DVD Review: Daisy Chain (1965)

Daisy Chain (a.k.a. Das Liebeskarussell, 1965) is a sixties style sex comedy made in Germany by directors Rolf Thiele, Axel von Ambesser and Alfred Weidenmann. The movie was released on NTSC Region-1 DVD late last year by Televista and I recently decided to give it a look since it features two of my favorite actresses, the lovely Catherine Deneuve and Anita Ekberg. Unfortunately Daisy Chain has very few laughs and it's rarely sexy, which makes it impossible to recommend.

The movie is narrated by a loony psychiatrist who tells four different stories about his various patients and their sexual problems. The stories are all played for laughs, but the jokes really fall flat.

Anita Ekberg and Catherine Deneuve look fabulous in Daisy Chain, but these talented actresses are both wasted in their lackluster roles. Anita Ekberg plays a woman named Lolita who charms her shy neighbor Peter (played by the popular Austrian entertainer Peter Alexander). Catherine Deneuve has the more interesting role as one of the psychiatrist's "troubled" patients. She plays a young bride who's unhappy with her much older husband and she pretends to sleepwalk so she can carry out an affair with her handsome male neighbor.

Episodic sex comedies became popular in the sixties and it's not uncommon to find psychiatrists in similar films who are trying to solve their patients sexual problems. Daisy Chain's unoriginality doesn't help the film, but it's really the poorly written script that makes the movie unwatchable. Another problem with Daisy Chain is the unappealing male actors cast in the film who often just look ridiculous next to their attractive female counterparts.

The extremely poor quality of the Televista disc makes the movie nearly impossible to watch. The film looks like it was recorded off of television and the sound is horrible. The DVD also comes with no extras. With a better quality DVD presentation the movie might be worth revisiting, but the Televisita DVD really should be avoided.

If my critical review hasn't convinced you to stay away from Daisy Chain you can currently find the the movie available at Amazon selling for $12.99.

For more information about the DVD please visit Amazon.

- Kimberly Lindbergs