A New Leaf (1971)

Directed by

Elaine May

Genre

comedy drama, black comedy film, romantic comedy

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 42m

Rated

G

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 200 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A spoiled New York playboy wastes his inheritance and decides to marry a shy, wealthy botanist for her money. After the wedding, he plans to kill her, but his scheme keeps falling apart.

wryoffbeatdeadpanbittersweetslow-burncomic-tensionquirkyromantic-farce

What happens

A New Leaf is a 1971 American black comedy film written and directed by Elaine May in her directorial debut, based on the short story "The Green Heart" by Jack Ritchie. It stars May, Walter Matthau, Jack Weston, George Rose and James Coco. In the film, patrician New York City playboy Henry Graham has run out of money. He decides to find a wealthy bride, and finds shy heiress Henrietta Lowell. He takes control of her finances after their wedding, and fires her dishonest staff. He carefully plans to poison her, but even his own best laid plans go awry. The film was a critical success on its initial release. However, despite several accolades, award nominations, and a run at Radio City Music Hall, A New Leaf fared poorly at the box office. However, it is now considered a cult classic. In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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