Blair's Girls: Daisy Mae

---

    I truly enjoy the 1940 "Li'l Abner" film...much more than the 1959 musical film, which was a completely different story and cast.  Martha O' Driscoll as Daisy Mae was a highlight.  The beautiful, blonde hillbilly girl pines away for the big dumb hunk Li'l Abner Yokum.  You'll find yourself rooting for her all throughout the film:  "I hope she DOES get that Abner!"  But Abner is such a dope you kind of wonder why she's interested in him at all.  The entire cast is enjoyable, but the most challenging delivery comes from O'Driscoll as Daisy Mae.  All the other citizens of Dogpatch are as crazy as they want to be, and never really step out of character.  Daisy Mae's role is multi-dimensional.  She covers all the emotions:  happy, forlorn, hopeful, silly, naive, and forceful to name a few.

    O'Driscoll is a visually appealing Daisy Mae.  HOT, HOT, HOT!  She has a pretty face, a pretty body, and very pretty legs.  And she has an inviting Southern accent.  It's not a thick, incoherent accent.  She has a very slight and sweet country drawl.  In other words, Daisy sounds alluring when she talks...not like a total hick.  She gives Daisy Mae just enough of a Southern accent to prove to us that she's country, but doesn't force it.  I love the sound of her voice!  As a Southern gal, she's still coherent and that is what makes her really attractive.  Just looking gorgeous wouldn't be enough.  In fact, she probably had the most challenging lines to deliver of anyone in the picture.  All the other characters could be as crazy as they wanted to be.  Daisy Mae had to show so many different emotions:  happy, forlorn, hopeful, forceful, etc.  And it's great to see her try to trick Abner into being intimate or competing with Wendy Wildcat for his hand in marriage.  She's a bit more clever than anyone else in Dogpatch.  And when she tries to save Abner from the vengeful criminal Earthquake McGoon, we see a heroic side to her.  She really wants the best for Abner, and that her love is unrequited is a real pity.  Just so you know, years later in the comic strip Abner and Daisy Mae do get married.  At the end of this film, though, we see Abner running from Daisy Mae even after she caught him fair and square in the traditional Sadie Hawkins' Day Race where women catch bachelors.