The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius
Starred review from April 29, 2024
Journalist Courogen (Go All the Way) delivers a vibrant biography of filmmaker Elaine May. Born in 1932, May rose to prominence with the improv comedy act she developed with Mike Nichols. The duo became an overnight sensation after a 1958 television appearance, but May quit three years later, fearing the act had grown stale. She hadn’t planned on becoming a director, but was effectively forced to by Paramount after the studio only agreed to finance her first film, A New Leaf, which she wrote and was set to star in, on the condition that she direct so the studio could save money by paying her less than a male director. Depicting May as an auteur obsessed with creative control, Courogen describes how she allegedly hid film reels of the in-progress Mikey and Nicky to prevent studio interference. Courogen traces this tension between commercial concerns and May’s uncompromising artistry through her major successes (she received acclaim for writing Heaven Can Wait and The Birdcage), as well as her infamous directorial bomb, Ishtar, and captures her larger-than-life spirit in lithe prose: “Elaine was a world-wise woman among children, with a mind that seemed to run only at high speed, a cruel wit that could be weaponized at a moment’s notice, and an intimidating raw and unbalanced intelligence.” This is a gem. Agent: Nicki Richesin, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary.
