"Have you ever tasted Mogen-David extra-heavy malaga wine with soda water and lime juice?"
One of my favorite quirky movies is the now little known early 70’s black comedy “A New Leaf”. In it, playboy Henry Graham (Walter Matthau) squanders his wealth and must seek out a new source to maintain his idle rich lifestyle. The easy alternative to work is to find a rich woman, marry her, and murder her. Klutzy, nerdy Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May) is the ideal candidate. But in dealing with his introverted, socially-inept and over-trusting new wife, and her ill-managed estate, Henry unwittingly begins to assume some sense of responsibility and affection for her, slowly realizing this while planning to do away with Henrietta on one droll camping trip.
I loved this film because it featured a main character I could really relate to, a dedicated bachelor not wanting to worry one tiny hair on his head about money, either the means of its acquisition and gain/loss-potential or its finite nature. That's what his lawyer/financial manager is there for. Ah, my dream lifestyle.
He’s been reared in an old-money gilded cage, is over-educated but absolutely uninspired by any field of what could be construed as employment or even activism. Because of this of course, he’s at heart an aloof cad, not needing or desiring accolades, recognition or approval from anyone, especially not a woman. He doesn't want to aid anyone else but himself and his own pleasure-seeking ways, since, he no doubt feels, they simply aren't worth it. The epitome of a true snob.
Of course part of the dark humor is that he’s also, apparently, total bereft of morals and would be willing to kill innocents in order to perpetuate his selfish hedonism. I personally wouldn’t go that far.
But we see in the end that perhaps it was all just a plan he never really had the full-fledged intent on committing since, when opportunity eventually comes his way to efficiently do away with his new wife of convenience, he passes it up. Love got the better of him, finally, just before he went down that ominous path.
Main plot aside though, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Henry discovers, soon after he weds Henrietta and moves in to her mansion, that the household staff are all robbing Henrietta blind since they’ve been left virtually in charge of the finances, padding the spending and payroll accounts giving themselves outrageously inflated salaries. When Henry meets them, they all think that he is like “one of them” out to get his own free ride. The part of the head housekeeper, Mrs. Traggert is played by Doris Roberts (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) magnificently. Unfortunately for them though, Henry is actually appalled by their actions and fires the lot of ‘em.
The look of disbelief on their faces is too funny. You watch and laugh thinking “How could they be so overtly corrupt?” and “Didn’t they know they’d be caught one day?”
One of my favorite quirky movies is the now little known early 70’s black comedy “A New Leaf”. In it, playboy Henry Graham (Walter Matthau) squanders his wealth and must seek out a new source to maintain his idle rich lifestyle. The easy alternative to work is to find a rich woman, marry her, and murder her. Klutzy, nerdy Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May) is the ideal candidate. But in dealing with his introverted, socially-inept and over-trusting new wife, and her ill-managed estate, Henry unwittingly begins to assume some sense of responsibility and affection for her, slowly realizing this while planning to do away with Henrietta on one droll camping trip.
I loved this film because it featured a main character I could really relate to, a dedicated bachelor not wanting to worry one tiny hair on his head about money, either the means of its acquisition and gain/loss-potential or its finite nature. That's what his lawyer/financial manager is there for. Ah, my dream lifestyle.
He’s been reared in an old-money gilded cage, is over-educated but absolutely uninspired by any field of what could be construed as employment or even activism. Because of this of course, he’s at heart an aloof cad, not needing or desiring accolades, recognition or approval from anyone, especially not a woman. He doesn't want to aid anyone else but himself and his own pleasure-seeking ways, since, he no doubt feels, they simply aren't worth it. The epitome of a true snob.
Of course part of the dark humor is that he’s also, apparently, total bereft of morals and would be willing to kill innocents in order to perpetuate his selfish hedonism. I personally wouldn’t go that far.
But we see in the end that perhaps it was all just a plan he never really had the full-fledged intent on committing since, when opportunity eventually comes his way to efficiently do away with his new wife of convenience, he passes it up. Love got the better of him, finally, just before he went down that ominous path.
Main plot aside though, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Henry discovers, soon after he weds Henrietta and moves in to her mansion, that the household staff are all robbing Henrietta blind since they’ve been left virtually in charge of the finances, padding the spending and payroll accounts giving themselves outrageously inflated salaries. When Henry meets them, they all think that he is like “one of them” out to get his own free ride. The part of the head housekeeper, Mrs. Traggert is played by Doris Roberts (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) magnificently. Unfortunately for them though, Henry is actually appalled by their actions and fires the lot of ‘em.
The look of disbelief on their faces is too funny. You watch and laugh thinking “How could they be so overtly corrupt?” and “Didn’t they know they’d be caught one day?”