Love Me or Leave Me (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
'Love Me or Leave Me' (directed by Charles Vidor) is a spirited, multi-Academy Award nominated musical drama/fictionalized biopic about the career of legendary jazz chanteuse Ruth Etting (Doris Day, excellent); it follows her fraught life & tempestuous relationship with small-time Chicago gangster, Marty "The Gimp" Snyder (the great James Cagney). Marty is a rackateer discovers Ruth working as a dime-a-dance hostess at a cheap & crass nightclub in the roaring twenties.
At 1st he just wants to bed her, but subsequently falls in love her; and vice-versa. Under Martin's strict management {using strong-arm tactics to further her career}, uptight-&-driven Ruth works her way to the top; becoming a famed jazz singer, Broadway actress with the Ziegfeld Follies, & onto Hollywood. But as her popularity grows in leaps & bounds, so too, does Martin's obsessive & controlling behavior. Melodrama ensues.
Charles Vidor directs this off-beat biopic with aplomb. And it's quite something to see the relationship depicted here as abusive as it is; something you don't see in a movie from the 1950s, no less one starring charismatic James Cagney & America's sweetheart, Doris Day. It is outright jarring to see, but that also makes it more interesting. Singing & dancing + pre-marital relations, alcoholism, & an abusive relationship from Hell ... this movie's got it all.
Doris Day gets to play way against type, here. Sure, she get to wear many fabulous gowns by Helen Rose & sing a plethora of songs including "Shaking The Blues Away", "It All ... Depends On You", "Mean to Me", "Ten Cents A Dance" {love this one!} & "You Made Me Love You" ... but she was able to really stretch her dramatic acting here, as well; playing someone so blinded by ambition that she couldn't see how wicked her mentor is. Most cinephiles agree that she deserved an Oscar nomination for this dynamic performance, but she would have to wait several years later for her turn in Pillow Talk. Whatever the case, she's fantastic, here.
James Cagney kinda recycles his White Heat tough-guy persona, but who does it better than him? He yells a lot and, in the film's most startling moment, slaps Doris Day's Ruth across the face -- that image stays with you. I wouldn't say that this film has an amazing script {historical inaccuracies, cliches, it is sometimes hard to root for either of the 2 selfish main characters}, but the rest of the film's strengths overcome any deficiencies. This movie is lushly shot with vibrant primary colors. The period sets & costumes are lovely. And the copious musical numbers nicely off-set the hard-boiled dramatics of this true story. Enjoyable film, this is.
At 1st he just wants to bed her, but subsequently falls in love her; and vice-versa. Under Martin's strict management {using strong-arm tactics to further her career}, uptight-&-driven Ruth works her way to the top; becoming a famed jazz singer, Broadway actress with the Ziegfeld Follies, & onto Hollywood. But as her popularity grows in leaps & bounds, so too, does Martin's obsessive & controlling behavior. Melodrama ensues.
Charles Vidor directs this off-beat biopic with aplomb. And it's quite something to see the relationship depicted here as abusive as it is; something you don't see in a movie from the 1950s, no less one starring charismatic James Cagney & America's sweetheart, Doris Day. It is outright jarring to see, but that also makes it more interesting. Singing & dancing + pre-marital relations, alcoholism, & an abusive relationship from Hell ... this movie's got it all.
Doris Day gets to play way against type, here. Sure, she get to wear many fabulous gowns by Helen Rose & sing a plethora of songs including "Shaking The Blues Away", "It All ... Depends On You", "Mean to Me", "Ten Cents A Dance" {love this one!} & "You Made Me Love You" ... but she was able to really stretch her dramatic acting here, as well; playing someone so blinded by ambition that she couldn't see how wicked her mentor is. Most cinephiles agree that she deserved an Oscar nomination for this dynamic performance, but she would have to wait several years later for her turn in Pillow Talk. Whatever the case, she's fantastic, here.
James Cagney kinda recycles his White Heat tough-guy persona, but who does it better than him? He yells a lot and, in the film's most startling moment, slaps Doris Day's Ruth across the face -- that image stays with you. I wouldn't say that this film has an amazing script {historical inaccuracies, cliches, it is sometimes hard to root for either of the 2 selfish main characters}, but the rest of the film's strengths overcome any deficiencies. This movie is lushly shot with vibrant primary colors. The period sets & costumes are lovely. And the copious musical numbers nicely off-set the hard-boiled dramatics of this true story. Enjoyable film, this is.