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Love Me or Leave Me
Love Me or Leave Me
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Vidor
Written by	Daniel Fuchs; Isobel Lennart
Produced by	Joe Pasternak
Starring	Doris Day; James Cagney; Cameron Mitchell
Cinematography	Arthur E. Arling
Edited by	Ralph E. Winters
Music by	George Stoll
Production; company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's Inc.
Release date	May 26, 1955;
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.76 million
Box office	$5.6 million

Love Me or Leave Me is a 1955 American romantic musical drama film starring Doris Day, with James Cagney and Cameron Mitchell in support. Also a biopic, the MGM production recounts the life of Ruth Etting, a singer who rose from dancer to movie star. Nominated for six Academy Awards, the picture was directed by Charles Vidor, and written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart.

Plot

Nineteen-twenties Chicago nightclub singer and dime-a-dance girl Ruth Etting is in jeopardy of losing her job for kicking a customer for his unwelcome attention. Martin Snyder, known as "The Gimp" because of his game leg, intervenes on her behalf. A man of considerable clout, he owns a laundry business as a front and runs a thriving protection racket.

Etting is desperate to get into show business. Snyder gets her a job dancing in a floor show, then pays for a singing coach, Johnny Alderman, who is also attracted to her.

Etting and Alderman are grateful, but Snyder makes it clear he expects Etting to travel to Miami with him, not for business but for pleasure. Etting declines, but Snyder's interest in her continues. Through an agent, Bernie Loomis, he arranges a radio program to feature Etting, followed by a job with the Ziegfeld Follies. His crude behavior and violent temper cause Etting multiple problems.

Johnny continues to woo Etting, but under heavy pressure from Snyder she marries him instead. His heavy-handed management continues as her career blossoms. Goaded to enter the entertainment business, Snyder decides to open a nightclub of his own, sinking his wealth heavily into it. Upset at sensing a relationship resuming between Etting and Johnny during their filming of a Hollywood movie, Snyder strikes her; she runs off and seeks a divorce. Snyder then catches them together, shoots Johnny and is arrested.

Horrified but conflicted because of all Snyder has done for her career, Etting arranges for Loomis to bail him out of jail. At his nightclub which he expects to find deserted, Snyder arrives to find Etting performing there herself. At first enraged by what he perceives as an act of charity, Snyder finally realizes this is Etting's way of showing her appreciation, even if she can't be part of his life any longer.

Cast

Doris Day as Ruth Etting
James Cagney as Martin Snyder
Cameron Mitchell as Johnny Alderman
Robert Keith as Bernard V. Loomis
Tom Tully as Frobisher
Harry Bellaver as Georgie
Richard Gaines as Paul Hunter
Peter Leeds as Fred Taylor
Claude Stroud as Eddie Fulton
Audrey Young as Jingle Girl
John Harding as Greg Trent

Production

The role of Snyder was originally intended for Spencer Tracy, but he turned it down. After the Etting role was turned down by Ava Gardner, Cagney suggested Doris Day to producer Joe Pasternak. Gardner was subsequently placed on a temporary salary suspension by MGM as a punishment.

Reception

Variety called the film "a rich canvas of the Roaring '20s, with gutsy and excellent performances."^[3]

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Actor	James Cagney	Nominated	^[4]
	Best Screenplay	Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart	Nominated
	Best Motion Picture Story	Daniel Fuchs	Won
	Best Scoring of a Musical Picture	Percy Faith and Georgie Stoll	Nominated
	Best Song	"I'll Never Stop Loving You" Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn	Nominated
	Best Sound Recording	Wesley C. Miller	Nominated
Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Charles Vidor	Nominated	^[5]
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Written American Musical	Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart	Won	^[6]

Box-office

According to MGM records the film earned $4,035,000 in the US and Canada and $1,597,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $595,000.^[1] Love Me or Leave Me was the eighth ranked movie in 1955.

Soundtrack

All but two of the songs in the movie were hits that Etting had recorded originally back in the 1920s and early 1930s. These new songs, written specifically for the film, are "Never Look Back" by Chilton Price and "I'll Never Stop Loving You" by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn.^[3]

The songs as they appear in the film (all sung by Doris Day except as shown):

"Ten Cents a Dance"
"I'm Sitting on Top of the World" (sung by Claude Stroud)
"It All Depends On You"
"You Made Me Love You"
"Stay On the Right Side Sister"
"Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Loves Nobody But Me)"
"Mean To Me"
"Sam, the Old Accordion Man"
"Shaking the Blues Away" (sung by Doris Day, danced by Doris Day and Chorus)
"I'll Never Stop Loving You"
"Never Look Back"
"Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"
"At Sundown"
"My Blue Heaven"
"Love Me or Leave Me"

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ For domestic take see also 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
^ ^a ^b Variety's review Posted: December 31, 1954
^ "The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
^ "8th Annual DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.