LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME

Love Me or Leave Me
MGM, 1955, Color, 122 minutes, ****
General release June, 1955

Roaring '20s songstress Ruth Etting had everything - the looks, the wiles, the smoky jazz voice, the it. She also had Chicago racketeer Martin "The Gimp" Snyder who, even as he propelled her career, afflicted her.

Laced with Doris Day's vibrant performances of songs from the era, this 1955 Academy Award winner (Best Motion Picture Story) is based on the tough-minded tale of Etting's life with the man who boosted her career with strong-arm tactics and smothered her in an obsessive grip she escaped at great peril. As Snyder, James Cagney earned one of the film's six Oscar nominations. Day's 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.

Excellent movie! A drama with lots of music, all sung by Doris Day. Cagney turns in a wonderful performance - one of his best. It's certainly not a happy story, but it's a powerful film!


Produced by: Joe Pasternak
Directed by: Charles Vidor
Assistant Director: Ridgeway Callow
Screen Play by: Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart
Story by: Daniel Fuchs
New Songs: "I'll Never Stop Loving You" Music by Nicholas Brodszky, Lyrics by:Sammy Cahn, "Never Look Back" Music and Lyrics by Chilton Price
And some of the old songs which will be associated always with the name of Ruth Etting - great songs by our greatest song writers, among whom are: Irving Berlin; DeSylva, Brown & Henerson; Walter Donaldson; Arthur Freed; Gus Kahn; McCarthy & Monaco; Rogers & Hart; Turk & Ahlert
Doris Day's Songs Arranged and Conducted by: Percy Faith
Musical Supervision: George Stoll
Music Adviser: Irving Aaronson
Dances Originated and Supervised by: Alex Romero
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore
Costumes by: Helen Rose
Hair Styles by: Sydney Guilaroff
Make-Up Created by: William Tuttle
Recording Supervisor: Wesley C. Miller
Special Effects: Warren Newcombe
Director of Photography: Arthur E. Arling
In CinemaScope, Photographed in Eastman Color
Color Consultant: Alvord Eiseman
Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters

Awards: Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story (Daniel Fuchs); Academy Award nominations for Best Song ("I'll Never Stop Loving You"), Best Actor (James Cagney), Best Screenplay (Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart), Best Score - Musical (Percy Faith and George Stoll) and Best Sound Recording (Wesley C. Miller).

Cast: Doris Day [Ruth Etting], James Cagney [Martin Snyder, "The Gimp"], Cameron Mitchell [Johnny Alderman], Robert Keith [Bernard V. Loomis], Tom Tully [Frobisher], Harry Bellaver [Georgie], Richard Gaines [Paul Hunter], Peter Leeds [Fred Taylor], Claude Stroud [Eddie Fulton], Audrey Young [Jingle Girl], John Harding [Greg Trent], Additional Cast: Dorothy Abbott [Dancer], Phil Schumacher, Otto Reichow, Henry Kulky [Bouncers], Jay Adler [Orry], Mauritz Hugo [Irate Customer], Veda Ann Borg [Hostess], Claire Carleton [Claire], Benny Burt [Stage Manager], Robert Carson [Mr. Brelston, Radio Station Manager], James Drury [Assistant Director], Richard Simmons [Dance Director], Michael Kostrick [Assistant Director], Roy Engel [1st Reporter], John Damler [2nd Reporter], Genevieve Aumont [Woman], Dale Van Sickel, John Day [Stage-Hands], Robert Malcolm [Doorman], Robert Stephenson [Waiter], Paul McGuire [Drapery Man], Barry Regan [Guard], Jimmy Cross, Henry Randolph [Photographers], Chet Brandenberg [Chauffeur], Larri Thomas, Patti Nestor, Winona Smith, Shirley Wilson [Chorus Girls]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:08] Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Girl) (played by Orchestra, danced by Doris Day and Chorus Girls); [0:09] I'm Sitting on Top of the World (sung by Claude Stroud, fades to background); [0:18] It All Depends On You (sung by Doris Day, Cameron Mitchell at the piano onscreen); [0:28] You Made Me Love You (sung by Doris Day); [0:30] Stay On the Right Side Sister (sung by Doris Day); [0:37] Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Loves Nobody But Me) (sung by Doris Day); [0:38] Mean To Me (sung by Doris Day); [0:46] Sam, the Old Accordion Man (sung by Doris Day and male quartet); [0:55] Shaking the Blues Away (sung by Doris Day, danced by Doris Day and Chorus in Ziegfeld Follies); [1:07] What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry / I Cried for You / My Blue Heaven (medley sung by Doris Day offscreen behind travel montage); [1:08] Ten Cents a Dance (sung by Doris Day); [1:23] I'll Never Stop Loving You (sung by Doris Day with Cameron Mitchell at the piano onscreen); [1:31] Never Look Back (sung by Doris Day with full orchestra on soundstage); [1:44] At Sundown (excerpt sung by Doris Day on swing on soundstage); [1:59] Love Me or Leave Me (sung by Doris Day)