Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2025 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-01-01
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.com
Elaine May wrote, directed, and starred in this acidic comedy about a wealthy playboy (Walter Matthau) who discovers that he has nearly spent all of his fortune. Casting about for a solution to his money problems that won't actually involve work, he finds a desperate solution: He'll marry an heiress (May) for her fortune. The hitch: She's a social maladept ("The woman is feral," Matthau growls). Indeed, Matthau finds marriage so intolerable that he decides there's only one course of action, which is to actively pursue making himself a widower by bumping her off. An offbeat, funny, and dry film, with a wonderfully misanthropic performance by Matthau and a sharply drawn one by May. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Carbon on the Valves.
This comedy performance by Walter Matthou ranks with his best work, such as in The Odd Couple, Sunshine Boys etc. Unfortunately, not as many people have seen it, as this movie is a little-known gem.

I saw it as a second feature and almost missed it as I had never heard or read anything about it. We stayed, and laughed so hard I looked for it for years and told people about this odd film no one knows about.

Thank God cable aired it and it became available on VHS so I could recommend it to friends. The movie is simply hilarious.

Matthau is an arrogant, cultured, vain, selfish and rich snob suddenly finding himself penniless. His only salvation is to marry a rich woman and he finds the perfect target in the introverted and socially inept heiress/botanist played by Elaine May.

Matthau, dreading this intrusion into his perfectly ordered bachelor existence, decides murder of this ditz-of-all-time is the answer to all his problems. But, that is just the beginning to a very funny and ultimately touching story.

There are some of the best written and performed comedy bits in this film that I've ever seen. Starting with William Redfield as an accountant trying to explain to a willfully uncomprehending Matthau that he's broke; James Coco as Matthau's detested uncle extorting him over breakfast; Jack Weston as May's conniving and crooked lawyer/boyfriend; Matthau proposing to May while kneeling on broken glass; the wedding with May being given away by a blubbering Weston; the Honeymoon and the toga nightgown; May's disasterous household of thieving servants; and so on.

Special mention must go to George Rose who plays Matthau's valet and all-purpose manservant. He is superb in his dry, clipped delivery while conveying the man's undelying wisdom and empathy.

Okay, the ending may seem tacked on or otherwise not perfect but you can say that about The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and quite a few other classic comedies. I won't take so much as 1/2 star off for that. This is a Classic American comedy and should be seen by everyone. Don't miss it. And please, someone, preserve it forever by putting it on DVD!

A triumph for Elaine May
This wonderful, laugh-out-loud comedy stars Walter Matthau as Henry, a witheringly sarcastic playboy who suddenly finds he has spent his entire fortune. In order to maintain his current lifestyle, he decides to marry someone-anyone-who is wealthy, which is a problem, as he basically hates women. Henrietta (Elaine May), his chosen target, is a very rich, but socially awkward-in-the-extreme botanist, whose life's dream is to discover a new form of fern. Henry woos and wins her, then decides to dispatch her on their honeymoon.

This largely overlooked comedy is a coup for writer/director/star Elaine May. The script is fast-paced, witty, and (most important for a comedy) truly funny and the characters, while outrageous, still ring true. Matthau's acid-tongued Henry is so pompous and snooty, you can't wait to hear what he's going to say next. May's performance as the innocent heiress is touching as well as hysterical. The twist at the end will leave you very satisfied with this gem of a movie.

Kona

WHY is this film NOT on DVD!!!???
I'm very pleased to see a flurry of 'new'/er reviews of this film. I only hope the DVD gods take notice!!

10 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
WHY is this film NOT on DVD!!!???, 16 May 2005
9/10
Author: jim6263 from So.California, USA

I'll not recount the story, as others have. The lack of response and proper public recognition for this film my be due to Elaine May's very dry wit and wry sense of humor, which, I think, simply sailed over the heads of many viewers. And it's truly most unfortunate, as this is a VERY funny film (for those who are perceptive and appreciate the subtler and darker shades of humor and life)! To the dude who rated it a "1" (on IMDb): "A New Leaf" was nominated for 2 Golden Globes (Comedy -- Best Picture and Best Actress) and for the WGA's (the industry's official Writer's Guild -- i.e., her peers, other screenwriters) writing award for best comedy (from another medium) that year. No offense, but I value my own (and their) sensibilities a bit more than yours! And it's impeccably acted, as others have mentioned, filled with flawless comedic timing and wry, wry wit. Simply wonderful.