turns over new leaf

A New Leaf

A New Leaf (1971) is a black comedy based on a short story by Jack Ritchie, starring Elaine May, Walter Matthau, George Rose and James Coco. Better known for her collaboration as a stage comedienne with The Graduate director Mike Nichols, May also wrote and directed (in her debut).

The film was a critical success upon its initial release and is now considered a cult classic. However, despite several accolades and award nominations, the film fared poorly at the box office and remains little known by the general public.

Plot

Henry Graham (Walter Matthau) is a man with a problem: he has run through his entire inheritance and is completely unequipped to provide for himself. His childhood guardian, Uncle Harry (a deliciously mean-spirited James Coco), refuses to give him a dime, and Henry, unwilling to exercise the only solution he sees - suicide - devises a plan with the help of his imaginative butler Harold (George Rose): he can obtain money the old-fashioned way - he can marry it.

With a loan from Uncle Harry to tide him over, Henry has six weeks to find a rich bride and repay the money, or else he must forfeit all his property to his uncle. With only days remaining, Henry meets clumsy, painfully shy heiress Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May). She is the answer to his prayers, though Henry has to overcome Uncle Harry, Henrietta's lawyer, and his own distaste for marriage. He considers the latter to be a temporary inconvenience, however, since he plans to do away with his wife as soon as possible.

Without quite knowing how it happens, Henry finds himself taking good care of his hopelessly disorganized, meek spouse. Botany professor Henrietta discovers a new species of tree fern ("a new leaf") and names it after him. When she suggests he join her on her solo canoe trip to a remote area, Henry sees his opportunity, as he knows she cannot swim. The plan works perfectly; the canoe overturns and Henrietta is swept away down the river. But when Henry swims to safety, he finds a tree fern, of the type named after him, and comes to the realization that he has fallen in love with his would-be victim. He rescues her and resigns himself to his unexpected fate.

Critical reception

The film was well received by critics. It received a top rating of four stars from noted critic Roger Ebert, who described the movie as "hilarious, and cockeyed, and warm." In his March 12 1971 New York Times review, Vincent Canby called it "a beautifully and gently cockeyed movie that recalls at least two different traditions of American film comedy... The entire project is touched by a fine and knowing madness."

Nominations

Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - lost to Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Elaine May) - lost to Twiggy in The Boy Friend (1971)
WGA Award (Screen) for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium (Elaine May) - lost to John Paxton for Kotch (1971)

Alternate versions and edits

After May wouldn't show Paramount Pictures a rough cut of the film ten months into editing, Robert Evans took the film away from her and recut it. May's version was rumored to run an unwieldy 180 minutes. It is not known if the original cut still exists. Evans shortened it to 102 minutes. Angered by the alterations, May tried to take her name off the film and unsuccessfully sued Paramount to keep it from opening.

The original story included a subplot in which Henry discovers from the household accounts that Henrietta is being blackmailed on dubious grounds by the lawyer, McPherson, and another character played by William Hickey; Henry poisons both of them. This darkly casts Henry's eventual acceptance of a conventional life with Henrietta as his "sentence". By eliminating the subplot, Paramount fixed the excessive running time, avoided the awkwardness of Henry getting away with murder and transformed the ending into a rather sweet affirmation of love and personal redemption.

Roger Ebert discusses this issue in his review: "Miss May is reportedly dissatisfied with the present version; newspaper reports indicate that her original cut was an hour longer and included two murders. Matthau, who likes this version better than the original, has suggested that writer-director-stars should be willing to let someone else have a hand in the editing. Maybe so. I'm generally prejudiced in favor of the director in these disputes. Whatever the merits of Miss May's case, however, the movie in its present form is hilarious, and cockeyed, and warm."

Vincent Canby remarked: "Not having seen Miss May's version, I can only say that the film I saw should be a credit to almost any director, though, theoretically at least, Miss May is right. The only thing that gives me pause is the knowledge that its success will probably be used in the future as an argument to ignore the intentions of other directors, but with far less happy results."

Production

It was filmed in both Maine and the Oakland Gardens in New York City's Queens.

It was co-produced by Aries Productions and Elkins Productions International Corporation, whose only other production was A Doll's House (1973).

Financial issues

In what would become a hallmark of Elaine May, the film's original $1.8 million budget shot up to over $4 million by the time it was completed. Shooting went 40 days over schedule and editing took over ten months. Similar problems dogged her subsequent project, Mikey and Nicky.

During shooting, producer Howard Koch, Sr. tried to have May replaced, but she had put a $200,000 penalty clause in her contract and he was persuaded to keep her.