Love Me or Leave Me: A Tour de Force Triumph
- donna31489
- Aug 6, 2015
- 2 min read
In one of the best musical dramas committed to film, Doris Day ditches her good-girl image to tell the life story of 1920s torch singer Ruth Etting. A drastic departure from her usual roles, Day gives a powerfully profound performance that many consider the best of her career in Love Me or Leave Me (1955).
It was James Cagney, Day’s costar in the film, who suggested her for the role. MGM originally wanted superstar Ava Gardner for the part, but Cagney knew Day had the voice and depth to bring this story to life the way it deserved to be—and he was right.
In fact, Day was the first actress to get top billing over Cagney in over 30 years. She actually hesitated to take the role, fearful of alienating her fans by playing a woman of questionable morals. But with the film’s wonderful score and Cagney as her costar, she was sold.
Day is enthralling as she takes you on Etting’s volatile journey from back-alley club entertainer to the toast of Broadway. Her songbird voice was never used to better advantage than in this film. Even when she's singing, she has the uncanny ability to make you feel the sentiments she is expressing.
Cagney is just as brilliant as Marty Snyder, a controlling Chicago racketeer who helps take Etting to the top—at a price. Smitten with the singer at first sight, Marty becomes her manager, obligating her to him for his own needs. An obsessive and possessive man, Cagney portrays Marty with a modulated anger and aggression.
Two of the best at their best, Day and Cagney sizzle in an explosive relationship that had some disturbing parallels to Day’s own marriage to producer Marty Melcher. Like Snyder, Melcher kept Day on a tight leash and controlled every aspect of her career, even down to her money.
Day also had a lot of personal experience to dig her teeth into this part. In the most controversial scene of the film, Cagney knocks Day around until he has his way with her. Day’s first husband was physically and emotionally abusive, similar to Cagney’s character.
Ultimately this is a story about choices. How far will one woman go to get what she wants and what are the consequences? Etting becomes trapped in circumstances she created by putting fame before everything else, including love. She loves Marty for helping her achieve her dreams, but he is not the true love of her life.
As their relationship heads towards a downward spiral, Etting has little left of herself and finds the strength to make a choice and change the situation. We always have choices in life. And when you choose incorrectly, it’s about what you do to rectify those decisions. Because every choice in life is a lesson, good or bad.
Love Me or Leave Me was a smash success with audiences and one of the top-grossing films of 1954. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, though Day was excluded—a snub that riles her fans to this day. Clearly the standout in the singing sweetheart’s career, this film defines her immeasurable talent as an actress and songstress that is untouchable.
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