Two for the Seesaw (1962)

Robert Mitchum seems hardly interested and Shirley McClaine does a tamped down Barbra Streisand imitation (before Barbra Streisand) in this glum and slow romance about two people in a state of flux trying to connect. Shot mostly in cramped poorly lit interiors it conveys a morose feel that well may be at the heart of the story but poorly counterbalanced by director Robert Wise who slowly drags the matter to its tepid melancholy conclusion.Jerry finds himself in New York after deep sixing his job as a lawyer and wife in Nebraska. Greenwhich Village denizen and dancer Mosca has dreams but nightmare relationships. They meet and then have a tedious two hour conversation for the rest of the picture with momentary instances of bliss followed by repetitive consternation.Mitchum sensitivity has always been a weak area that is best dealt in small doses. But in See Saw he's in constant pitched battle with Mosca and just doesn't come across involved most of the time. McClaine comes across better due to typecasting.Wise more or less paints himself into a corner with Mosca's apartment's shotgun design being more of hindrance to the sputtering dialog that needs all the help it can get. Long and filled with low key hum drum Two for the See Saw isn't worth the ride.

Recently got a chance to see this movie and thought the performances by Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine were great. Especially like the part that Shirley MacLaine played. I am not to used to seeing Robert Mitchum in roles like this but thought he did well. He plays a man going through a divorce who meets a younger woman played by Shirley Maclaine. Having both different life experiences they somehow try to make their new relationship work. I gave this film an 8 out 10 and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was this good. Read in another post that at the time of this films release critics didn't think that Mitchum's role was believable enough because of perhaps the age difference. I had no problem with buying into this story and the actors that portrayed the characters. Good Movie!

Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine are well-cast in this engaging love story set in NYC and shot in gritty, atmospheric black and white. Mitchum's wonderfully-modulated performance as a middle-aged lawyer on the rebound, and MacLaine's as the effervescent young dancer he becomes involved with, mesh very appealingly. The Broadway-caliber dialogue is more sophisticated, and the emotional level more intimate, than the films the two were typically making at the time. If "The Grass is Greener", a Mitchum (and Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr!) film from the same period and also an adaptation of a stage play, is a tepid example of how *not* to bring a play to the screen, "Two for the Seesaw" is a vibrant example of how to use film to endow a play with an intimacy that would be impossible to achieve onstage. Major kudos to Mitchum, MacLaine, and the director, Robert Wise.

This film is a good example of why I love black & white movies.Director Wise, cinematographer Ted McCord, and productiondesigner Boris Leven craft light, shadow, and line into two hours ofabsolutely lovely images, making the most of such elements asthe contrast between MacLaine's hair, eyes, and skin, and thejuxtaposition of the hard lines of doorframes and shadows withthe softness of rumpled fabric and fluid dancer's movement. (And Iloved the split set.) Total eye candy for B&W lovers, and anincidental, abrupt reminder of what a beautiful woman the youngShirley was.Unfortunately, the script seems very dated here in the twenty-firstcentury. The characters' relationship is frustrating, and (reportedoffscreen chemistry notwithstanding) MacLaine and Mitchum lookvery much mismatched. (Supposedly it was originally to be LizTaylor and Paul Newman. I can't see Liz here, but a MacLaine- Newman pairing could have been hot. But we'll never know.) Ifound MacLaine's character to be much more believable--morerounded, containing more nuance--than Mitchum's. While thisseems mostly the script's fault, I do feel that MacLaine here bringsmore quirky humanity to her work than does Mitchum (who I likevery much in general)."Seesaw" stands out for me as one of those films that, because ofits meticulous attention to visual detail, becomes an archetypalperiod piece as it ages--firmly among the films everyone making amovie set in the early 1960s should study carefully.