{"id":10141,"date":"2019-07-19T15:44:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T19:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=10141"},"modified":"2025-12-17T14:18:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:18:00","slug":"on-a-clear-day-you-can-see-forever-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=10141","title":{"rendered":"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever-1970"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever-1970<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Vincente Minnelli<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Barbra Streisand, Yves Montand<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #921\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed July 19, 2019<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) is a very obscure film that deserves better than to be relegated to the unknown.<\/p>\n

Released during a time when the Hollywood musical had lost its luster, it feels like a last-gasp effort to keep the genre alive, serving as a star vehicle for Barbra Streisand.<\/p>\n

The film suffers from severe editing problems with a large portion being cut, so much so that the result is a choppy and disjointed feel, tough to follow as is, but left untouched, the film could have been a creative masterpiece.<\/p>\n

In a particularly convoluted plot that spans two time periods, chain-smoking New Yorker Daisy Gamble (Streisand) is convinced by her uptight fianc\u00e9 Warren (Larry Blyden) to attend a class taught by Marc Cabot (Yves Montand), a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n

When Cabot accidentally hypnotizes her, he realizes she speaks in the voice of an early-nineteenth-century woman named Melinda, and he becomes obsessed with her as she teeters between two existences.<\/p>\n

The screenplay was written by Alan Jay Lerner and adapted from his book for the 1965 stage production.<\/p>\n

Film director Vincente Minnelli fuses fantasy with a musical to create an extremely left-of-center experimental piece; this is not your standard 1950s or 1960s MGM experience with merry or clap-along tunes.<\/p>\n

Some of the more memorable numbers include “On a Clear Day,” a reprise at the end of the film, “He Isn’t You,” and “Love with All the Trimmings.”<\/p>\n

Casting Streisand is a monumental choice as she carries the film on her shoulders. Belting out numbers is the singer-turned-actress’s forte, and she never disappoints.<\/p>\n

She is fascinating to watch in the neurotic role as she smokes and prances around, usually in a tizzy or a state of peril (self-induced).<\/p>\n

The performance stands out as a different style from many of her other films, and she has never portrayed a livelier character. Streisand overcomes a few challenges of the film, winning in spades.<\/p>\n

She shares little to no chemistry with co-star Montand, who is not only too old for her but also not the greatest actor. If the film’s intent, which I suspect, was to make the pair the main draw, then this failed.<\/p>\n

Streisand’s chemistry with John Richardson, who plays Sir Robert Tentrees to her Melinda in the other time period, excites her. The duo smolders with passion, but sadly, most of the nineteenth-century scenes are sacrificed, leaving most of it a jumbled mess.<\/p>\n

Much more interesting would have been to leave the entire film intact.<\/p>\n

An oddity is Jack Nicholson’s almost nonexistent role as Tad Pringle, a mostly non-described brother of Daisy’s. Is he also her neighbor?<\/p>\n

In 1970, Nicholson was only on the cusp of super-stardom, and it is questionable whether some of his parts were left on the cutting-room floor, but the limited character is strange and unsatisfying. In another role, there would have been some possibility of romantic entanglement.<\/p>\n

Throughout the film, I wondered how On a Clear Day You Can See Forever might have worked with someone other than Streisand in the roles.<\/p>\n

I kept ruminating on how good Liza Minnelli might have been in the roles, given her non-classic looks (like Streisand) and bombastic voice. Her high-drama flair and capable New York style would have made the results enjoyable, but Streisand hits it out of the park.<\/p>\n

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) is a brave attempt at something fantastical, brimming with potential, but ultimately feels cluttered and messy.<\/p>\n

With a delicious leading lady whom the camera adores and enough creative sets and rigorous energy to keep one guessing, the film stumbles with many problems and leaves viewers incomplete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever-1970 Director Vincente Minnelli Starring Barbra Streisand, Yves Montand Scott’s Review #921\u00a0 Reviewed July 19, 2019 Grade: B+ On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) is a very obscure film that deserves better than to be relegated to the unknown. Released during a time when the … Continue reading On a Clear Day You Can See Forever-1970<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,819,2319,49,201,874,6195,8892,8891,47,396,8827,8686,519,8890],"tags":[65,820,2324,252,257,875,6200,8895,8894,250,397,8834,8690,520,8893],"class_list":["post-10141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1970-films","category-barbra-streisand","category-bob-newhart","category-comedies","category-fantasy-films","category-jack-nicholson","category-jeannie-berlin","category-john-richardson","category-larry-blyden","category-musicals","category-musical-comedy","category-roy-kinnear","category-simon-oakland","category-vincente-minnelli","category-yves-montand","tag-1970-movie-reviews","tag-barbra-streisand","tag-bob-newhart","tag-comedies","tag-fantasy-films","tag-jack-nicholson","tag-jeannie-berlin","tag-john-richardson","tag-larry-blyden","tag-musicals","tag-musical-comedy","tag-roy-kinnear","tag-simon-oakland","tag-vincente-minnelli","tag-yves-montand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10141"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22368,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10141\/revisions\/22368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}