LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME [1955 / 2016] [Warner Archive Collection] [Blu-ray] [USA Release] Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Presents a DRAMATIC MUSICAL in CinemaScope and in Glorious Technicolor! A Life-Inspired Story from Dance Hall to the Ziegfeld Follies!
Brilliant performances by Doris Day and James Cagney highlight the story of the jazz singing sensation Ruth Etting and the vicious Chicago hood that controlled her life.
Roaring 1920’s songstress Ruth Etting [Doris Day] had everything — the looks, the wiles, the smoky jazz voice, the “it-factor.” Ruth Etting also had Chicago racketeer Martin “The Gimp” Snyder [James Cagney] who, even as he propelled her career, also mistreated and undermined her.
Laced with Doris Day’s vibrant performances of songs from the era, this 1955 Academy Award® winner is based on the tough-minded tale of Ruth Etting’s life with the man who boosted her career with strong-armed tactics and smothered her in an obsessive grip that she escaped only at great peril. James Cagney as Martin “The Gimp” Snyder, earned one of the film's six Oscar nominations. Doris Day as Ruth Etting was a career-best dramatic performance, bringing acclaim from critics and protest letters from fans unprepared for the departure from her traditionally sunny roles.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1956 Academy Awards®: Win: Best Writing in a Motion Picture Story for Daniel Fuchs. Nominated: Best Actor in a Leading Role for James Cagney. Nominated: Best Writing in a Screenplay for Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart. Nominated: Best Sound Recording for Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M). Nominated: Best Music for an Original Song for Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "I'll Never Stop Loving You." Nominated: Best Music for Scoring of a Musical Picture for George Stoll and Percy Faith. 1956 Directors Guild of America: Nominated: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for Charles Vidor. 1956 Writers Guild of America: Win: Best Written American Musical for Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart.
FILM FACT No.2: The role of Martin Snyder was originally intended for Spencer Tracy, who turned it down. James Cagney suggested to producer Joe Pasternak that Doris Day be cast in the Ruth Etting role. The role had been sought by Ava Gardner and Jane Russell, but James Cagney persuaded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to cast Doris Day, who was excited to play opposite James Cagney. According to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer records the film earned $4,035,000 in the USA and Canada and $1,597,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $595,000. ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME’ was the eighth ranked movie in 1955. All but two of the songs in the movie were hits that Ruth Etting had recorded originally back in the 1920’s and early 1930’s. These new songs, written specifically for the film, are “Never Look Back” by Chilton Price and “I'll Never Stop Loving You” by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn.
Cast: Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Keith, Tom Tully, Harry Bellaver, Richard Gaines, Peter Leeds, Claude Stroud, Audrey Young, John Harding, Dorothy Abbott (uncredited), Jay Adler (uncredited), John Alban (uncredited), Mal Alberts (uncredited), Don Anderson (uncredited), Geneviève Aumont (uncredited), Veda Ann Borg (uncredited), Paul Bradley (uncredited), Chet Brandenburg (uncredited), Ralph Brooks (uncredited), Benny Burt (uncredited), Claire Carleton (uncredited), Steve Carruthers (uncredited), Robert Carson (uncredited), Dick Cherney (uncredited), Gene Coogan (uncredited), Jean Corbett (uncredited), Joan Corbett (uncredited), Jimmy Cross (uncredited), John Daheim (uncredited), John Damler (uncredited), Robert Dix (uncredited), Helene Drake (uncredited), James Drury (uncredited), Roy Engel (uncredited), Franklyn Farnum (uncredited), Charles Ferguson (uncredited), Dick Gordon (uncredited), Bill Hickman (uncredited), Mauritz Hugo (uncredited), Michael Kostrick (uncredited), Henry Kulky (uncredited), Mike Lally (uncredited), Bill Lee (uncredited), Marco Lopez (uncredited), Robert Malcolm (uncredited), Philo McCullough (uncredited), Paul McGuire (uncredited), Frank McLure (uncredited), Harold Miller (uncredited), Patti Nestor (uncredited), Howard Parker (uncredited), Joe Pasternak (uncredited), Henry Randolph (uncredited), Thurl Ravenscroft (uncredited), Barry Regan (uncredited), Otto Reichow (uncredited), Cosmo Sardo (uncredited), Phil Schumacher (uncredited), Charles Sherlock (uncredited), Dick Simmons (uncredited), Max Smith (uncredited), Winona Smith (uncredited), Robert R. Stephenson (uncredited), Bob Stevens (uncredited), Larri Thomas (uncredited), Dale Van Sickel (uncredited), Wally Walker (uncredited), Shirley Wilson (uncredited) and Herbert Winters (uncredited)
Director: Charles Vidor
Producer: Joe Pasternak
Screenplay: Daniel Fuchs (screenplay/story) and Isobel Lennart (screenplay)
Doris Day’s Songs Arranger and Conductor: Percy Faith
Musical Supervision: George Stoll
Cinematography: Arthur E. Arling, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Eastmancolor Color Consultant: Alvord Eiseman
Image Resolution: 1080p (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1 (CinemaScope)
Audio: English: 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 122 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Warner Archive Collection
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME’ [1955] should have proven to the world that Doris Day had to be taken seriously. The fact that Doris Day wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for her breakthrough dramatic role is proof that it didn’t. Doris Day’s performance in Charlies Vidor’s 1955 biopic of Ruth Etting is possibly the best one Doris Day ever gave outside of ‘Pillow Talk’ and ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much.’
The story, which won the Oscar for Best Writing – Original Motion Picture Story, is a fictionalized version of Ruth Etting’s life. Ruth Etting [Doris Day] was a 1920’s Chicago club singer who climbed the showbiz ladder to eventually reach Hollywood. However, she needed the help of a low-ranking mobster named Martin “The Gimp” Snyder [James Cagney], who convinces Ruth Etting that his connections could somehow take her to the top. Martin “The Gimp” Snyder was very abusive and their relationship was destructive. Ruth Etting found solace with Myrl Alderman [Cameron Mitchell], a pianist she knew in Chicago. But Martin “The Gimp” Snyder made sure that they couldn’t be together and eventually forced Ruth Etting to marry him.
But Martin “The Gimp” Snyder dreamed of being a star himself, so once Ruth Etting was set up in Hollywood, but Martin “The Gimp” Snyder tried to open a club. But his paranoia got the best of him, as he shot Myrl Alderman. In the real world, Martin “The Gimp” Snyder was convicted of attempted murder and Myrl Alderman and Ruth Etting were married by the time his trial began. Myrl Alderman also had issues of his own, since he was married to his second wife at the time, but facts like that can’t get squeezed into a two-hour film. Ruth Etting had already retired from performing by the time of the shooting in 1938.
In the film LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME,’ there is an uncomfortable happy ending, where Martin “The Gimp” Snyder gets what he wanted, a successful club, with the help of the woman Ruth Etting he physically abused constantly. Today this all seems preposterous and betrays the film’s deft handling of drama with music. For the first two hours of this film, it is a rare dramatic musical, proving that “musical” isn’t a genre but a style. Yet, the ending of the film feels like a cop-out, because we can’t have a musical with a sad ending. If you don’t know how Ruth Etting’s real life panned out, perhaps the ending is easier to swallow or even except.
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME MUSIC TRACK LIST
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (uncredited) (Written by Walter Donaldson) (Lyrics by Gus Kahn) [Sung by Doris Day and played during the opening credits]
I’M SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD (uncredited) (Music by Ray Henderson) (Lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young) [Sung by Claude Stroud]
IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU (uncredited) (Music by Ray Henderson) (Lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown) [Sung by Doris Day]
YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU (I Didn't Want to Do It) (uncredited) (Music by James V. Monaco) (Lyrics by Joseph McCarthy) [Sung by Doris Day]
STAY ON THE RIGHT SIDE, SISTER (uncredited) (Music by Rube Bloom) (Lyrics by Ted Koehler) [Sung by Doris Day]
EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY (but My Baby Don't Love Nobody but Me) (uncredited) (Music by Spencer Williams) (Lyrics by Jack Palmer) [Sung by Doris Day]
MEAN TO ME (uncredited) (Music by Fred E. Ahlert) (Lyrics by Roy Turk) [Sung by Doris Day]
SAM, THE OLD ACCORDIAN MAN (uncredited) (Written by Walter Donaldson) [Sung by Doris Day]
SHAKIN’ THE BLUES AWAY (uncredited) (Written by Irving Berlin) [Sung by Doris Day] [Danced by Doris Day and chorus]
TEN CENTS A DANCE (uncredited) (Music by Richard Rodgers) (Lyrics by Lorenz Hart) [Sung by Doris Day]
I’LL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU (uncredited) (Music by Nicholas Brodszky) (Lyrics by Sammy Cahn) [Sung by Doris Day] (uncredited)
NEVER LOOK BACK (Music by Chilton Price) (Lyrics by Chilton Price) [Sung by Doris Day]
AT SUNDOWN (Love Is Calling Me Home) (uncredited) (Written by Walter Donaldson) [Sung by Doris Day]
FIVE FEET TALL, EYES OF BLUE (Has Anybody Seen My Girl?) (uncredited) (Music by Ray Henderson) [Danced by Doris Day and chorus girls]
I MISS MY SWISS (My Swiss Miss Misses Me) (uncredited) (Music by Abel Baer) (Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert) [Sung by the chorus girls during rehearsal]
(What Can I Say) AFTER I SAY I’M SORRY (uncredited) (Written by Walter Donaldson and Abe Lyman) [Sung by Doris Day during the sheet music montage]
I CRIED FOR YOU (uncredited) (Written by Arthur Freed, Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman) [Sung by Doris Day during the sheet music montage]
MY BLUE HEAVEN (uncredited) (Music by Walter Donaldson) (Lyrics by George Whiting) [Sung by Doris Day during the sheet music montage]
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME [Finale] (uncredited) (Written by Walter Donaldson) (Lyrics by Gus Kahn) [Sung by Doris Day] [Played during the opening credits]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Warner Archive Collection unleashes this film ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME’ in a stunning new 1080p Eastmancolor transfer, culled from original elements and with surprising superior results that are nothing short of dazzling and is enhanced with a 2.55:1 (CinemaScope) aspect ratio. Prepare to be astonished, because Warner Archive Collection has outdone themselves with a pristine effort that ought to be on everyone’s want wish list. Fine details pop out of the screen as never before, with Doris Day’s luminous robin egg blue gown, worn during the Ziegfeld Follies routine, ravishing beyond all expectation. So all in all, well done Warner Archive Collection giving us something spectacular and definitely gets a five star rating.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Warner Archive Collection brings us a spectacular 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio experience that was originally recorded in 3 Channel Stereo Audio when the film was released and would have been interesting to hear what it sounded like on opening night. Doris Day’s vocals astonishingly are very robust and very clean. The dialogue and effects elsewhere exhibiting superior reproduction without any hiss or pop. It’s the sort of level of perfection we have come to rather lazily expect and merely demand from Warner Archive Collection in the past, but should not belie the fact that this time they have indeed put their very best “feet forward” to produce yet another exemplary audio hi-fi resolution for this film that could not have sounded any better. You are going to love – LOVE – this Blu-ray disc; it’s that simple and gets another 5 star rating from me.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: A Modern Cinderella [1932] [480i] [1.37:1] [17:24] This is a Vitaphone short starring Ruth Etting. Anita Ragusa [Ruth Etting], is the daughter of an Italian costume shop owner and delivers a dress to a snobby client and ends up attending a costume ball and also has a chance to sing and ride in a limousine.
Cast: Ruth Etting, Adrian Rosley, Barbara Child, Brian Donlevy, Lee Dixon (uncredited), Al Downing (uncredited), Robert Light (uncredited) and Al Sumpter (uncredited)
Director: Roy Mack
Screenplay: A. Dorian Otvos and Burnet Hershey
Cinematography: Edwin B. DuPar (Director of Photography)
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Special Feature: Roseland [1930] [480i] [1.37:1] [12:11] This is a 1930 Vitaphone short starring Ruth Etting who plays an aspiring singer Helen Leslie who enters a radio contest hosted by the famous Manhattan dance hall of the title. Her dad, a servant at a household where her boyfriend is Marty the Chauffeur [Jimmy Grainger Jr.] has been ill, so she stops by to see him where he works. While there, Helen Leslie sits with her beau in the back seat of the town car and accidently drops her Roseland ID card in the chauffeur driven car, which Jack [Donald Cook], the heir to the family fortune, finds on his way to town for the evening. Jack goes slumming at the Roseland dance hall to return the Helen Leslie’s ID card. Jack likes Helen Leslie at first sight, setting up a choice where Helen Leslie may have to make between the wealthy Jack and Marty the Chauffeur. With that choice on her mind, Helen Leslie enters the contest.
Cast: Ruth Etting, Donald Cook, Jimmy Grainger Jr. (uncredited)
Director: Roy Mack
Cinematography: Edwin B. DuPar (Director of Photography)
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Special Feature: Salute to the Theatres [1955] [1080p] [2.55:1] [17:09] Leo The Lion presents in CinemaScope 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration of an Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer promotional short, expressly aimed at theatre owners. Introducing actor George Murphy and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stars offering a preview of forth coming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1955 attractions, including the following film 1955 trailers, that includes: ‘Jupiter’s Darling,’ ‘Bedevilled,’ ‘The Glass Slipper,’ ‘Interrupted Melody,’ ‘Hit The Deck,’ ‘The King’s Thief,’ ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME,’ ‘Moonfleet,’ ‘It’s Always Fair Weather’ and ‘The Prodigal.’ While several other studios also viewed TV as the enemy, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had more to lose in its stance. It had lost its theatre franchise and hadn't had a truly profitable multi-year streak since 1946. 1955 would be one short year away from the wholesale collapse of the old studio system, something Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer should have seen coming when it cut loose the majority of its stars five years earlier. Contributors include: George Murphy [Host], Lauren Bacall (uncredited), Charles Boyer (uncredited), Cyd Charisse (uncredited), Doris Day (uncredited), Steve Forrest (uncredited), William Gibson (uncredited), Lillian Gish (uncredited), Gene Kelly (uncredited), John Kerr (uncredited), Oscar Levant (uncredited), Jarma Lewis (uncredited), Jane Powell (uncredited), Paul Stewart (uncredited), Susan Strasberg (uncredited), Richard Widmark (uncredited) and Esther Williams (uncredited).
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Theatrical Trailer [1955] [1080p] [2.55:1] [3:26] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME.’ The film's original preview, which heralds ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME’ as “The Singing Sweetheart of the Roaring Twenties! Portrayed by the Singing Sweetheart of Today!” Slightly gives away a bit too much plot, but still showcases the wonderful Doris Day's and her musical prowess.
Finally, ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME’ is a really wonderful film that is lifted by Doris Day’s outstanding performance and James Cagney’s ability to completely transform a hobbling Chicago racketeer Martin “The Gimp” Snyder. Clearly, Warner Archive Collection has taken the high road when paying the utmost consideration to their back catalogue. What a sincere joy it is to see ‘LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME’ looking and sounding this spectacular. I cannot think of a better way to appreciate the contributions made by Doris Day, James Cagney, Charles Vidor, or the good people over at Warner Bros. Pictures and permit us to worship and give immeasurable thanks for this grand effort. Put aside the ending of the film, the film features a great selection of songs and is a great showpiece for the wonderful and delightful Doris Day, who sings every one of them. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
