MovieChat Forums > Daisy Miller (1975) Discussion > The Public Baths Scene

The Public Baths Scene

posted 18 years ago by robscoe49
12 replies | jump to latest

The most bizarre, and ludicrously gratuitous scene in "Daisy Miller" was the
one in which Frederick Winterbourne (Barry Brown) and his aunt, Mrs. Costello
(Mildred Natwick) were taking tea.

However, aunt and nephew were up to their chests in water in the public baths
there at the resort in Vevey, Switzerland, with the silver tea service floating
on the surface of the water on some sort of buoyant tray. (Balsawood?)

Winterbourne may have had on a two-piece bathing outfit (for modesty's sake;
after all, it was the 1880's), but his aunt was fully dressed in a black silk dress with a bustle!

I understand that this ridiculous scene was written into the movie because Mildred Natwick (or her character, or both) was considered too "stuffy", and they wanted
to "loosen it up" a bit by having her do the scene in that fashion.

Frankly, it added nothing to the movie, and will forevermore confuse any viewers
who haven't any idea of the rationale for this peculiar vignette.

[–] bmusler-1 17 years ago

I thought it was interesting and clever. OTOH they had to build the entire set from scratch which seems gratuitious...since nothing like it was in the book. Bogdonovich tells the story (on the DVD) of how there was a skylight that the set builders were desperate he get into the picture just because it was difficult to build...and a pet project. He refused.

I thought Natwick was the best thing in the movie. She could have been in a Merchant Ivory production...nobody else would have made the cut...not enen Brennan.

[–] mmenke-1 17 years ago

In the 1870s those full-length robes are the costumes that polite society would have worn for any mixed gender bathing or swimming. It may seem peculiar to us in the present day but it is historically accurate

[–] nosnojsirhc 16 years ago

it was interesting to watch but the henry james i think i know would have fouled his spats.

[–] Thomas-White2 15 years ago

You realize of course that spats are shoes.

[–] nosnojsirhc 15 years ago

thanks to scrooge mcduck in comics, i do, my friend. however, i'm assuming that one fouling one's suspended breeches might easily involve a pair of begrimed spats.

[–] Thomas-White2 15 years ago

Aaaah! Gotcha.

[–] steven_torrey 8 years ago

Spats are NOT shoes. They are an accoutrement worn over the shoes and upper ankles made of leather or cloth and fastened under the shoe with a strap. You can best see this in Fred Astaire movies like "Top Hat"; George Burns wore them in "A Damsel in Distress" which also starred his wife, Gracie Allen, and Fred Astaire.

[–] cookiela2001 14 years ago

They also had "bathing machines" which was a raft with a tent jutting out of its side that reached the surface of the water. The ladies could then cavort in the ocean without being observed by the men, or other riffraff on the beach.

Also, in the Daisy Miller scene, they are soaking (or "taking the water") for medicinal purposes. That's why everyone in the pool is being inactive, and not actually swimming.

[–] Stirchley 14 years ago

I agree with the comments of the OP. When I saw this scene, I almost abandoned the movie completely. It made no sense to put a Fellini scene in a movie that was not in the least Felliniesque. I stuck with the movie, however, and generally enjoyed it. My Netflix copy, though, was very washed out.

[–] cookiela2001 14 years ago

It's too bad this movie isn't better. There are many elements in place that are lovely...and it just doesn't jell, for me.

[–] KlutzyGirl 13 years ago

I know you're long gone, OP, but I'm curious as to what you and others think they should have worn to reflect what was done in that era? And where did you get the idea that Mildred Natwick was stuffy? She was good at *portraying* stuffy. "Acting!"

On the DVD, Bogdanovich describes her as "absolute heaven...the most professional, funny, charming, divine kind of trouper."

[–] roscoe-corose 13 years ago

Well, if you Google "women's bathing suits of the 1870s," you will find a
website that shows the bathing suits of that era - short-sleeved dresses to the
knees, with bloomers underneath for modesty - but NOT a full, long-sleeved dress with a bustle, as was worn by Mildred Natwick.

Moreover, I have had access to information you did not (obviously), that indicated Mildred Natwick was considered by some on the set to have been
"stuffy" (although later on, certain people contradict themselves), thus
explaining the rather surrealistic episode involving chess boards and sterling
silver tea services floating on balsawood trays in a public pool.

Perhaps they did such things then, but more likely, they didn't because people
were more formal then in their behavior than they are now.