A New Leaf (1971) on Netflix
Broke playboy Henry Graham has six weeks to repay his uncle Harry. He plans to marry a wealthy woman and murder her. Then he meets the shy botanist Henrietta Lowell.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.3/109,067 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Henry Graham has run through his inheritance and has nothing left. His valet Harold suggests he marry into wealth, so Henry borrows $50,000 from his uncle Harry and is given six weeks to find a rich bride and repay the debt or lose everything he owns. He chooses to find such a woman and murder her. Days before the deadline he meets Henrietta Lowell, a clumsy, painfully shy botany professor with a large fortune and no family. At a society party she spills tea on the carpet; Henry comes to her defense and drives her home. He pretends to share her interest in plants, and she says her dream is to find a new plant and give it her own name. Henrietta's lawyer Andy McPherson opposes the match, but she agrees to marry Henry within the week.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A New Leaf (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Elaine May's original cut of A New Leaf was rumored to run 180 minutes and included two murders from Jack Ritchie's story; Robert Evans took the film from her and cut it to 102 minutes. May tried to take her name off it and unsuccessfully sued Paramount to keep it from being released.
- Paramount wanted Carol Channing to play Henrietta Lowell, and when May protested, the studio refused to let her pick another actress, instead offering the part to May for the same money. Christopher Plummer and Cary Grant were contenders for the role of Henry Graham.
- May was offered $200,000 for her script, but her agent struck a deal with Paramount so she could direct, and she was paid only $50,000, having been convinced a first-time director could not expect such a large sum.
- The film's original $1.8 million budget rose to over $4 million by completion, shooting ran 40 days over schedule and editing took more than ten months, problems that would become a hallmark of Elaine May's career.
- During shooting, producer Howard W. Koch tried to have May replaced, but she had written a $200,000 penalty clause into her contract, and he was persuaded to keep her.
- May consulted Dr. Dominick Basile, a botany professor at Columbia University, who wrote the script's botanically accurate lines and supplied the botanical equipment seen on screen; May modeled Henrietta's office after his.
