Two for the Seesaw

1962
Approved
1h 59m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

2.1K

YOUR RATING

Jerry Ryan is wandering aimlessly around New York, having given up his law career in Nebraska when his wife asked for a divorce. He meets up with Gittel Mosca, an impoverished dancer from Greenwich Village, and the two try to straighten out their lives together.

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Drama Romance

Robert Wise directs Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine in this spicy and poignant love story about a free-spirited Greenwich Village girl who hooks up with a brooding Nebraska lawyer. In HD... Read allRobert Wise directs Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine in this spicy and poignant love story about a free-spirited Greenwich Village girl who hooks up with a brooding Nebraska lawyer. In HD.Robert Wise directs Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine in this spicy and poignant love story about a free-spirited Greenwich Village girl who hooks up with a brooding Nebraska lawyer. In HD.

Director
- Robert Wise
Writers
- William Gibson
- Isobel Lennart
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

2.1K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Robert Wise
Writers
- William Gibson
- Isobel Lennart
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 4 nominations total

Party Guest
(uncredited)

Danny Borzage

Party Guest
(uncredited)

Colin Campbell

Undetermined Secondary Role
(uncredited)

Shirley Cytron

Undetermined Secondary Role
(uncredited)

Cia Dave

Undetermined Secondary Role
(uncredited)

Michael Enserro

Undetermined Secondary Role
(uncredited)

Harold Fong

Chinese Waiter
(uncredited)

Richard George

Undetermined Secondary Role
(uncredited)

Harold Gould

Undetermined Secondary Role
(uncredited)

Ann Morgan Guilbert

Molly - Dance Student's Mother
(uncredited)

Director
- Robert Wise
Writers
- William Gibson
- Isobel Lennart
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Pickup

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Shirley MacLaine and Robert Mitchum began a love affair that lasted for years during the shooting of this film. Mitchum and MacLaine continued their affair all over the world, traveling together to locales such as New Orleans, New York, London, Paris, and even West Africa. The relationship, however, would end after a couple of years, with Mitchum returning to his wife, and MacLaine to her husband, Steve Parker. In her memoirs, however, MacLaine recalled a conversation years later with Used People (1992) costar Marcello Mastroianni: "We laughed about the time he and Faye Dunaway, who believed they were being successfully discreet, ran into Robert Mitchum and me on a London street. We believed we were being successfully discreet. And so the conversation led to the dilemma of falling in love with one's costar. "One must love one's costar," said Marcello. "Otherwise how will the audience believe it?"

Goofs
Gittle pours milk into a pan so she can make warm milk --- but she only leaves it on stove for about five seconds.

Quotes
Jerry Ryan: It's true. Half of me hasn't even been in this town.
Gittel 'Mosca' Moscawitz: I tried Jake.
Jerry Ryan: Of course.
Gittel 'Mosca' Moscawitz: So we're both flops.
Jerry Ryan: No. Not both of us. Not you. I've tried to make you over so you'd be more like me - like everyone, I guess. Stingy, holding back, guarding what we have because we've got so little. Everything you get, you give back double. No, you're not a flop. You're a gift, infant. Underneath that beautiful face there's a street brawler. But underneath that there's someone... that no one, nothing has ever dirtied. The way people were meant to be. That's what you are.

Connections
Featured in Hollywood: The Great Stars (1963)

Soundtracks
Second Chance
Music by André Previn
Lyrics by Dory Previn
Sung by Jackie Cain (uncredited)

User reviews38

Review

Featured review

7/10

A downer but great acting

Two for the Seesaw is very heavy. It's one of those movies you watch once, appreciate the acting, and never want to see again.

Robert Mitchum is getting a divorce, and in 1962, that's not a common occurrence. He picks up a loose dancer at a party, and in their mutual loneliness, they become really close really fast. Behind the scenes, Robert Mitchum and his leading lady Shirley MacLaine had an affair, and you can see the hurt and romance smoldering off the screen. Both actors do a fantastic job and handle a depressing script with realism rather than melodrama. Maybe it's because I knew they'd had an affair, but when they argued in the film, I almost felt embarrassed watching it, like I was intruding on a private argument. It's very powerful.

However, it's a downer. It was based off a play, which is usually a clue that it's going to be depressing, and it absolutely is. Back in 1962, it wasn't common to make a movie about the highs and lows of one couple's relationship, as it is now. So, if you watch it, try not to compare it to its contemporaries and appreciate it on its own. Also, make sure you're in the right mood; if you're just coming out of a breakup, wait a while before renting it.