Love Me or Leave Me

Doris Day and James Cagney star in this handsome but dark musical biography based on the true story of Ruth Etting (Day), a Depression-era torch singer whose rise to fame was managed by Chicago gangster Martin "The Gimp" Snyder (Cagney in an Oscar-nominated performance), a racketeer who promoted Etting all the way to the Ziegfeld Follies. The film is a departure from the sunny romantic comedies for which Day was famous; here, she plays a driven, career-minded woman who puts on a girl-next-door innocence to keep Snyder at bay while engaging in a dangerous game, accepting his favors (Snyder strong-arms club owners to book her until her career takes off on her own merits) but denying his advances—until he finally pressures her into marriage and takes charge of every aspect of her life and career. Made in 1955, the film dances around the sex and coercion inherent in the situations, but the suggestions are there for viewers to see. Directed by Charles Vidor, this CinemaScope and Technicolor production—costarring Cameron Mitchell as Etting's vocal coach/pianist and Snyder's romantic rival—earned six Oscar nominations (winning for its screenplay). Day sings Etting's hits "You Made Me Love You," "Mean to Me," and "Ten Cents a Dance," among other standards. Likely to appeal to fans of Hollywood classics, Love Me or Leave Me looks gorgeous on Blu-ray, and includes archival musical shorts featuring the real Etting. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)