grass") had been dimmed by time and memory. It would take "This Property is Condemned", released the following year and again co-starring Robert Redford, to remind people of how good Wood could be when she had first-rate material to work with.

Christopher Plummer turns in a chilling and controlled performance as Swan, the movie impresario who drags Daisy up from unknown to megastar. It's a similar performance to Anton Walbrook's in "The Red Shoes". He's especially frightening in his last scene with Natalie.

André and Dory Previn provided two great showbiz tunes for Daisy to sing ("You're Gonna Hear from Me" and "The Circus is a Wacky World"). Sadly, despite her protests and hard work to provide the singing herself, Wood's voice was dubbed by Jackie Ward. The grand Hollywood B&W production number version of "You're Gonna Hear from Me" is a composite of both Natalie and Jackie's vocals, blended seamlessly. Ward also dubbed Natalie's singing in "The Great Race".

INSIDE DAISY CLOVER is a moving and memorable backstage fable, and a must for anyone who loves Natalie Wood. It's currently only available as part of Warner's boffo Natalie Wood Collection DVD boxset, a purchase I'd highly recommend which also boasts the new-to-DVD "Bombers B-52", "Cash McCall" and "Sex and the Single Girl" in addition to new remasters of "Splendor in the Grass" and "Gypsy".