On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Alan Jay Lerner (play)
Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Look into my eyes.

Plot:

Daisy Gamble, an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring, and does wonders with her flowers...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Hypnosis | Flower | Past | Love

Cast

Barbra Streisand	...	Daisy Gamble
Yves Montand	...	Dr. Marc Chabot
Bob Newhart	...	Dr. Mason Hume
Larry Blyden	...	Warren Pratt
Simon Oakland	...	Dr. Conrad Fuller
Jack Nicholson	...	Tad Pringle
John Richardson	...	Robert Tentrees
Pamela Brown	...	Mrs. Fitzherbert
Irene Handl	...	Winnie Wainwhisle
Roy Kinnear	...	Prince Regent
Peter Crowcroft	...	Divorce Attorney
Byron Webster	...	Prosecuting Attorney
Mabel Albertson	...	Mrs. Hatch
Laurie Main	...	Lord Percy
Kermit Murdock	...	Hoyt III

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Brighton Pavilion, Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Richard Harris was originally cast as the doctor but after many arguments with Barbra Streisand he left the movie.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The telephone ring in Chabot's office is not a typical Bell company ring, even though the story is supposedly set in New York.

Quotes:

Dr. Marc Chabot: This is a fantasy, Conrad!
Dr. Conrad Fuller: To six hundred million Mohammed-ens, so is Christmas!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in April Fool's Day (1986/I)

A few clouds in that clear sky!

This is one of those films that one would like to praise without reservation, but, alas!, some elements are not quite up to the high level of some of its attributes.

Streisand, after that stunning title montage (Love those blooming flowers and the clever lyrics that coax them into the sunshine!) is a bit grating in her opening scenes as Daisy Gamble, though she mellows somewhat as the modern-day plot progresses. However she more than rises to the occasion when Melinda is exhumed and she gets to parade about in Cecil Beaton's absolutely stunning accoutrements. Montand, who seems to have learned his lines phonetically (A foreign accent can be charming but he seems to be exaggerating his!), is serviceable, sings on key, and manfully wades through the machinations of the scriptwriters, what with the absurd brouhaha over reincarnation among the university's powers-that-be and Dr. Chabot's stubborn reluctance to admit that Daisy has psychic powers, et cetera. John de Cuir does his usual eye-filling wonders with the production design, beautifully aided by Harry Stradling, Sr.'s use of the Panavision/Technicolor cameras. And, of course, Burton Lane's score has a few liltingly listenable songs that propel the story quite felicitously. And there's the bonus of two of my favorite actresses, Mabel Albertson and Irene Handl, to add some sly support. (And, one must reluctantly mention Jack Nicholson, youthfully handsome in his brief appearance here, now a gothic ruin of his former self...Must be all those ill-tempered characters he's since played, as well as the reported off-screen dissipation in the decades since.)

But Nelson Riddle, undeniably one of the all-time great arrangers for singers like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, seems the wrong choice to orchestrate and conduct the musical elements. His work seems a little thin and not equal to the lush visual panoply. And, I suspect, Vincente Minnelli was hampered by the producer, Howard Koch, whose credits suggest a level of taste and achievement more oriented to audiences that preferred something less refined than what might have best suited this enterprise. The direction seems a bit diffuse, and even dispirited, and certainly not up to the standard of Minnelli's best in his halcyon days at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Nevertheless, I'll admit I enjoyed it when I saw it during its theatrical release, but beware of non-letterboxed video transfers. "Formatting" will reduce this one to considerably less than its makers intentions. If a DVD release comes along and you're a Streisand (or Minnelli) fan, it'll be worth the wait.