Two for the Seesaw (1962) – full review!

Directed by Robert Wise this William Gibson (The Miracle Worker (1962)) play with a screenplay by Isobel Lennart (The Sundowners (1960)) was made into a pretty good if talky romance drama by its leads Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine. The two play a couple of lonely souls from different worlds he from Nebraska in the midst of divorcing his wife of 12 years and she from the artist Greenwich Village district in New York City where the story is based. Mitchum’s character is a temporarily out-of-work lawyer that meets dancer MacLaine who does “a little of this and a little of that” but primarily lives off unemployment insurance. Cinematographer Ted McCord received his second of three unrewarded Oscar nominations for his work; André & Dory Previn’s Original “Song from Two for the Seesaw (Second Chance)” was also nominated. Edmon Ryan plays Mitchum’s friend that is responsible for his meeting MacLaine Elisabeth Fraser plays Ryan’s wife a protective friend of MacLaine’s. Billy Gray plays Mitchum’s eventual employer whereas Ken Berry (uncredited) plays MacLaine’s dance studio partner. Ann Morgan Guilbert also appears (uncredited) as the mother of some dance students.

The film begins rather slowly and ends pretty poorly too but its middle (about two thirds of the film’s two hour length) is a fascinating compelling relationship study between these two diverse characters excellently portrayed by Mitchum and MacLaine. Perhaps as much as a year passes during the course of this drama and the characters grow as believably as their relationship does. Mitchum as Jerry Ryan begins as a man who’s almost suicidal unable to engage other persons or take on any responsibility after his failed marriage. We learn during the course of the story that he hadn’t really taken any responsibility for his life thus far anyway that he married a wealthy man’s daughter who mentored him into his profession and essentially gave him everything without Mitchum knowing if he even wanted it. So he finally escaped it all after twelve years traveling to New York where (through a party at his friend’s) he meets Gittel Mosca (MacLaine) short for Moscawitz. She’s a girl who’s fairly free with her (sexual) love that can’t seem to keep anyone for very long but doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. The thing that bothers her most is her ulcer which flares up when she imbibes smokes or gets too emotional.

After a “rocky” start they help each other such that Jerry gets a job as a legal clerk which enables the pair to climb at least a little bit out of their impoverished environments. To in essence prove that he can stand on his own (e.g. without his former wife’s & father-in-law’s assistance) he provides for Gittel and finally convinces his reluctant steady to accept his paying for a loft in which she and her friend (Berry) can conduct dance lessons. However she’s been out of it for too long and all the work is done by her friend though she receives her 50% nonetheless. Eventually Gittel’s friend Sophie (Fraser) puts a bug in her ear and then his questioning why Jerry has yet to propose to her. Unfortunately the terrific revealing conversations between Mitchum’s and MacLaine’s characters come to an end as the film itself does disappointingly so.

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