ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May

Spanning from obscurity to notoriety, the films of director, screenwriter, actor and comic Elaine May have recently seen a long-overdue renaissance.

Although she made only four films - A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976) and Ishtar (1987) - and never reached the level of acclaim of her frequent collaborator Mike Nichols, May's work is as enigmatic, sophisticated and unceasingly fascinating as her own complicated, reluctant star persona. This collection focuses on the films she has directed and emphasises her work with other high-profile collaborators such as John Cassavetes, Warren Beatty and Otto Preminger.

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas is an Australian film critic. She has written six books on cult film with a focus on gender politics, and has published in a variety of magazines, journals and edited collections.

Dean Brandum gained his PhD at Deakin University and has taught at a number of universities in Melbourne.

Who's Kidding? Approaching Elaine May; Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Part I: Beginnings

Chapter One: Teenagers on Stage - The Comedy of Elaine May and Mike Nichols; Mark Freeman

Part II: Critically Situating Elaine May

Chapter Two: Hollywood Can't Wait: Elaine May and the Delusions of 1970s American Cinema; Maya Montañez Smukler

Chapter Three: Dangerous Business - Elaine May as Existential Improviser; Jake Wilson

Part III: Elaine May's Films as Director

Chapter Four: Kneeling on Glass - Elaine May's A New Leaf (1971) as Screwball Black Comedy; Samm Deighan

Chapter Five: "Don't Put A Milky Way in Someone's Mouth When They Don't Want It": A Contemporary Feminist Rereading of Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972); Clem Bastow

Chapter Six: Mikey and Nicky (1976) - Elaine May and the Cassavetes Connection; Jeremy Carr

Chapter Seven: Cartographies of Catastrophe - Elaine May's Ishtar (1987); Dean Brandum

Part IV: Collaborations/Revelations

Chapter Eight: In/Significant Gestures - Elaine May, Screen Performance, and Embodied Collaboration; Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Chapter Nine: Otto É May(zo) - Elaine May's Screenplay of Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends (1971) as Affirmation That Hell is Other People; Paul Jeffrey

Chapter Ten: Spectral Elaine May - The Later Mike Nichols Collaborations and the Myth of the Recluse; Tim O'Farrell

Conclusion

Chapter Eleven: When in Doubt, Seduce: An Interview with Screenwriter Allie Hagen; Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Dean Brandum

Bibliography