"Two for the See Saw" is a 1962 film. The opening credits showcase the Brooklyn Bridge and Fulton Fish Market, just as I remember them as a kid, but without the smell! 🤣
The film, with a score by Andre Previn, is a masterpiece. Robert Mitchum is wonderful as a newly separated, and "lost", lawyer from Nebraska, opposite an equally lost Shirley MacClaine, a would be dancer. The two strike up a tenative friendship which quickly turns romantic.
In real life the two had a “long relationship” according to MacLaine. “I loved his complications. He was a bit of a coward, actually, and I was interested where that cowardliness came from when his demeanor was such the opposite,” she said. Perhaps this is what makes their parts ring so true.
You will find yourself rooting for the relationship to work out. They belong together. They learn about themselves as they learn about one another. But will the weight of their past baggage be too much for love to conquer?
Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman were originally cast in these roles, but Taylor was delayed while filming the last scenes in the epic "Cleopatra", and Newman was already committed to playing "Fast" Eddie in "The Hustler", so the parts fell to Robert Mitchum and Shirley McClaine. And I'm glad it did.
While not a sucess at the box office, this film is a "hit" in my heart. I rooted so hard for these two to really make their love work, and you will too.
Meantime, enjoy the view in the opening credits. Perhaps it will interest you enough to watch the entire film. And along the way, maybe even learn a bit about yourselves, and what really motivates us all in our search for lasting love.
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