On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Tags

1970's, Barbra Streisand, Fantasy, Jack Nicholson, Larry Blyden, Musical, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Romance, Vincente Minnelli, Yves Montand

Film Title

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Director

Vincente Minnelli

Starring

• Barbra Streisand as Daisy Gamble/ Lady Melinda Tentrees
• Yves Montand as Dr. Marc Chabot
• Larry Blyden as Warren
• Jack Nicholson as Tad

An unusual and visually opulent musical/ romantic fantasy, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is an oddity, but a visually entrancing one that has a dream like effect and Barbra Streisand to boot.

Daisy Gamble is a scatterbrained, kooky New Yorker who seems to possess strange gifts. For example, she can tell when a phone is about to ring and can cause flowers to grow wildly. Though because she is more than a bit absent-minded, she puts these powers down to nothing and doesn’t give them much thought. While Daisy is slightly zany, she has a priggish fiancée named Warren who always wants to make an impression and chides Daisy for some of her behaviour, particularly her chain-smoking. He suggests she find someone to help curb her habit before an important party they must attend. One day she wanders into a lecture on hypnosis by Dr. Marc Chabot and is herself briefly put under it. Chabot grows curious about Daisy and is interested when she comes to him to help with her habit. He organizes to see Daisy but what he finds while she in under hypnosis is more than he bargained for. Daisy regresses back to what appears to be a past life of hers; Lady Melinda Tentrees, a coquette in 18th Century England who used her charms to climb the ladder and was later put on trial for her supposed misdeeds. At first, Marc thinks that these talks of a past life are fabricated, but soon begins to come around to the idea. Marc doesn’t tell her about what she has said and due to his skill with hypnosis makes sure she doesn’t know about her talks of this past life. Could Daisy genuinely be a reincarnation of Melinda? And what about the complicated feelings that both Marc and Daisy develop? These emotions are given added strangeness by the fact that has been bewitched by Melinda and Daisy becoming attracted to.

Vincente Minnelli exudes his customary and exceptional meticulousness in the director’s chair, particularly when it comes to the dreamlike fantasy aspects of this movie. He’s a director whose work comes alive with colourful plushness from every angle. Minnelli excels best in the regression sequences, accentuating colour with expressive camerawork and eye-catching movements. It’s impossible not to watch open-mouthed at the decorative splendour, embodied through luscious lighting and  beautiful costume design. One special costume deserves considerable mention; a lovely bejeweled gown with a matching headdress that is captured in splendid beauty by the cameras and direction. And the film is given a boost by the fact that Minnelli having had experience in musicals before, is a natural when it comes to the music numbers, which are done with pleasing panache. The standouts are the title song played over psychedelic visuals, the alluring ‘Love With all the Trimmings’ sung by Streisand in her marvellous voice and ‘Come Back to Me’ which Marc sings when he finds his worlds merging with Daisy’s and her past lives. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever has its fair share of flaws though. Some of the techniques used seriously date the film and become jarring as it progresses. The film could have been could a bit more coherent and sharper as the second half gets very bogged down with explanations, too much finery and needless scenes that fail to give a grasp to the blooming romances. Also, the sub plot of Marc’s talks with Daisy getting public notice and provoking controversy is a pretty needless avenue to go down. Despite these flaws, On a Clear Day has enough unusualness and style to appreciate it and forgive the sometimes wayward editing and choppy pacing that show the film’s age .

Barbra Streisand showcases her talents for both singing and acting here, and boy does she know how to put a show on. In this film, she really displays her gifts for entertaining with a set of performances that are funny, charming and kooky. And the fact that Streisand plays two distinctly different characters( a free-spirited and strangely dressed young woman and an elegant, beguiling flirt who rose through English society) so well, is a big sign of her undeniable talents as a performer and actress. Streisand is one of On a Clear Day’s biggest attributes and she is hard to forget. Yves Montand has the necessary bewilderment and curiosity for his role as he finds his views on reincarnation altered drastically. Yet Larry Blyden is introduced to late as Daisy’s pushy fiancée to really make a mark on the story. Movie buffs should look out for a young Jack Nicholson as Daisy’s laid-back step brother. It’s a small role, but any Jack Nicholson is better than none.

Flaws aside regarding the pacing and slow second half, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever has plenty of flourishes from director Vincente Minnelli and delightful energy from the indomitable Barbra Streisand to make it a strange but intoxicating musical fantasy.

Meet Me in St.Louis

Tags

1940's, Joan Carroll, Judy Garland, Leon Ames, Lucille Bremer, Margaret O'Brien, Marjorie Main, Mary Astor, Meet Me in St. Louis, Musical, Tom Drake, Vincente Minnelli

Film Title

Meet me in St. Louis

Director

Vincente Minnelli

Cast

• Judy Garland as Esther Smith
• Margaret O’Brien as Tootie Smith
• Lucille Bremer as Rose Smith
• Joan Carroll as Agnes Smith
• Leon Ames as Mr Alonzo Smith
• Mary Astor as Mrs Anna Smith
• Tom Drake as John Truett
• Marjorie Main as Katie

A film that lifted the spirits of many during the Second World War, Meet Me in St. Louis hasn’t lost any of its original charm and remains one of MGM’s most splendid, sumptuous and highly regarded musicals. Vincente Minnelli directs a film that would make even the most cynical person smile and it has something for someone of every age to enjoy.

The film revolves around the Smith family who live a comfortable life in the eponymous city during the year of 1903 and the start of 1904. Alonzo, a businessman and his wife Anna preside over five children and an elderly Grandpa in a well-to-do Edwardian house. There is the pretty eldest daughter Rose, the second eldest Esther, the only boy amongst four girls who is named after his father and two mischievous younger sisters, Tootie and Agnes. The family’s comfortable existence is threatened after Alonzo is offered a job in New York and wants the rest of the family to uproot and leave before the arrival of the World Fair of 1904.

Esther pines for her next door neighbour

As there are so many memorable highlights in this glorious film it is hard to choose a few that are important to me, but here they are. In the first scene, Seventeen year old Esther (unlike her elder sister who tells her “My dear, when you get to be my age, you’ll find out there are more important things in life than boys”), has fallen for the next door neighbour John Truett, although he doesn’t know her at all. Her longing is expressed in the song “The Boy Next Door”, in which she watches him from the living room, her crooning voice echoing her feelings of neglected love. This scene is beautifully shot especially the very last moment filmed in luminous close-up in which she sighs, takes one last lingering glance at John and lets the translucent curtain fall in front of her lovelorn face.  The scene and music had an impact on me because I could genuinely feel the emotions expressed in the song and the way that Judy Garland sings it with such sincerity is second to none. If anyone has fallen in love as a teenager you can definitely relate to this song and its lyrics. The supporting cast is excellent, with Margaret O’Brien a particular gem as the mischievous Tootie and Joan Carroll as Agnes, her equally adventurous sister.  Lucille Bremer is luminous as the eldest daughter, Tom Drake makes an appealing love interest for Esther and Mary Astor and Leon Ames are splendid as the parents. Marjorie Main steals all her scenes as the housekeeper.

Tootie and Agnes have a Halloween misadventure.

Another of my highlights is the presence of the youngest daughter Tootie whose misadventures, morbid tendencies and puckish behaviour provide the film with a nostalgic quality and a comic feeling. It isn’t a typical musical in the mould of all singing all dancing and always happy. The film delves into other elements not usually associated with the musical genre. A prime example is the nighttime Halloween adventures of Tootie and her other sister Agnes; the whole sequence is filmed with low-angle shots and dark lighting, coupled with equally sinister music. In the scene, Tootie’s morbid personality is heightened when she agrees to play a prank on the so-called scariest man on the street.

Throughout this scene the film veers towards being a horror movie instead of a sugar-coated musical that the film at first appears to be. I always think that the scene in which Tootie runs out into the snow and destroys her snowmen because she can’t take them with her to New York is heart breaking. I think that everyone can relate to the feeling of not wanting to leave somewhere and moving away, it is a truly universal feeling. This is another example of the movie not being a typical musical as the way that she destroys the snowmen with such venom is quite unsettling for a children’s film.

The impish young Tootie

Esther sways with colourful passengers on the trolley.

The show-stopping section of the film has to be “The Trolley Song”, in which Esther sways and joyously sings with fellow passengers on board the local trolley. This scene was supposedly filmed in one take and it certainly looks effortless in its execution. The glorious presence of Technicolor helps add to the feeling of the good old days that are now sadly over.  The jovial mood starts after Esther sees John running to catch the titular trolley; she then proceeds to sing about her feeling for him whilst the other colourfully dressed passengers listen in glee. The lavish use of colour and the overall exuberant mood is what gives this musical number such resonance with me because, no matter how bad I am feeling if I watch this scene I am immediately happy once again.  It is in my opinion the musical highlight of the film and certainly the one where you can’t help but sing along to.

With memorable songs and a nostalgic longing for a time of jubilation and childhood innocence, Meet Me in St Louis is a film to treasure and re watch as many times as you possibly can. I assure you that even if you don’t enjoy musicals, you just won’t be able to help yourself enjoying this show-stopping film.