Daisy Miller (1974)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Henry James (story)
Frederic Raphael (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 1975 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

In this comedy of manners, the American Winterbourne tries to figure out the bright and bubbly Daisy Miller, only to be helped and hindered by false judgments from their fellow friends.

Plot Keywords:

19th Century | Handlebar Mustache | Swimming Pool | Expatriate | Patrician

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Cybill Shepherd	...	Annie P. 'Daisy' Miller
Barry Brown	...	Frederick Winterbourne
Cloris Leachman	...	Mrs. Ezra Miller
Mildred Natwick	...	Mrs. Costello
Eileen Brennan	...	Mrs. Walker
Duilio Del Prete	...	Mr. Gionavelli
James McMurtry	...	Randolph C. Miller
Nicholas Jones	...	Charles
George Morfogen	...	Eugenio
Jean-Pascal Bongard	...	Hotel Receptionist Vevey
Albert Messmer	...	Tutor
Jacques Guhl	...	Polish Boy
Hubert Geoldun	...	Polish Boy
David Bush	...	Man at Chillon
Henri Hubinet	...	Chillon Guide

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:Livre | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Copa del Oro

Trivia:

The SS CITY OF RICHMOND was built by Tod & McGregor of Glasgow in 1873 and launched same year. Owned by the Inman Line of Liverpool, she and her sister ship, SS CITY OF CHESTER, proved popular with passengers due to the emphasis on the quality of fittings and service despite not being as fast as other vessels. It was scrapped in 1896.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Soundtrack:

When You and I Were Young, Maggy

Cybill Shepherd Miscast as Daisy in a shallow version of James novella

I agree with the reviewer who finds Ms. Shepherd utterly wrong for the part, and quite destroying the film. Henry James is a much more subtle portraitist of Americans abroad during that period than either actress or director could represent. For a start, someone so obnoxiously shallow as Shepherd's Daisy, and whose attempts at vivaciousness and flirtation so blatantly stagy, that the young hero must have been an absolute dill to have been so smitten. Nor is the actress so beautiful (or really young) as to make his sexual infatuation credible. Still it could have been worse, it could have been the worst "simperer" of all time, Mia Farrow cast in the role. That would have been a pill. However, possibly her special brand of naive vulnerability may have made Daisy more sympathetic. Thank good EVERYONE ELSE in the cast (apart from an uncharismatic and therefore unconvincing, Duilio del Prete as Gionavelli) is not only believable, but put in amazing performances, especially Barry Brown, Cloris Leachman, Mildred Natwick and Eileen Bannen, all perfect in their roles.

The theme of innocence destroyed by the social environment, not to mention evil schemers (as in Portrait of a Lady) or in this case, symbolically, the natural environment ("Roman Fever"), or even supernatural environment (as in Turn of the Screw) is a really central issue in many of James's novels and stories. To feel sympathy for the protagonist, she (as the protagonist often is) has to have not only innocence (which is misconstrued, exploited and/ or finally shattered), but also a kind of unshakable moral core. This could be as simple as a confident and self-possessed disregard of convention, or a genuine moral belief of the rightness of one's own actions. It is often represented as a subtle character trait.

Although these themes are indeed present in the film, Bogdanovich' simply fails to capture the quiet intensity of James's work.