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The Appropriate Tune: 'A New Leaf' by Jimmy Reed
Elaine May isn’t really a household name these days, but that certainly isn’t for lack of talent. At one time, that being the 1950’s, you could even call her cutting edge, as she and her Mike Nichols took the burgeoning world of TV by storm with their heavily satirical, largely improvisational sketch comedy. When the team broke up May would still have a presence in TV and theater, but most importantly for this blog she would also move into the movie business. Originally just an actor, she would quickly move into the writing game, and even get a shot at directing a couple times as well. Sometimes that didn’t end up too well, like the infamous Warren Beatty/Dustin Hoffman flop Ishtar that put the nail in the coffin of her directorial career for good, but she also co-wrote Labyrinth so let’s see what else she’s got in the tank.
Released in 1971, A New Leaf was written and directed by Elaine May and produced by Hillard Elkins, Howard W. Koch and Joseph Manduke, based on the short story “The Green Heart” by Jack Ritchie. Walter Matthau, the world’s youngest senior citizen, stars as Henry Graham, an unrepentant trust fund leech that has just recently learned that he is completely broke. With no skills or ambitions Graham is horrified to discover that the only hope he has to continue his life of luxury is to get married, but as long as he murders his wife after the money is secured then it shouldn’t be an issue. After some searching he stumbles upon Ms. Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May), a clumsy and bookish botany professor with no relatives and a big fat bank account, and immediately gets started on his devious plot. Who knew that both marriage and murder could be such hard work?
We’ve covered another comedic film about spousal murder earlier on this list, Danny Devito’s The War of the Roses, and I’d say the main point of difference between the two is in the tone. War of the Roses is about the end of a relationship, and the increasingly petty and insane ways they try to get rid of each other. A New Leaf is about the start of a relationship, and a man so labor-averse and so disinterested in other people that he’s willing to murder a wife he barely knows being forced into so much work in order to achieve his goal. Both have elements of gallows humor but Roses is of a negative bent, while Leaf is a positive one, and between the two I find the latter far more entertaining. Not that I can’t enjoy cynical humor, I just find more enjoyment out of seeing someone confident in their own abilities suffer because of those same abilities. It’s the same reason I’ve watched more Wile E. Coyote cartoons than I’ve watched episodes of Rick & Morty.
Also similar to Roses is the fact that this film is built on the strength of the leads. I roasted Walter Matthau a little bit before but he is really damn good here, gifted with a Leslie Neilsen-like ability to play the fool with utter sincerity. Elaine May’s Henrietta is far from a high-society beauty, she’s a frumpy homebody with the hand eye coordination of Mr. Bean. The two don’t make for a Hollywood romance, and that’s what makes it work.
A New Leaf gets the recommendation. It’s a little devious, a little silly, and as a comedy from the early 70s the humor holds up a lot better than I thought it would. Married couples are an obvious target, but I think that anyone who is a fan of the golden age revival comedies like Mouse Hunt or Brain Donors would also appreciate A New Leaf, although the humor is primarily dialogue based rather than slapstick. Maybe John Hughes fans as well, although those are far less farcical. In any case, it’s certainly given me incentive to engage with more of Elaine May’s films, and I hope it eventually does the same for you.
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