A New Leaf – Cinématographe (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1971
Director: Elaine May
Writer: Elaine May
Cast: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, James Coco, Dorris Roberts, Renée Taylor

Release Date: July 22nd, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 102 Minutes 12 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: G
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $59.98

"Henry Graham (Walter Matthau, The Bad News Bears), a descendant of a wealthy New York family, has exhausted his inheritance, leaving him near penniless, much to the dismay of his uncle Harry (James Coco, Murder By Death), who refuses his request for a loan. Upon suggestion of his valet driver Harold (George Rose, The Flesh and the Fiends), Henry devises a plot to marry wealthy professor Henrietta Lowell (played by writer/director Elaine May) and murder her, becoming the beneficiary of her fortune. Along the way, Henry faces various obstacles, including unexpectedly falling in love." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "a new restoration from the original 35mm camera negative."

A New Leaf comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 57.5 GB

Feature: 57.3 GB

Even if you already own the Olive Films 2017 Blu-ray, which holds up really well, this new release's transfer improves upon that one. The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

A New Leaf comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.8 GB

Feature: 23.6 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds excellent; dialogue comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds and the score are well represented.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary by film programmer, writer, and educator K.J. Relth-Miller and Maya Montañez Smukler, author of Liberating Hollywood: Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 52 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles),  an archival interview with director Amy Heckerling titled Women in Hollywood: A Tragedy of Comic Proportions (7 minutes 2 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview assistant editor Angelo Corrao titled The Cutting Room Floor: Editing A New Leaf (12 minutes 59 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), Elaine May's A New Leaf 50th Anniversary - an episode of the Silver Streams podcast from the American Film Institute featuring programmers of the AFI Silver Theater discussing May's film (48 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), Elaine May and Mike Nichols In Conversation - an hour-long post-screening discussion between Elaine May and her frequent collaborator, conducted at Film at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater in New York City in 2006 (69 minutes 3 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay titled Looking for Elaine May by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, co-editor of ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May (14 minutes 53 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview titled Director Jail with Carrie Courogen, author of Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius (22 minutes 30 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with K.J. Relth-Miller and Maya Montañez Smukler.

Other extras include a fold-out poster, a J-card MediaBook slipcase, and a 60-page booklet with an essay titled Grass is Greener: Elaine May’s A New Leaf written by Elena Lazic, an essay titled The Strong Roots of a New Leaf written by Hannah Strong, an essay titled Elaine May Takes Comedy Beyond the Edge of Reason written by Willow Maclay, an essay titled A New Leaf Tracing the Discovery of a Unique Filmic Voice written by Sarah Fensom, an archival piece titled The Rapturous Romance and Desperate Tragedy of Elaine May’s A New Leaf written by Richard Brody.

Summary:

Elaine May wrote and directed A New Leaf; it was adapted from the short story The Green Heart written by Jack Ritchie. A New Leaf was her directorial debut; she would only direct three more films: The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and Ishtar.

A playboy’s extravagant lifestyle brings him to the brink of poverty. Not wanting to give up the lifestyle he has become accustomed to, he takes out a loan from his uncle, who forces him to put up his remaining assets as collateral. With only six weeks to raise the money he has borrowed from his uncle, he devises a plan to marry a wealthy spinster, whom he has every intention of murdering once he has gained control of her fortune.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a transitional period for Hollywood, which saw shrinking audiences because of television. The other change during this period was adapting a rating system that would allow filmmakers to go where they were not previously allowed to. Needing a shot in the arm, Hollywood would give a handful of first-time filmmakers unprecedented freedom to create, which ultimately proved to be a cautionary tale for many filmmakers.

Elaine May is a filmmaker whose career perfectly fits into this scenario. It has been rumored that Elaine May’s original cut of A New Leaf was about 80 minutes longer than the version that was ultimately released by Paramount Pictures. It is unfortunate that Elaine May’s version will never be seen. That said, the end result is a film that actually achieves the majority of its goals, despite the many obstacles that it has faced.

Besides directing, Elaine May would cast herself in the pivotal role of Henrietta Lowell, a wealthy botany professor with no family. This character provides the perfect mark for the protagonist, who needs to find a wealthy woman quickly so he can marry her, kill her, and assume her fortune. Her performance does an exemplary job capturing Henrietta’s awkwardness and just general lack of awareness of what’s going on around her.

When it comes to the rest of the performances, they are all outstanding. Walter Matthau (The Fortune Cookie) is cast in the role of Henry Graham, a man whose extravagant lifestyle has drained his inheritance. His performance does a remarkable job conveying Herny’s desperation as he races against time to get rid of his new bride. Other performances of note are Jack Weston (The Thomas Crown Affair), who portrays Henrietta’s devious lawyer, and Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond), who portrays Henrietta’s thieving housekeeper.

From a production standpoint, A New Leaf is a film that’s overflowing with creativity and inspired moments of genius. The execution of the premise is superb, and even in its current form, the narrative masterfully captures your attention. That said, despite a conventional happy ending, the narrative really has no other shortcomings. Another strength is the visuals and how they cleverly work in conjunction with the black humor. Ultimately, A New Leaf, even in its current form, is an extraordinary film that fans of subversive humor should thoroughly enjoy.

A New Leaf gets a definitive release from Cinématographe; highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer