Two for the Seesaw (1958), a play by William Gibson. [ Booth Theatre, 750 perf.] Having had a falling out with his wife in Omaha, lawyer Jerry Ryan (Henry Fonda) finds himself lonely and adrift in New York. He calls a young girl for a date and she turns out to be a warmhearted but aggressively bohemian Jewish girl, Gittel Mosca (Anne Bancroft). A romance ensues, but in the end different backgrounds and different interests send them on their separate ways. The romantic piece was one of the best of the many two‐character plays that inundated Broadway in this period. It later became the source for the musical SEESAW (1973) that director‐choreographer Michael Bennett adapted (using an early libretto by Michael Stewart) into a glitzy dance show. Ken Howard and Michele Lee were the unlikely couple with Tommy Tune stealing the show with a big production number that he also staged. The contemporary‐sounding music was by Cy Coleman, and Dorothy Fields, in her last Broadway outing, did the surprisingly modern lyrics. The troubled musical went through a trying preview period, then met with mixed notices, struggling on for an unprofitable 296 performances at the Uris Theatre. Notable songs: Nobody Does It Like Me; It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish; Welcome to Holiday Inn.
Two for the Seesaw
| American Theater Guide: Two for the Seesaw |
| Wikipedia: Two for the Seesaw (film) |
| Two for the Seesaw | |
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Wise |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Walter Mirisch |
| Written by | William Gibson Isobel Lennart |
| Starring | Robert Mitchum Shirley MacLaine Edmon Ryan Elisabeth Fraser Eddie Firestone |
| Music by | André Previn |
| Cinematography | Ted D. McCord |
| Editing by | Stuart Gilmore |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | November 21, 1962 |
| Running time | 119 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
Two for the Seesaw is a 1962 romance-drama film, directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine. It was adapted from a Broadway play of the same name, written by William Gibson.
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Plot summary
Jerry Ryan (Mitchum) is a lawyer from Nebraska who has recently separated from his childhood sweetheart. To get away from it all he has moved to a shabby apartment in New York. He is struggling with the divorce, which has been filed but is not final, and takes long walks at night.
At a party he meets Gittel Mosca (MacLaine), a flighty, needy, struggling dancer, who has yet to make it at 29. They instantly connect, and begin to fall in love. But the relationship is hampered by their differences in background and temperament.
Jerry gets a job with a New York law firm and prepares to take the bar examination. He helps Gittel rent a loft for a dance studio, which she rents out to other dancers. But their relationship is stormy. Gittel has a fling with an old boyfriend, and Jerry is constantly on the phone with his soon to be ex-wife.
They prepare to move in together nevertheless, but Gittel is upset when she learns that the divorce came through and Jerry did not tell her about it. Jerry explains that even though he is divorced from his former wife on paper, they continue bonded in many ways.
Jerry decides to return to Nebraska and begin again with his ex-wife.
Production notes
Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft appeared in the original Broadway production of the play upon which this movie was based.
Paul Newman was originally slated to star opposite Elizabeth Taylor in the film. When Taylor was forced to drop out because of shooting overruns on Cleopatra, Newman was freed up to take the role of "Fast Eddie" Felson in The Hustler.[1]
The title tune and soundtrack, Second Chance, went on to become a pop music and jazz standard, recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and other artists.
References
- ^ Newman, Paul. DVD commentary, The Hustler
External links
- Two for the Seesaw at the Internet Movie Database
- Two for the Seesaw at Allmovie
- Two for the Seesaw at the TCM Movie Database
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 | Arthur Penn (American Theater) |
| Two for the Seesaw (1962 Drama Film) |
| George Jenkins (American Theater) |
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| What rhymes with seesaw? Read answer... |
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Copyrights:
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Two for the Seesaw (film)". Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Arthur Penn (American Theater)
- Two for the Seesaw (1962 Drama Film)
- George Jenkins (American Theater)
- Anne Bancroft (American actress)
- Henry Fonda (American actor)
- William Gibson (American Theater)
- Spirit! (2006 Album by Hal Stein Quartet)
- Gary Smulyan with Strings (1997 Album by Gary Smulyan)
- Isobel Lennart (Author)
- As Long As She Needs Me (1963 Album by Sammy Davis, Jr.)
- Philip Abbott (Actor, Director, Drama/Science Fiction)
- Harold Gould (Actor, Comedy/Drama)
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