↓
 
Home→New Essays→LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME/FOLM

LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME/FOLM

56thst.com Posted on by
Wikipedia
The Free Encyclopedia

Search

Contents

hide

Love Me or Leave Me (film)

Tools

Appearancehide

Text

  • SmallStandardLarge

Width

  • StandardWide

Color (beta)

  • AutomaticLightDark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love Me or Leave Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Vidor
Screenplay byDaniel Fuchs
Isobel Lennart
Story byDaniel Fuchs
Produced byJoe Pasternak
StarringDoris Day
James Cagney
Cameron Mitchell
CinematographyArthur E. Arling
Edited byRalph E. Winters
Music byGeorge Stoll
Production
company		Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed byLoew’s Inc.
Release dateMay 26, 1955
Running time122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.76 million[1]
Box office$5.6 million[1][2]

Love Me or Leave Me is a 1955 American romantic musical drama film starring Doris Day, with James Cagney and Cameron Mitchell in supporting roles. Also a biopic, the MGM production recounts the life of Ruth Etting, a singer who rose from dancer to movie star. Nominated for six Academy Awards, the picture was directed by Charles Vidor and written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart, from a story by Daniel Fuchs.

Plot

Nineteen-twenties Chicago nightclub singer and dime-a-dance girl Ruth Etting is in jeopardy of losing her job for kicking a customer for his unwelcome attention. Martin Snyder, known as “The Gimp” because of his game leg, intervenes on her behalf. A man of considerable clout, he owns a laundry business as a front and runs a thriving protection racket.

Etting is desperate to get into show business. Snyder gets her a job dancing in a floor show, then pays for a singing coach, Johnny Alderman, who is also attracted to her.

Drive-in advertisement from 1955.

Etting and Alderman are grateful, but Snyder makes it clear he expects Etting to travel to Miami with him, not for business but for pleasure. Etting declines, but Snyder’s interest in her continues. Through an agent, Bernie Loomis, he arranges a radio program to feature Etting, followed by a job with the Ziegfeld Follies. His crude behavior and violent temper cause Etting multiple problems.

Johnny continues to woo Etting, but under heavy pressure from Snyder she marries him instead. His heavy-handed management continues as her career blossoms. Goaded to enter the entertainment business, Snyder decides to open a nightclub of his own, sinking his wealth heavily into it. Upset at sensing a relationship resuming between Etting and Johnny during their filming of a Hollywood movie, Snyder strikes her; she runs off and seeks a divorce. Snyder then catches them together, shoots Johnny and is arrested.

Horrified but conflicted because of all Snyder has done for her career, Etting arranges for Loomis to bail him out of jail. At his nightclub which he expects to find deserted, Snyder arrives to find Etting performing there herself. At first enraged by what he perceives as an act of charity, Snyder finally realizes this is Etting’s way of showing her appreciation, even if she can’t be part of his life any longer.

Cast

Production

The role of Snyder was originally intended for Spencer Tracy, but he turned it down. After the Etting role was turned down by Ava Gardner, Cagney suggested Doris Day to producer Joe Pasternak. Gardner was subsequently placed on a temporary salary suspension by MGM as a punishment.

Reception

Variety called the film “a rich canvas of the Roaring ’20s, with gutsy and excellent performances.”[3]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Academy AwardsBest ActorJames CagneyNominated[4]
Best ScreenplayDaniel Fuchs and Isobel LennartNominated
Best Motion Picture StoryDaniel FuchsWon
Best Scoring of a Musical PicturePercy Faith and Georgie StollNominated
Best Song“I’ll Never Stop Loving You”
Music by Nicholas Brodszky;
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn		Nominated
Best Sound RecordingWesley C. MillerNominated
Directors Guild of America AwardsOutstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion PicturesCharles VidorNominated[5]
Writers Guild of America AwardsBest Written American MusicalDaniel Fuchs and Isobel LennartWon[6]

Box-office

According to MGM records the film earned $4,035,000 in the US and Canada and $1,597,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $595,000.[1] Love Me or Leave Me was the eighth ranked movie in 1955.

Soundtrack

Main article: Love Me or Leave Me (Doris Day album)

All but two of the songs in the movie were hits that Etting had recorded originally back in the 1920s and early 1930s. These new songs, written specifically for the film, are “Never Look Back” by Chilton Price and “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn.[3]

The songs as they appear in the film (all sung by Doris Day except as shown):

See also

References

  1.  The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2.  For domestic take see also ‘The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955’, Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
  3.  Variety’s review Posted: December 31, 1954
  4.  “The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners”. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  5.  “8th Annual DGA Awards”. Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
  6.  “Awards Winners”. Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Love Me or Leave Me (film) (category)

vteFilms directed by Charles Vidor
vteRuth Etting
Authority control databases MusicBrainz release group

Categories: 

Posted in New Essays permalink

About joelsnell99

Who's Who in all U.S and U.K. Honoraries (Marquis) Numerous publications in over 80 venues DANA SPIRIT AWARD/2009 Oxford Roundtable, Editor of FOCUS, a student Social Science Journal Author Snell Life Cycle Lonliness Curve Professor Emeritus - Kirkwood College Omicron Delta Kappa Grants Online Editor for Psychology and Education.com Research Fellow - Arlington Institute Outstanding Teacher at Kirkwood College Membership in numerous editorial boards or a reviewer of manuscripts Associate Editor - Psychology and Education Co-Author of Snell-Green Professor Index Author of Snell Educator Effectiveness Index Contributer to FutureEdition.com Co-Author of Snell-Allen Medical Rank Index Fellow in Kennedy Foundation Co-Author of Snell-Allen Subjective Assessment Sex Role Index Honors >>> Positions and Courses Taught >>> joelsnell@hotmail.com http://www.socialvibes.net Research Council, Advisory Board

Comments are closed.

↑