The Cavalier daily :: Monday, April 26, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

I feel a genuine frustration when
I'm talking about Elaine May's first
motion picture. "A New Leaf,"
because I had expected something
more wicked and devastating than I
saw.

Adding to my discomfort is the
fact that Miss May is upset with the
film and fighting with the studio
about it.

Miss May's story, based on Jack
Ritchie's short story "The Green
Heart," deals with Henry Graham's
economic downfall and his drastic
action to save his life, namely by
marrying a wealthy woman. The
woman turns out to be Henrietta
Lowell; a botanist "who lacks all
the social graces," and enjoys
Mogen David Malaga wine cocktails.

The supporting players are
highly commendable. Jack Weston's
characterization of Henrietta's
lawyer, although humorous, seems
unclear, but as the film progresses
his characterization begins to make
sense. James Coco as Henry's uncle
and former guardian seems a bit

Walter Matthau and Elaine May in "A New Leaf"

young for the part, but he is so
sinister and wicked when he laughs,
and so perfectly pompous when he
cats that we forget his youth and
obvious makeup.

Miss May is the star of the show
by virtue of the fact that she is
author, director and co-star, and all
in her first film. As Henrietta, Miss
May is a walking disaster area, a
woman who needs vacuuming after
she's eaten and someone to show
her the arm holes in her Grecian
nightgown. At times, Henrietta
comes across as being too pathetic
for even the most kind-hearted old
lady to love and care for. This is
especially noticeable when she tells
Henry how he's given her
self-confidence, while she's still
spilling something on herself and
forgetting to remove the price tags
from her clothing.

The character weaknesses of
Henrietta are minor compared to
the weaknesses in Henry. His
change of heart during the film is
very sudden and happens too
quickly.

There are some marvelous
bits of business for both Henry and
Henrietta, which is something
anyone who has seen Miss May's
direction of the off-Broadway play
"Adaptation/Next" or heard her
albums with Mike Nichols will
hardly find surprising. I think that
Miss May should have used more of
this comic busy work to improve
the quality of her film.

As for the direction, Miss May is
a beginner, but she has wisely
avoided blowing the material out of
proportion. I think "A New Leaf"
might possibly look better (both
visually and comically) on a smaller
screen, perhaps one the size of
Wilson Hall's. The ending of the
film with the changing of Henry's
character seems to be the weakest
part in the film and seems
unexplainable after the skill used to
develop the characters earlier in the
film.

Unhelpful Assistance

The ending leaves us hanging,
and one of the reasons for this was
mentioned in Time's review in the
March 29 issue. Miss May claims
Paramount "advised me...that the
film released would be that as cut
and edited by Fritz
Stienkamp...and Robert Evans, a
vice-president of Paramount
Pictures Corporation." Paramount
is being sued, but responded,
"Elaine May failed to perform her
duties as a director in a timely,
workmanlike and professional
manner, resulting in substantially
increased production costs."

I don't really want to give Bob
Evans the satisfaction, but he was
the producer of "Love Story," and
in a January issue of Time told
reporters, in effect, that Paramount
was returning to the old studio
system, in which the director
doesn't have the final say. If this is
the new policy, I would be amazed
if anyone would want to continue
working for Paramount. Miss May's
film is funny in the version we now
see, but it's so very tantalizing to
wonder what her film would have
looked like without additional
assistance.

(Now at the Paramount)