Love Me or Leave Me (film)
Encyclopedia
Love Me or Leave Me is a 1955 biographical film which tells the life story of Ruth Etting, a singer who rose from dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

r to movie star. It stars Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

 as Etting, James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...

 as gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder
Martin Snyder
Martin "Moe" Snyder, commonly known as Moe the Gimp due to his lame left leg, was a Jewish-American gangster from Chicago, active in the 1920s and 1930s....

, her first husband and manager, and Cameron Mitchell
Cameron Mitchell (actor)
Cameron Mitchell was an American film, television and Broadway actor with close ties to one of Canada's most successful families, and considered, by Lee Strasberg, to be one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio in New York City.-Early life and career:Born Cameron MacDowell Mitzel in...

 as pianist/ arranger Myrl Alderman, her second husband. It was written by Daniel Fuchs
Daniel Fuchs
Daniel Fuchs was an American screenwriter, fiction writer, and essayist.-Biography:Daniel Fuchs was born in the Lower East Side, Manhattan, but his family migrated to Williamsburg, Brooklyn while Fuchs was an infant...

 and Isobel Lennart
Isobel Lennart
Isobel Lennart was an American screenwriter and playwright.A native of Brooklyn, New York, Lennart moved to Hollywood, where she was hired to work in the MGM mail room, a job she lost when she attempted to organize a union...

. It was directed by Charles Vidor
Charles Vidor
Charles Vidor was a film director.-Biography:Born Károly Vidor to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, he served in the Hungarian Army during World War I...

.

Production

Cagney suggested to producer Joe Pasternak
Joe Pasternak
thumb|right|250px|Pasterrnak receiving his star on [[Hollywood Boulevard]] from [[Johnny Grant |Johnny Grant]] with [[Gene Kelly]] on the left on July 29, 1991....

 that Doris Day be cast in the Etting role. The role had been sought by Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...

, but Cagney persuaded MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 to cast Doris Day, who was excited to play opposite Cagney.

Reception

Love Me or Leave Me won the Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...

, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

 (James Cagney), Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...

, Best Music, Song (for Nicholas Brodzsky
Nicholas Brodzsky
Nicholas Brodszky, was a composer of popular songs. He was born in Odessa , and died in Hollywood, California....

 and Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

 for "I'll Never Stop Loving You
I'll Never Stop Loving You (1955 song)
"I'll Never Stop Loving You" is a popular song.The music was written by Nicholas Brodzsky, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1955....

"), Best Sound, Recording (Wesley C. Miller
Wesley C. Miller
Wesley C. Miller was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for four Academy Awards, three in the category Sound Recording and one for Best Effects, Special Effects.-Selected filmography:* Brigadoon...

) and Best Writing, Screenplay.

Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

called the film "a rich canvas of the Roaring '20s, with gutsy and excellent performances."

Songs

Most of the songs in the movie were 1930s hits that Etting had recorded originally. Two new songs, however, were written specifically for the film: "Never Look Back", by Chilton Price
Chilton Price
Chilton Price was a songwriter, primarily known for country music songs which became pop music hits as well....

, and, "I'll Never Stop Loving You
I'll Never Stop Loving You (1955 song)
"I'll Never Stop Loving You" is a popular song.The music was written by Nicholas Brodzsky, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1955....

", by Nicholas Brodzsky
Nicholas Brodzsky
Nicholas Brodszky, was a composer of popular songs. He was born in Odessa , and died in Hollywood, California....

 and Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

.

(all sung by Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

 except as shown):
  • Ten Cents a Dance
    Ten Cents a Dance
    "Ten Cents a Dance" is a popular song in which a taxi dancer laments the hardships of her job. The music was written by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart...

  • I'm Sitting on Top of the World
    I'm Sitting on Top of the World
    "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" is a popular song.The music was written by Ray Henderson, the lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was published in 1925.The song was first recorded by either Art Gillham or Al Jolson...

     (sung by Claude Stroud)
  • It All Depends On You
    It All Depends on You
    "It All Depends on You" is a popular song.The music was written by Ray Henderson, with lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The song was published in 1926.-Recorded versions:*Shirley Bassey...

  • You Made Me Love You
  • Stay On the Right Side Sister
  • Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Loves Nobody But Me)
  • Mean To Me
  • Sam, the Old Accordion Man
  • Shaking the Blues Away (sung by Doris Day, danced by Doris Day and Chorus)
  • I'll Never Stop Loving You
    I'll Never Stop Loving You (1955 song)
    "I'll Never Stop Loving You" is a popular song.The music was written by Nicholas Brodzsky, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was published in 1955....

  • Never Look Back
  • Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue
  • At Sundown
  • My Blue Heaven
    My Blue Heaven (song)
    "My Blue Heaven" is a popular song written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by George A. Whiting. It has become part of various fake book collections....

  • Love Me or Leave Me
    Love Me or Leave Me (song)
    "Love Me or Leave Me" is a U.S. popular song from the 1920s.The music was written by Walter Donaldson and the lyrics by Gus Kahn. The song was introduced in the Broadway play, Whoopee!, which opened in December 1928...


External links

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