LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME

As a Ruth Etting fan, I was skeptical about watching Love Me or Leave Me and the casting of Doris Day (who deserved finer character roles LATE in her career, perhaps as the bright-eyed-American-girl-gone-the-weary-suburban-nightmare if Hollywood, even 'communist' Hollywood had only dared tell the truth (think dying of valium with a son in Vietnam)/ was better than the 'starlet' track, yet shines here)... but WOW! what a stunning best-of-bourgeois production/ a 'studio' classic and one of Cagney's very best roles as Marty 'The Gimp' (I'm still waiting for Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins to play young and old Cagney in a warts n' all bio-pic!) PROVIDED one doesn't take the references to the life of Etting too seriously, e.g. Day is just adorable, brilliant-from-a-bread-and-butter-base (if she's ever bland she USES blandness as a very -American vehicle for stardom) and as captivating as her collaborating with the cinematic medium allows in the song settings – BAR the dreadful 'Sam the Old Accordion Man' number and much too-slow, too-drab version fo the theme song, tho' that might be deliberate given the soured radio orchestra/ rough crust Chicago vs. New York upper money contrast – but it is NOT Etting. That is, in a classic case of capital's insensitivity, it would have certainly worked better as a 'loosely based on' or 'inspired by' story called 'Chicago's Sweetheart...'.

In the end, the power of Love Me or Leave Me, much more than a girl-meets-ganster movie, comes from the portrayal of what it is like to be a fairly-narcissist personality trapped in a relationship with a domineering, impulsive, resentful authoritarian personality – could this be 'America' for several decades....? The 'real' story of Etting is interesting enough for a talented director to make an excellent 'creative documentary', combining one of my favourite combos of the camp and the corrupt, perhaps Errol Morris or Guy Maddin have the time..... (Check out the dreadful short film 'A modern Cinderella' for why this is necessary!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGbVmLWtJ80