PHFS presents: Love Me or Leave Me, 1956, @ the Steamer #10 Theatre.

"“Love Me Or Leave Me” (1956), Musical drama, IMDB: 7.1, Color, 122 min.

One of the strongest of the many musical biopics released by Hollywood during the 1940s and ‘50s, Love Me or Leave Me focuses on the professional triumphs and personal travails of Ruth Etting, likely the first singer to earn the title of “America’s Sweetheart of Song.” Centering exclusively on the relationship between Etting (Day) and gangster Martin “The Gimp” Snyder (James Cagney), this begins with him first noticing her while she’s toiling as a taxi dancer. Etting accepts the infatuated mobster’s help in steering her toward stardom but balks at his amorous advances. Cagney’s terrific, of course, but Day matches him with one of her best performances, dramatic or otherwise. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including a Best Actor bid for Cagney (his third and final) and Best Original Song for “I’ll Never Stop Loving You,” this earned Daniel Fuchs the Oscar for Best Motion Picture Story. Day was overlooked, but the soundtrack release did turn out to be the top-selling album of her career."

Suggested donation: $5.

The above description is taken (with minor edits) from the Pine Hills Film Society's e-mail.