lasttimeisaw
A NEW LEAF is Elaine May's triple threat caper, marks her director debut and pairs with a puffy Walter Matthau, plays Henry Graham, a middle-aged, blue-blooded, marriage-scorning boulevardier, who must find a rich wife within 6 weeks, otherwise, he will go bankrupt and lose all his property to his avaricious uncle (Coco).Certainly Henry has no one else but himself to blame for the disastrous situation just because he is very ill-equipped to administer his own financial affairs, and splurges money as he wishes, a privilege for those who are born with a silver spoon. But he is absolutely has no desire to put an end to his free-as-a-bird bachelor lifestyle, so, here is his plan, find a suitable bride, marry her, then murder her, so he can inherit all her money and stay single as longer as he prefers.That's the premise of Henry meets Henrietta (May, in her trademark oversized spectacles), an unassuming, socially clumsy bachelorette, a botanist, well-heeled thanks to her late father, no families or relatives, all alone in this vast world, she is tailor-made for Henry and most importantly, she is quite fond of him. Henry's courtship goes extremely smooth although he finds her inept nature is too repugnant to endure, downgrades her from "primitive" to "regressive". Despite of a droll proposal (Henry kneels down on the broken glasses) and the intended sabotage from his uncle and Henrietta's long-time suitor-cum-lawyer Andy McPherson (Weston), within one week, they are hitched! A snapshot of their honeymoon looks like this, Henry is reading BEGINNERS GUIDE TO TOXICOLOGY in the foreground while Henrietta in the background, is trying to reach for a rare fern growing under the tip of a cliff with only one of her legs fastened to a rope. Get rid of that book and lend her a hand, Henry!Back from the honeymoon, to Henry's dismay, he finds out that Henrietta, not just a incorrigibly daffy and geeky type, she is also categorically the most incompetent person ever, to run an estate, whose over-diplomatic policy vis-à-vis her house staff, headed by the housekeeper Mrs. Traggert (a flirty Doris Roberts), obliges Henry to take the liberty and execute an overhaul of the shameless parasites, then get acquainted with the financial status and even take an interest of the taxes management in order to get the place running proper. His trustworthy butler Harold (Rose, epitomises a dying species of his own) detects Henry's intention, implies that maybe this is not an ill-fit match after all, it might be Henrietta's cosmic incompetence that spurs Henry's strength of will to run such a huge property with a confident hand, aka. she makes him a better, more capable man.But, that doesn't completely change Henry's conviction when a golden chance emerges, Henry agrees to join Henrietta in her annual field trip to the Adirondacks, just two of them, in the wild, on a canoe, through the torrents. Will he relent when the crunch arrives? Maybe he can take an alternative, sticks to the marriage with her, he could even teach history in the university, as Henrietta constantly cajoles, above all, she shows her genuine affection through the only thing she is good at, gifts him a form of immortality, if that could not soften a man's murderous heart, what else could?Undeterred by its murder-centred wickedness, A NEW LEAF predictably but adequately extracts a heartwarming and life-affirming message out of its outré and farcical story-line (if a bit too patriarchal for my palate), a welcoming chemistry comes off naturally between Matthau and May, which would prompt their second on-screen collaboration in Herbert Ross' less whimsical ensemble piece California SUITE (1978). May's directorial dexterity doesn't leave a strong imprint, nevertheless, as a dark comedy with an agenda too quirky to find either relevance or credibility, it has a level-headed through-line to stick with without pandering to cheap laughter or offensive caricature which most of its peers had done or would have done, and eventually offers a populist suggestion that we might give marriage a try no matter how poles apart the two parties are, and sometimes a sweet compromise is not that unthinkably bad.
vincentlynch-moonoi
Recently I've caught a number of Walter Matthau films on cable. Matthau was long a favorite of mine since I first really noticed him as more than a character actor (which was probably when my mother and I went to see "The Odd Couple", which doesn't seem quite so funny now, but had us in stitches back in 1968). Seeing some of Matthau's old films recently reminded me of just how good he was, after taking him for granted for so many years. He could do character roles (as most of his early career was; and many were impressive) or starring roles. He could do drama (such as "First Monday In October") or comedy.This particular film -- "A New Leaf" -- is one of Matthau's best. Certainly, as with almost any film, more than one actor could play the starring role. But Matthau had a certain persona which allowed him to make this role in this film his own. Had anyone else been the star, it would have been a VERY different film. What Matthau could do with dead pan was amazing. The early scenes in this movie, where Matthau's character learns that he is dead broke are just hilarious. Hilarious writing, to be sure, but also hilarious because of that Matthau persona. I can't think of another actor who could have handled those scenes in that way. Yes, Matthau was relatively unique...and that's why we liked him so much as to make him a major star in an everyday body.And that's true about this film, too. It's interesting to read the Wikipedia article about the film, which was Elaine May's creation. Thankfully, the big bosses at Paramount didn't allow her to have her way with the final film. Would we really want to sit through 3 hours of a film in which Matthau actually becomes a murderer? I don't think so...and neither did Matthau. May's version would have justified murder (which isn't usually very funny), while this version shows redemption (of both main characters, though mostly of Matthau's character). But what is good about this film is that it doesn't seem to be a rehash of a lot of other films. Like Matthau's performance, the film is relatively unique. Oddly enough, as widely respected as the film was at the time (in terms of reviewers), it was not very successful at the box office. Yet, I still see it as a gem.In addition to Walter Matthau, the movie also stars Elaine May in as good a role as she ever had on the big screen. I always saw May as a "niche" actress, and this is her niche. It was nice to see an actor -- James Coco -- who I had pretty much forgotten about; he's funny here. George Rose is excellent here as the butler. Jack Weston -- one of those character actors who usually played pretty much the same part -- is perfect here as the shady lawyer. And, it's interesting to see a relatively young Doris Roberts, although her part is not large.I'm quite enamored with this film, although it still only get's my "7" for being a very watchable and enjoyable film. But I highly recommend it.
David Allen
"A New Leaf" (1971) starring Walter Matthau and Elaine May is one of best screwball romantic comedies ever made.The story is based on a short story by Jack Ritchie titled "The Green Heart" and Elaine May wrote the movie script, directed and starred in the movie.By far, this is her best movie of all time.The movie presents a "poor little rich boy" meets "poor little rich girl" story, and follows the two into an unlikely marriage and a story which ends happily, even though the lovable villain, Walter Mathau playing "Henry Graham" does not have good or honest intentions, and does not intend to remain married to his new wife.(He plans to become a widower taking his new wife's fortune, but at the last moment, changes his mind and his life, and the two literally go off together into a beautiful sunset....a heartwarming ending rare and almost corny, but very welcome).The movie depends very much on the two main players, and the viewer comes to like them both very much as the story unfolds.Other supporting actors in the movie are also lovable and wonderful, and very funny.A really good movie has likable characters the viewer befriends from the very beginning of the film, and which characters remain lovable throughout.There are no true villains in good movies, and current era movies (2013) often make the mistake of foisting villains of such ugliness and brutal, violent character no onlooker could ever like them.The movie suffers when this happens, and the fact that despicable people exist in the world and have over history does not justify putting such people into the movies as characters.No movie can be edifying when such people are portrayed, no matter how skillfully.A good movie is edifying.That is true of all good art in any and all fields and categories of art."A New Leaf" (1971) is a gratifying example of an edifying movie where all portrayed, large and small roles, major and minor roles, are wonderful and memorable.It's a movie which makes the viewer feel good, and makes him/her glad for having spent time watching the movie.....and glad to return to it for many repeat screenings.Very, very few works of cinematic art are like this. That is why "A New Leaf" (1971) really is a treasure. Other classic screwball romantic comedies of note worth seeing, good for the same reasons "A New Leaf" (1971) was good, include "His Girl Friday" (1939), and "Lovers And Other Strangers" (1970).------------- Tex (David) Allen is a SAG-AFTRA accredited movie actor.See details about him on the IMDb website by searching for "Tex Allen."Email to
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