Two for the Seesaw

Two for the Seesaw
225px Original film poster by Mitchell Hooks
Directed by	Robert Wise
Produced by	Walter Mirisch
Written by	William Gibson Isobel Lennart
Starring	Robert Mitchum Shirley MacLaine
Music by	André Previn
Cinematography	Ted D. McCord
Edited by	Stuart Gilmore
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	November 21, 1962 (1962-11-21)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,750,000 (US/ Canada)

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 the Broadway play written by William Gibson.

Plot

Jerry Ryan (Mitchum) is a lawyer from Nebraska who has recently separated from his wife. 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 struggling dancer. They instantly get along, 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 has difficulty separating himself emotionally from his 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, and he decides to return to Nebraska.

Production

The original Broadway production ran for 750 performances, which included in its cast Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft.

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.

The title tune, "Second Chance", became a pop music and jazz standard, recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and other artists.

MacLaine revealed on Oprah on April 11, 2011, that she and Mitchum began a relationship during the filming of this film that lasted until his death.

Cast

• Robert Mitchum as Jerry Ryan
• Shirley MacLaine as Gittel Mosca
• Edmon Ryan as Frank Taubman
• Elisabeth Fraser as Sophie
• Eddie Firestone as Oscar
• Billy Gray as Mister Jacoby

See also

• List of American films of 1962

External links

• Two for the Seesaw at IMDb
• Two for the Seesaw at AllMovie
• Two for the Seesaw at the TCM Movie Database
• Two for the Seesaw on the Internet Broadway Database