ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May
Edited by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Dean Brandum
Spanning from obscurity to notoriety, the films of director, screenwriter, actor and comic Elaine May have recently experienced a long-overdue renaissance. Although she made only four films — A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976) and Ishtar (1987) — and never reached the level of acclaim of her frequent collaborator Mike Nichols, May’s work is as enigmatic, sophisticated and unceasingly fascinating as her own complicated, reluctant star persona. This collection focuses both on the films she has directed, and also emphasises her work with other high profile collaborators such as John Cassavetes, Warren Beatty and Otto Preminger.
Case studies- A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)
- The Heartbreak Kid (Elaine May, 1972)
- Mikey and Nicky (Elaine May, 1976)
- Ishtar (Elaine May, 1987)
- American Masters: Mike Nichols (Elaine May, 2016)
- Such Good Friends (Otto Preminger, 1971)
- The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996)
- Primary Colors (Mike Nichols, 1998)
- Clem Bastow, University of Melbourne
- Dean Brandum, independent researcher
- Jeremy Carr, Arizona State University
- Samm Deighan, Associate Editor of Diabolique Magazine
- Mark Freeman, Swinburne University
- Allie Hagan, screenwriter
- Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, film critic
- Paul Jeffery, independent researcher Tim O'Farrell, Victorian College of the Arts
- Maya Montañez Smukler, New School, Otis College of Art and Design, the New York Film Academy and UCLA
- Jake Wilson, freelance writer and film reviewer
Who’s Kidding? Approaching Elaine May
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Part I: Beginnings
Chapter One: Teenagers on Stage – The Comedy of Elaine May and Mike Nichols
Mark Freeman
Part II: Critically Situating Elaine May
Chapter Two: Hollywood Can’t Wait: Elaine May and the Delusions of 1970s American Cinema
Maya Montañez Smukler
Chapter Three: Dangerous Business – Elaine May as Existential Improviser
Jake Wilson
Part III: Elaine May’s Films as Director
Chapter Four: Kneeling on Glass – Elaine May’s A New Leaf (1971) as Screwball Black Comedy
Samm Deighan
Chapter Five: "Don’t Put A Milky Way in Someone’s Mouth When They Don’t Want It": A Contemporary Feminist Rereading of Elaine May’s The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Clem Bastow
Chapter Six: Mikey and Nicky (1976) – Elaine May and the Cassavetes Connection
Jeremy Carr
Chapter Seven: Cartographies of Catastrophe – Elaine May’s Ishtar (1987)
Dean Brandum
Part IV: Collaborations/Revelations
Chapter Eight: In/Significant Gestures – Elaine May, Screen Performance, and Embodied Collaboration
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Chapter Nine: Otto É May(zo) – Elaine May’s Screenplay of Otto Preminger’s Such Good Friends (1971) as Affirmation That Hell is Other People
Paul Jeffrey
Chapter Ten: Spectral Elaine May – The Later Mike Nichols Collaborations and the Myth of the Recluse
Tim O’Farrell
Conclusion
Chapter Eleven: When in Doubt, Seduce: An Interview with Screenwriter Allie Hagen
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Dean Brandum
Bibliography
In this compact but authoritative volume, Heller-Nicholas and Brandum have collected an excellent group of essays covering the entire breadth of May’s career.
It’s welcome to see a compendium looking to resituate May from the fringes of contemporary American cinema. Between the collection of smart, meaty pieces and their dazzling array of footnotes, we now have something to begin ‘passing the ball’ to future authors who can continue the May renaissance.
Academicising elusive Elaine May and her unruly improvs risks landing one in an imaginary Nichols-May routine, but this lively collection fearlessly takes the plunge. Watching the resourceful, mainly Australian contributors confirm or contradict one another as much as any of May’s mutually entangled duos is only part of the fun.
