Daisy Miller

Bogo effectively recreated the historical period, but he made the fatal mistake of casting Shepherd as Daisy. James intended for her to be out of place in old moneyed Europe, but Shepherd plays her like she just wandered on the set of Rio Bravo. The decision to transform Daisy into a 'Hawksian female' kills the film stone dead dramatically at crucial moments, but the melancholy of James' story is appropriately communicated through Barry's expressions of longing and moments of tragic indecision.

Viewed March 28, 2020.

50 years ago the big deal was that Cybill Shepard was right for this part and it still is the glaring issue. The Hawksian cadence to her dialogue doesn't fit in the handsomely shot period piece, but I do think it makes it more interesting.