Issue 75: Elaine May Archives - Bright Wall/Dark Room

"Genius is a word that’s thrown around a lot, but I think whatever it means, if Elaine May is not a brilliant improviser, nobody is. If Elaine May is not a brilliant actress, nobody is. If she’s not a brilliant writer, nobody is. If she’s not a brilliant director, nobody is. So whatever that word means, you can apply it to her in four different categories at least, and probably more."

Elaine May in The Waverly Gallery | photo credit: Brigitte Lacombe

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless May

Marshall Shaffer·

Issue 75: Elaine May

On Elaine May’s discarded women in A New Leaf and The Waverly Gallery.

Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in THE BIRDCAGE | MGM

If I Could Believe That

Fran Hoepfner·

Issue 75: Elaine May

In The Birdcage, jokes aren't simply clever bits of wordplay, but rather a continual give and take. This is the May touch—no one ever fully wins an argument; instead, it’s a constant battle for the last word.

Elaine May's ISHTAR (1987) | original poster by Tony Stella

But We Can Sing Our Hearts Out

Chad Perman·

Issue 75: Elaine May

From the moment that Ishtar—a big budget comedy combining the talents of Elaine May, Warren Beatty, and Dustin Hoffman—was announced, its legend has loomed large.

Elaine May's MIKEY AND NICKY (1976) | original poster by Tony Stella

A Tunnel in My Head

Travis Woods·

Issue 75: Elaine May

Mikey and Nicky is not the story of two men attempting to escape the mob, nor two men reckoning with themselves—it's the story of two boys wholly unequipped to mediate the complex emotions and responsibilities of male adulthood.

A scene from Elaine May's "Mikey and Nicky"

Elaine May’s Male Gaze

Elise Moore·

Issue 75: Elaine May

What does it mean to look at women through the eyes of a male protagonist in the three films Elaine May directed in the '70s?

The Heartbreak Kid (1972) | poster art by Tony Stella

Still Heartbroken After All These Years

Ethan Warren·

Issue 75: Elaine May

The Heartbreak Kid as Elaine May’s Master Class.

A New Leaf (1971) | poster by Tony Stella

Blind Date

Veronica Fitzpatrick·

Issue 75: Elaine May

For all of A New Leaf's atonal humor and surrealism, Elaine May still manages to depict marriage in a bleakly true light: as a continual, if cordial, blind date.

Elaine May in 'A New Leaf' (1971) | Columbia Pictures

Elaine May Made Movies About Men, But Difficult Female Protagonists Dominate Her Stage

Carrie Courogen·

Issue 75: Elaine May

I love difficult women. I like ladies who talk back with abandon, the ones who don’t give in without a fight, the headstrong, selfish broads with hearts of gold.