[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

A New Leaf (1971)



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While im perfectly aware of Walter Matthau output and his considerable diverse career,I knew absolutely nothing about Elaine May's career and her work with Mike Nichols.That was until the release of her directorial début A New Leaf a few months ago.May has directed four films that I know off ,The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky which stars Peter Falk and John Cassavetes,Ishtar starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman and of course A New Leaf.Apart from Ishtar which I had always been lead to believe was a bit of a turkey (but like the rest I never have watched) her film career was totally unknown to me,and according to the www A New Leaf was popular with the critics and such like but bombed and the cinema,but is considered a classic along the lines of Woody Allen's Bananas and Bud Cort in Harold and Maude.Also reading some of the linear notes that came with disc,it seems to have had a very trouble production,with Mays final cut running something like 180mins and having the final cut of the film taken out of her hands by producer Robert Evans even when May tried to hide the print under her bed. So what we are left with is a severely shortened version of May's original film,but this final cut is none the worse for that as it is still a great little film and deserving of its cult status,which is more than most films that pass themselves off as a so called cult movie. Walter Matthau as Henry Graham was a wealthy and decadent playboy who has managed to squander his family's inheritance and now sees himself bankrupt and at the mercy of his creditors.While considering suicide as an option,it is then put to him by his butler Harold that he should marry a wealthy heiress,but Henry also has he idea that he could murder her and inherit all her wealth in the process,he also needs to re pay his uncle Harry the sum of $50,000.otherwise he will lose everything. Matthau is in top form as the playboy who is pretty much useless at life apart from spending money.At the start of the film you see him wandering around admiring all the the things he can no longer afford,lovingly staring at restaurants and works of art he even reaches out touches the shoulder of his butler,frightened that he will even leave him when he finds out he is broke.May's film is quirky and off beat and her portrayal of Henrietta Lowell the rich botanist Matthau marries is just as quirky as the movie and just as brilliant.

Matthau is brilliant as always, and I'm a big fan of the original Hearbreak Kid. This is a film I'd vaguely heard of but never seen before, and I'm glad I took chance on the Masters Of Cinema blu-ray. They've not steered me wrong yet with my blind buys.