I like this movie but . . .
found it kind of creepy how Barbara Stanwyck kept calling her dad "darling."
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MovieChat Forums > B.F.'s Daughter (1948) Discussion > I like this movie but . . .
It's a rich-girl thing of the era, an affectation used when the daughter is young or young-ish and not yet sexual. (In The Women, Little Mary beseeches "Daddy darling" to work it out with his wife/her mother.) But when the actress in question is a grown woman -- creepy, as you said.
A pity that Hollywood in the Golden Age didn't understand how ridiculous it was to cast a 41-y-o woman as a character who ranges from about 20 to about 32. I love Miss S. and think she could handle just about anything, but this just didn't work. (Interestingly, in So Big! -- made when she was 25 -- she's pretty good as Selina at 16 and as Selina at 25 or so, and she's not bad as Selina in middle age. Easier to age up than down, of course, but also bc the director was better -- Wm Wellman.)
PS: In East Side, West Side (1949), BS's uppercrust character calls her mother "darling." Just another example of posh-person affectation (or Hollywood's take on a posh-person affectation).
"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."
'Darling' is a term of endearment that can be used to address anyone; typically someone close but in some cases it's used generally. Zsa Zsa Gabor, I believe, is known for addressing total strangers as 'darling'.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
Zsa Zsa Gabor, I believe, is known for addressing total strangers as 'darling'.
"Darling" is a great way to cover for the fact that you can't remember name/s (especially if you have been introduced 3 times and still can't remember).
Also, there seems to be such curtness and coarseness in the world right now; it is nice to be called "darling" and it sure beats the heck out of "hey you."
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[ My spouse is mathematical and claims that if people had numbers instead of names, it would be easier to remember their "numerical identity." Fortunately, we will never know if there is any credence to his theory. ] share