dougdoepke The storyline follows 20's singer Ruth Etting's climb from obscurity to show-biz heights, thanks in part to gangster Moe Snyder's leverage and scheming. At the same time, Etting has to straighten out her love life without alienating the temperamental Snyder.As I recall, the movie had a lot of hoopla in '55. No doubt, it was a change of pace for the fast rising Day and a revival for tough guy Cagney. Plus, there's the lavish staging in candybox Cinemascope and MGM's promise of big production numbers. Unsurprisingly, it was a big box office success. After sixty years, I finally caught up with the production the other night, but was somewhat disappointed. Of course, Day's tuneful warbling can do no wrong and is the two-hours' best part. Still, it's not really a musical since the dramatic side overshadows Day's numbers. But then the scenario was supposed to feature a dramatic Day, apparently a chance to show her chops in a dramatic change of pace. Trouble is her Ruth Etting is in an almost uniformly bad mood, which may be a real change in Day's usual sunny roles, but is out of sync with singer Etting's (Day) ascendant career. You would think success would bring about a few smiles, but no such luck for either us or the movie.Then there's Cagney who's swallowed an even bigger lemon than Day, snarling the whole way through. How Etting could stand Snyder's (Cagney) company in any capacity seems inexplicable. No doubt the actor made an unforgettable gangster, in Public Enemy (1931). But here, the constant snarling seems more caricature than expressive of his role. I suspect the movie appealed to 50's audiences for its novel pairing of two popular stars from opposite ends of the spectrum. That particular appeal, however, has worn off with the years. To me, the movie appears regrettably flawed despite the entertaining musical moments. But, at least, the charming Day was able to show she had a dramatic side even if unfortunately overdone.

TheLittleSongbird As a big fan of Doris Day, I was looking forward to Love Me or Leave Me. And overall, I liked it very much. I agree it is occasionally frothy, and it isn't much of a biopic due to some diluting, more to do with the censorship than with the film itself. That said, while a book is probably better in telling what really happened(a kept woman and her obsessive and sexually inadequate gangster sponsor), the truth isn't completely skimmed over and the story while frothy occasionally is still engrossing, and the script is witty and has a hint of freshness.Even better though are the production values, music and performances. And the direction from Charles Vidor is excellent. To further elaborate on the points made in this paragraph, the use of CinemaScope framing is exquisite and the costumes and sets are top-notch. The music is wonderful too, with the title number and Ten Cents a Dance wonderfully performed by Day. The two leads are great, Doris Day is a knockout complete with a sexy new image and a great understanding to the role she portrays with great warmth and freshness here, while James Cagney in a tough guy role, one of his better later roles is even better.In conclusion, maybe not for those looking for the truth, but for entertainment value and a fun film Love Me or Leave Me is just the ticket. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Spikeopath Out of MGM, Love Me or Leave Me is directed by Charles Vidor and stars Doris Day, James Cagney & Cameron Mitchell. Written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart, the film is loosely based on the true story of legendary 20s torch singer Ruth Etting (Day) and her rise to fame propelled by Chicago gangster Marty "The Gimp" Snyder (Cagney). It's shot in CinemaScope/Eastmancolor and features a number of Etting standards along with a couple of new tunes written especially for the film.Vidor's movie was a box office success that earned six Oscar nominations, one of which was for Cagney in the Best Actor category. Most surprising on the nominations list is the absence of one for Day. Surprising since as good as Cagney is here (all snarly, bossy and maniacal gangster like), this most assuredly is Day's movie as she turns in arguably a career best performance. Etting herself wanted Jane Powell to play her in the movie, whilst Ava Gardner was courted, and courted back, for the role. But Cagney was sure that Day was right for the part, how right he turned out to be.That Day would be able to carry off the tunes was a given, that she could immerse herself successfully in a character calling for a strong dramatic bent, still carried a question mark. Thankfully she delivers, even if her fluffy girl next door persona remains in tact. This comes down to much of the hard edge of the story from the source being absent or skirted over (Etting's battle with alcohol, pre-marital sex & infidelity), but Day and Cagney really manage to make the real life odd coupling come alive on the screen; and thus the dark aspects loom in the air just about enough to make us aware. She shows a naive, vulnerable, yet fame hungry streak, while he shows up to be a driven bully who literally will do what it takes to protect his "possession".However, the blend of a musical, gangster basis and biography never fully works. In fact, even tho the songs are a joy (particularly a sultry Day warbling Ten Cents a Dance), there's too many numbers used. Many times when the film threatens to really break out into bold territory, a number is inserted and the dramatic ark hits the buffers. This also gives off a feeling of repetition as time and again Cagney goes ape about something, Doris sighs and then she sings, and on it goes. All told the film is an odd fusion of intents, as odd as the central relationship of the piece in fact. In lesser hands it could have been a misfire (credit to good performances from Mitchell & Robert Keith too), but even tho it has faults, and suffers from the absence of daring, the lead actors make it a hugely enjoyable movie regardless. 7/10

marcslope One of the more adult mid-'50s musicals, and it's surprising that it came out of MGM, which generally preferred happy-happy song-and-dance shows, and starred two big stars who had never before worked at Culver City. Day and Cagney are tremendous, she playing up Ruth Etting's unattractive ambition without flinching, and he bringing unexpected charm to a thoroughly unlikable gangster character. As a study of how bad relationships stay stuck in the groove, it's remarkably grown-up for its day, and you might not expect these two stars to play well off each other, but they certainly do. The downside: Ruth Etting had a small, chirpy voice, rather like her contemporaries Janet Gaynor or Nancy Carroll, and Day's vocal delivery is nothing like hers. She sings like... Doris Day. Nor are the arrangements anything like period--they're standard mid-'50s overkill. The costumes and hairstyles don't even pretend to be '20s. And though much is made of Miss Etting's film career--you'd have thought she was a great movie musical star--her Hollywood sojourn was actually brief and unimpressive. Finally, there's that audience depressant Cameron Mitchell as her love interest, and you can't get very interested in him, or root for him. After so many vacuous sunny-side-up musicals at Warners, Day must have relished this opportunity to show what she could really do, and it's very worth sitting through to watch the Day-Cagney fireworks. I guess an accurate portrayal of Ruth Etting and her times would be asking too much.