This article sent me straight to YouTube where "The Heartbreak Kid" is available in full. Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin, Cybill Shepherd, Eddie Albert, Audra Lindley . . . each cast to within an inch of their lives. Perfection.
3
Elaine May is unquestionably great, and "A New Leaf" is one of the funniest movies ever made. Yet I am confused by your description of it. Although you use the word "murderously", you say that the Matthau character's plan was to take her money and run. That is not accurate. His plan was always to marry a wealthy woman with no family and then kill her. A great deal of the movie is devoted to his detailed homicidal plans, which have been shared with his butler -- played by the great George Rose. Rose gets to deliver two of the greatest lines in movie history. Early in the movie, the butler compliments Matthau by saying, "Sir, in your lifetime you have managed to keep alive traditions that had died long before you were born." Then, in a private conversation with his employer shortly after the newlyweds have returned from their honeymoon: "Sir, are you certain you have to kill her? She seems a most amiable young woman."
The supporting cast is also a tribute to May's skill as a director. The cast includes, among others, Doris Roberts, James Coco, Jack Weston, Renee Taylor and David Doyle. The fact that all these fine actors wanted to work with May and the uniformly excellent performances they delivered are strong evidence of May's greatness as a director.
8
Thank you, Manohla Dargas, for recognizing “Ishtar” as a “loony, loopy blissout.” I thought so, too, when I saw the film in its initial theatrical release. Unfortunately, many critics saw fit to review the alleged budget, rather than the movie. As a result, Elaine May’s delightful comedy has been unfairly slammed for more than 30 years.
5
Her boyfriend Stanley Donen wears a medallion she gave him around his neck. It's inscribed:
"Stanley Donan. If found, please return to Elaine May."
Some of us can't get enough of her.
11
Without a doubt "A NEW LEAF" is one of the best movies I ever saw. I watched it again a year or so ago.
8
I enjoyed Ishtar immensely when it came out. Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman playing against type was fascinating to watch-they made it so believable that they were not talented. I always figured that was why the movie was so unpopular.
2
@Meredith RussellI I agree. I loved Ishtar and never understood why it didn't do well. It was very funny! Watching Dustan Hoffman selling weapons to rebels on the desert screaming his sales pitch without being able to speak the language was priceless.
3
I both enjoyed and learned from this article about wondrously talented Elaine May. Her directorial debut, A New Leaf, has been my favorite romantic comedy for decades. I just don't believe it can ever be surpassed. But I was startled to discover that May was also the director of Ishtar, a ridiculous and unfunny albatross that deserves to stand along side Heaven's Gate even if it didn't bring down a studio (many think it could've). Interesting to note that great genius like May's is rarely consistent and there can be deep valleys as well as peaks along the way.
1
A New Leaf is one of the funniest, most underappreciated comedies ever. And, in today's world, it would fit in perfectly with its spineless, sniveling, grovelling all-about-me character played by Matthau. Hilarious and unforgettable writing, well-paced and unbelievably funny and true - this one is a timeless joy.
11
I love Elaine May. Her various tributes to Mike Nichols are available on Youtube. They are hilarious.
5
Beautiful--okay. But how dare she be original, brilliant, and funny while female!
16
hi - i know this will come as a major shock to you but not everything in life is determined by gender. i too love "a new leaf" but much of May's movie work is not so great, and her self-inflicted problems as a film maker are very well documented (see for example, the chapter on "ishtar" in the book Fiasco). It may be that she's underappreciated for her film work and reviled films like "mikey and nickey" are actually brilliant -- she wouldn't be the first artist whose work isn't appreciated at the time of release (or the following decades). But most reviled work is actually terrible and isn't unappreciated art. Whatever her long term stature as a filmaker terns out to be, your inability to examine anything without framing it in a gender straightjacket is truely absurd. You belong in academia where this kind of myopic approach is appreciated, not writing for the general public in the Times. To sugget that the divergent film careers of May and NIchols are due to her gender is nonsense. Perhaps it's time for you to join the world in the 21st century...
7
@poins See here! I say! As a man, I know when women should be writing for academia, and when they should be writing for the general public, and most of all, when they should be quiet. After all, not everything is about gender! Harrumph.
8
I saw Ishtar as a teenager living in a small town with one, one-screened theater. I nearly walked out, the singing scenes were nearly unbearable. It picked up at the end. I wonder if I'd appreciate it more now.
2
Ishtar has been a favorite in my family since it first aired. The movie is filled with so many nuggets of gold. When I asked a friend to watch it with me in the mid-90s, she reciprocated by introducing me to A New Leaf. Both our lives were enriched. I am so glad to see this talented artist and her films get recognition.
6
I would love to see a biopic about May and Nichols that covers the breadth of their phenomenal lives, before, during and well after their groundbreaking partnership.
7
I was eight years old when my mother took me to see "A New Leaf" in New Canaan, Conn. I was enraptured, and when we emerged from the theater I declared it the best movie I had ever seen. My mother laughed, "This is the only movie you've ever seen!" All these years later, it remains in my Top 10.
18
@Greek Goddess Mine too!
2
Her tribute to Mike Nichols at the AFI celebration of his work was one of the funniest things I've ever seen (you can find it on YouTube). You can also find many of the early routines of Nichols and May on YouTube. She is brilliant, and like a lot of brilliant women of her generation, "they" tried to fling her into the shadows.
17
@Ladyrantsalot
Of course, it's better to watch and listen to the tribute on YouTube, but here is an excerpt: “So he’s witty, he’s brilliant, he’s articulate, he’s on time, he’s prepared and he writes. But is he perfect? He knows you can’t really be liked or loved if you’re perfect. You have to have just enough flaws. And he does. Just the right, perfect flaws to be absolutely endearing.”
2
Elaine is very talented and funny. But funny doesn't fill out a two hour movie. The bits she wrote and performed were better than any movie she was in or directed.
3
The Heartbreak Kid is one of my favorite movies of all time and unquestiongly, Ishtar is the worst movie I ever saw. It was torture to sit through and only my admiration for Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty kept me from walking out ( I kept hoping that their talent would suddenly shine through). I was mistaken.
4
In the summer of 1967 I was lucky enough to land a part time job as an usher at the Astor Theatre in Boston. There were two movies playing that summer. The Dirty Dozen and a little known movie at the time “Luv” starring Elaine May and Jack Lemmon. As a teen I thought the pair were very funny together. Over the years my appreciation for her comic genius has continually grown.
10