Directed by Elaine May • 1971 • United States
Starring Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston
The brilliance of Elaine May is on full display in her directorial debut, a deliciously deadpan black-comic jewel that stands as one of the finest and funniest films of the 1970s. She stars as the endearingly awkward, plant-obsessed heiress Henrietta Lowell, whose fortune becomes the target of trust-fund-depleted patrician wastrel Henry Graham (Walter Matthau), who’s willing to go as far as marriage and murder to get his hands on it. May famously clashed with studio executives in order to protect her vision, and the resulting film, though ultimately recut against her wishes, is a testament to her singular comic genius.
Up Next in Fresh Starts
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Cane River
Directed by Horace Jenkins • 1982 • United States
Starring Richard Romain, Tommye Myrick, Carol SuttonWritten, produced, and directed by the late, trailblazing director Horace B. Jenkins and crafted by an entirely African American cast and crew, this luminous, recently rediscovered landmark of ...
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Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1974 • United States
Starring Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Alfred LutterMartin Scorsese and Ellen Burstyn draw on the classic women’s melodrama, the 1970s road movie, and the burgeoning feminist movement to create a tender portrait of a New Mexico housewife w...
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Starting Over
Directed by Alan J. Pakula • 1979 • United States
Starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice BergenScripted by James L. Brooks with his trademark blend of humor and bittersweet human drama, this refreshingly grown-up romantic comedy stars Burt Reynolds as Phil Potter, a magazine writer who...
