From the brilliant comedic mind of Elaine May comes her directorial debut, A New Leaf. Also written by and co-starring May, the movie toplines Walter Matthau as Henry Graham, a spoiled, over the hill trust fund baby who suddenly finds himself penniless. He concocts a plan to find and marry a rich woman in a week’s time to restore his former financial glory, with his society chums being none the wiser. Enter May’s Henrietta Lowell, an ever klutzy, introverted heiress with a passion for botany, all of which Matthau’s character pretends to find charming. Can he woo her & get her down the aisle in a mere seven days? Matthau and May make an incredible pair in this hilarious and entertaining comedy classic.
“A New Leaf is one of cinema’s great comedies” – Keith Uhlich, Slant
“A film of such wit and comic invention that it belongs among the great American comedies.” – Calum Marsh, The Village Voice
“Elaine May’s frenzied 1971 comedy, in which she co-stars with Walter Matthau, reveals the essence of marital love more brutally than many confrontational melodramas.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Marc Edward Heuck discusses director Elaine May on the New Beverly blog.
Kim Morgan discusses A New Leaf on the New Beverly blog.
