Elaine May retrospective revisits Mikey and Nicky and Hollywood battles over her uncompromising vision
A retrospective opening at New York’s Lincoln Center is putting fresh attention on Elaine May and the long, complicated story behind her films, especially Mikey and Nicky, which has come to be seen very differently from how it was received at the time.
The 1975 gangster film, now restored in 4K, took more than two years to edit and became a major point of tension between May and Paramount Pictures. At the time, studio executives were frustrated with delays and costs, while May fought to keep control over the final cut. In one unusual turn during production, she even tried to move the film to a separate company, Alyce Films, described by people involved as a kind of shell set up with collaborators. The move was stopped in court, and she was ordered to hand the film over to Paramount. Two reels were later reported missing before a deal was reached allowing her to supervise the final version.
The film itself is set over a single, uneasy night in Philadelphia. It follows two small-time gangsters, Nicky, played by John Cassavetes, and Mikey, played by Peter Falk. Nicky is on the run after stealing from his boss and believes a hitman is after him. He turns to Mikey, his closest friend, for help. Mikey is caught between loyalty and fear, unsure whether to protect him or turn him in.
Most of the story unfolds in hotel rooms, diners and on the streets. The two men talk, argue, joke and drift through the night. On the surface it looks like a crime story, but it quickly becomes something else - a study of friendship that feels worn down, fragile and full of old resentments. Their bond is close, but also damaged in ways that are never fully explained.
Julian Schlossberg, a close friend of May and former Paramount executive, said audiences at the time didn’t know what to make of it. “The audience came in looking for a comedy… and it turned tough pretty quick,” he said. “There were a lot of walkouts.”
May herself was never fully satisfied with the film. When it was released in 1976, reviews were mostly negative, and part of the reaction came from expectations shaped by her earlier work. Her first two films, A New Leaf and The Heartbreak Kid, were dark comedies, and she was still widely known for her earlier career as part of the Nichols and May comedy duo.
In later years, May said the characters in Mikey and Nicky were based on real people she had known growing up in Chicago. She described them as ordinary figures from her own past, not fictional types built for genre storytelling.
Over time, the film’s reputation changed. In 1978, May and Schlossberg struck a deal with Paramount to buy back the rights, and a new version was released. Today, Mikey and Nicky is often shown as an example of bold American filmmaking that didn’t fit studio expectations but gained respect later.
Daniel Sullivan, one of the programmers of the Lincoln Center retrospective, said May’s work was often misunderstood when it first came out. He said her approach and methods were difficult for studios at the time, even if they are more appreciated now.
May’s later career followed a similar pattern. Her 1987 film Ishtar, a big-budget comedy starring Warren Beatty and Isabelle Adjani, was heavily criticised on release and became known as one of Hollywood’s biggest commercial failures. The production was marked by conflict and rising costs, and it effectively ended her directing career for years, although the film has also been re-evaluated more recently.
Despite that, interest in her work has continued to grow. Directors like Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Lena Dunham, and Josh and Benny Safdie have all spoken about her influence, especially her writing style and the way she builds dialogue through natural, overlapping speech.
In Europe, her films have also been revisited in a different way, often compared more to European auteur cinema than traditional Hollywood styles. Critics have pointed to her focus on realism, long takes, and fractured conversations as closer to French New Wave or European social realism than studio filmmaking.
Sullivan said that May’s reputation has slowly changed over time. He described her as an important filmmaker whose work now feels more modern than it did at the time of release.
The Lincoln Center programme marks 50 years since Mikey and Nicky first came out and also includes screenings of Ishtar as part of the wider retrospective.
Source: The Gardian