There is a great joy to be gleaned from the current golden age of boutique home video labels in their discovery of films previously lost to time; enter Masters of Cinema with their release of Elaine May’s A New Leaf. As expressed in the featured video essay, the Bluebeard of Happiness by critic David Cairns, May was an acclaimed exponent of improvisation comedy and her debut behind the camera was born into an era of American comedy ruled by Harold and Maude, M.A.S.H and countless other boldly original classics. As charmingly unorthodox as her film was it was just one of many.
Walter Matthau is Henry – a trust-funder who has never done an honest days’ work in his life, all he has done is wallow in luxury. A sentiment beautifully depicted in an opening scene presented as if a relative was fighting for life on their deathbed only for the reveal his beloved Ferrari. Henry’s overspending gets the better of him causing him to be poor “in the only way one can be poor in that he won’t be rich” and for someone of his breeding that simply cannot do. As plainly stated by his butler, Harold, (George Rose) the only choice he faces is to either get married or ponder something much bleaker – get a job! Between a disinterested Uncle and the intervention of some rather dubious legal professionals, his bed has been made. Galled by the mere suggestion of marriage, Henry is altogether against the idea until his own stupidity gets involved and he meets the ‘absolutely perfect’ daughter of a late industrialist, Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May).
If such a script was penned some 30 or 40 years prior it would make much bigger use out of the ensemble and be fronted by the Marx Brothers
a new leaf
The genre nomenclature of the romantic comedy is slight in their relation to May’s début, A New Leaf is a rom-com in as far as there are relationships and laughs to be had. That core relationship is founded entirely on manipulation, any affection is kept to an absolute minimum. Any blossoming relationship develops through the characters in a much more down to earth way than this style of film has allowed in the contemporary era. This lends accessibility long since abandoned.
Even if Harold’s intentions are impure, the chemistry the two develop is humble and relatable all while being immensely quotable and funny. If such a script was penned some 30 or 40 years prior it would make much bigger use out of the ensemble and be fronted by the Marx Brothers, a connection that is all too easy to make thanks to Matthau doing a sterling job of channelling the indignation and laconic one-liners of Groucho. With this stagey, dialogue-driven slant to comedy, May positioned A New Leaf far away from the set-piece and locales of other 70s Hollywood comedies. This may well paint an image of light and froth and while that is true, there is a something lurking beneath the surface.
To saunter back to that first scene with the life/death operation reveal on an unreliable Ferrari, that scene shows just how much Harold values things. The scenes that follow share the same punch line of the well-to-do relying on expensive vehicles that are nothing short of unreliable merely because of their status. May and writer Ritchie are playfully poking their finger at high society. Add to that the absolute horror at the suggestion of marrying a woman and the rather grizzly ends that Harold is prepared to go to stay moneyed. It’s only in the depiction of this that the climax holds water. The classic romantic comedy motif in which we are witness to a dramatic change of heart turns a traditionally simple resolution into something with incredible poignancy thanks to the leg work put in through this satire. Just as books shouldn’t be judged by covers, love isn’t as black and white as Hollywood would have you believe.
Credit where credit is due, A New Leaf’s appears to be fun if rather disposable comedy from the 1970s eclipsed by titans. Give it the chance, however, and you’ll be witness to a deceptively nuanced and endlessly quotable comedy about being born anew; it’s a happy coincidence then that Masters of Cinema has brought this phoenix back from the void.
A New Leaf is out on Masters of Cinema Blu Ray
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