Director Watch Podcast Ep. 92 – ‘A New Leaf’ (Elaine May, 1971)

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision-making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 92 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by AwardsWatch contributor Karen Peterson to discuss the first film in their Elaine May series, A New Leaf (1971).

The first series of 2025 covered one half of the dynamic comedy duo of Nichols and May, so it only seemed right the guy’s new auteur deep dive explored the fantastic (yet limited) work of Elaine May. Known as a renowned playwright and actress in the 1950s and 1960s, May turned in a script for A New Leaf based on the short story by author Jack Ritchie, about a New York City playboy has run out of money and decides to find a wealthy bride, and in doing so, finds a shy heiress who becomes fond of him. May never intended to direct the film, much less being one of the leading performances in the picture, but studio convinced her to do it, paying her much less than male counterparts at the time to create the project. While over-budget and with tons of delays withstanding, the film is a hilarious, sometimes heartwarming picture about opposites attracting to each other, while also maturing into the person you were meant to be. Ryan, Jay, and Karen break down their thoughts on the film, all the behind-the-scenes mess of the film’s production, Walter Matthau and Elaine May’s performances, the film’s ending, finding May’s films on physical media, and the impeccable screenplay at the heart of this debut. 

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h52m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Elaine May with a review of her film, The Heartbreak Kid. You can rent it via YouTube in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).