{ "id": "ep8exgzfp1", "slug": "a-new-leaf", "title": "A New Leaf", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films", "label": "Black comedy and satire films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films.yr-1939-1997", "label": "Released 1939 to 1997", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films.yr-1939-1997" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "A New Leaf (1971) is Elaine May's directorial debut, a Paramount black comedy based on Jack Ritchie's \"The Green Heart,\" starring Walter Matthau as a broke playboy who marries heiress botanist Henrietta Lowell (May) to murder her; recut from three hours to 102 minutes, it joined the National Film Registry in 2019.", "snippet": "A New Leaf (1971) is Elaine May's directorial debut, a Paramount black comedy based on Jack Ritchie's \"The Green Heart,\" starring Walter Matthau as a broke playboy who marries heiress botanist Henrietta Lowell (May) to murder her; recut from three hours to 102 minutes, it joined the National Film Registry in 2019.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.black-comedy-and-satire-films.yr-1939-1997", "markdown": "# A New Leaf\n\n**A New Leaf** is a 1971 American black comedy written and directed by [Elaine May](https://www.edgepedia.org/elaine-may) in her directorial debut, starring [Walter Matthau](https://www.edgepedia.org/walter-matthau) as a bankrupt playboy who marries a wealthy botanist, played by May, with the plan of murdering her for her money. It was released by [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) on 10 March 1971, runs 102 minutes, and is rated G.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_leaf) The film made May the first woman to write, direct and star in a major American studio feature, and it was added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2019.[3](https://time.com/5747503/national-film-registry-2019-additions/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 10 March 1971, Paramount Pictures Corp. (Gulf & Western Industries); 102 minutes, color, rated G[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) |\n| Source | Screenplay by Elaine May, based on the short story \"The Green Heart\" by Jack Ritchie, published in *Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine* (March 1963)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) |\n| Principal cast | Walter Matthau (Henry Graham), Elaine May (Henrietta Lowell), Jack Weston (Andy McPherson), George Rose (Harold), James Coco (Uncle Harry)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) |\n| Production | Shot June to late September 1969 in New York and Maine; schedule exceeded by forty days; budget grew from under $2 million to more than twice that[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) • [4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) |\n| Studio recut | May's roughly three-hour cut, assembled over about ten months of editing, was taken from her and shortened to 102 minutes under Paramount executive Robert Evans[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) • [5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/lost-found-new-leaf) |\n| Recognition | National Film Registry, 2019; two Golden Globe nominations in 1972 (Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, and Best Actress for May); 94% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 70 reviews[3](https://time.com/5747503/national-film-registry-2019-additions/) • [6](https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/comedy/products/a-new-leaf) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_leaf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nHenry Graham is an old-money New Yorker who has spent his entire inheritance on a life of Ferraris and fine dining. When his lawyer, Beckett (William Redfield), informs him that he is broke, his butler Harold (George Rose) suggests marriage as a way out, and Henry adds a sinister twist: he will find a wealthy woman, marry her, and then murder her to inherit her fortune.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) • [5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/lost-found-new-leaf) To keep up appearances while he searches, he borrows from his Uncle Harry ([James Coco](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-coco)), who despises him, on strict terms that force Henry to find, woo, and wed a willing bride on a tight schedule.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971)\n\nAfter failed courtships, Henry meets Henrietta Lowell, a fabulously wealthy, clumsy botanist who dreams of discovering a new species of fern that will bear her name. She has no relatives to inherit her money, so Henry marries her promptly. He then fires her household staff, who have all been stealing from her, and on the honeymoon reads about poisons while Henrietta reads about ferns. The story swerves from there, ending more or less happily without surrendering to sentimentality.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971)\n\n## Production\n\nMay had made her name as half of the 1960s comedy duo Nichols and May with [Mike Nichols](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-nichols). In 1968 she signed a screenwriting deal with Paramount that included directing her own script; by the account she gave in a 1975 interview, she had wanted only to sell the script, and her manager Hilly Elkins negotiated the directing job as part of the package.[7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/A-New-Leaf_Courogen.pdf) The source was \"The Green Heart,\" a short story optioned from *Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine* about a lazy bachelor who depletes his trust fund and decides to find a rich woman with no family, marry her within weeks, and murder her.[7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/A-New-Leaf_Courogen.pdf)\n\n**Casting disputes shaped the film.** When May asked for star approval, Paramount countered that she could not have it but could play the role herself, placing her simultaneously in three positions in front of and behind the camera on her first film.[7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/A-New-Leaf_Courogen.pdf) Coming from theater, she lacked technical film experience; she later recalled not knowing what camera placement she wanted or even how to yell \"Action\" on the first day.[7](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/A-New-Leaf_Courogen.pdf) [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran from June to late September 1969 in New York and Maine, exceeded its schedule by forty days, and the budget grew from under $2 million to more than twice that figure.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) • [4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971)\n\nThe film's score, by Neal Hefti, was taken from Paramount's 1967 production *Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad*, which is why *A New Leaf* carried no music credit.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF)\n\n## The recut and the lawsuit\n\nMay spent almost a year in the editing room and submitted a cut of nearly three hours to Paramount.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) The studio, with [Robert Evans](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-evans) as head of production, took the production from her and re-edited it to 102 minutes, cutting almost half the film.[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) The excised material included two murders committed by Henry, of the lawyer Andrew McPherson ([Jack Weston](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-weston)) and of a blackmailer played by William Hickey, a role eliminated entirely from the released film, along with a fantasy sequence in which Henrietta imagines herself a romantic seductress.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF)\n\nMay sued the studio, stating that Paramount had told her the released film would be the one cut by editor Fredric Steinkamp and Robert Evans, and arguing that the studio version distorted her film so badly that she could make no claim to it: \"I made a film about a man who commits two murders and gets away with it. In this new version the murders have been eliminated.\"[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) Paramount answered that May had \"failed to perform her duties as a director in a timely, workmanlike and professional manner, resulting in substantially increased production costs.\" The New York State Supreme Court found for Paramount, and although May vowed to appeal, either to block the release or to have her name removed from the credits, no appeal was ever filed.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) May's full version remains unseen.[8](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9834)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nAt its 1971 premiere, Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun-Times* and Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* both called the picture \"cockeyed.\"[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) Ebert, reviewing in April 1971, called it \"one of the funniest movies of our unfunny age\" and reported hearing more laughter during the wedding-night scene than in any theater since *The Producers* (1968).[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-new-leaf-1971) Canby placed the film in a tradition he called \"Depression Comedy,\" praising May's mixture of screwball and slow-burn comedy.[10](https://silver.afi.com/movies/detail/0100002597/) Not every reviewer agreed: [Pauline Kael](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-kael) offered only a hint of praise in *The New Yorker*, writing that \"there is a sweetness about its absence of style and about its shapeless, limp comic scenes.\"[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) The film holds a 94% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 70 reviews, where the critics consensus calls May \"a comedic dynamo both behind and in front of the camera.\"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_leaf)\n\n**Historic first.** Contemporary sources record that *A New Leaf* marked the first time a woman simultaneously wrote, directed and co-starred in a major feature film.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) When the Library of Congress added the film to the [National Film Registry](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-registry) in 2019, it described May as the first woman to write, direct and star in a major American studio feature; that year's class of 25 films included seven films by female directors, the highest number of any registry class to that point.[3](https://time.com/5747503/national-film-registry-2019-additions/) The film received two Golden Globe nominations in 1972, for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) and Best Actress for May.[6](https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/comedy/products/a-new-leaf)\n\nThe production troubles foreshadowed May's later career. Her next film, *The Heartbreak Kid* (1972), was critically and commercially successful, but the overruns on *A New Leaf* were cited against her when *Mikey and Nicky* (1976) followed a similar trajectory, and after *Ishtar* (1987) her movie-directing career effectively ended.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF) • [4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971) Critics have continued to debate the recut: some argue the studio version is nearly a masterpiece precisely because of its editorial interventions, while others treat the missing footage, including the blackmail subplot and the murders, as a lost version of May's darker intent.[11](https://mubi.com/en/films/a-new-leaf/critics-reviews) • [5](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/lost-found-new-leaf)\n\n## Restoration and home video\n\nThe film was long unavailable in decent prints.[12](https://brattlefilm.org/movies/a-new-leaf/) A new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative, courtesy of [Cinématographe](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinematographe), the label of Vinegar Syndrome, received its theatrical showings in the mid-2020s and its world 4K UHD home-video debut, with extras including a 2006 hour-long conversation between Elaine May and Mike Nichols recorded at Film at [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center).[10](https://silver.afi.com/movies/detail/0100002597/) • [6](https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/comedy/products/a-new-leaf) In the United States the film streams on services including Kanopy and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.[13](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-new-leaf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [A New Leaf (1971), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54058-A-NEW-LEAF)\n2. [A New Leaf, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_leaf)\n3. [See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, Time (2019)](https://time.com/5747503/national-film-registry-2019-additions/)\n4. [A New Leaf (1971), Turner Classic Movies, by David Sterritt](https://www.tcm.com/articles/601564/a-new-leaf-1971)\n5. [Lost and found: A New Leaf, Sight and Sound, by Ryan Gilbey (2012)](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/lost-found-new-leaf)\n6. [A New Leaf, Vinegar Syndrome / Cinématographe](https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/comedy/products/a-new-leaf)\n7. [\"A New Leaf\" (1971), National Film Registry essay by Carrie Courogen, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/A-New-Leaf_Courogen.pdf)\n8. [A New Leaf. 1971. Written and directed by Elaine May, MoMA](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9834)\n9. [A New Leaf movie review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (April 6, 1971)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-new-leaf-1971)\n10. [A New Leaf, AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center](https://silver.afi.com/movies/detail/0100002597/)\n11. [A New Leaf (1971) critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/a-new-leaf/critics-reviews)\n12. [A New Leaf, The Brattle Theatre](https://brattlefilm.org/movies/a-new-leaf/)\n13. [A New Leaf streaming: where to watch movie online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-new-leaf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Black comedy and satire films › Released 1939 to 1997*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"A New Leaf\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[A New Leaf](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"A New Leaf\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-new-leaf. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "A New Leaf is Elaine May's directorial debut, a Paramount black comedy based on Jack Ritchie's \"The Green Heart,\" starring Walter Matthau as a broke playboy who marries heiress botanist Henrietta Lowell to murder her; recut from three hours to 102 minutes, it joined the National Film Registry in 2019." }