Love Me or Leave Me (1955)

Synopsis: This cracking biopic of 1920s chanteuse Ruth Etting was originally intended as a vehicle for Ava Gardner, but MGM wisely brought in Doris Day, giving her a sexy new image and pairing her again, after Starlift and The West Point Story, with tough guy James Cagney, and, boy, how those sparks fly!

Though censorship has diluted this tawdry saga of a kept woman and her obsessive and sexually inadequate gangster sponsor, the truth is not glossed over, despite the exquisite CinemaScope framing and top-notch production values that make the tale less squalid than it obviously actually was.

Doris is a knockout, performing the title number and Ten Cents a Dance with great understanding, but it's the Oscar-nominated Cagney, in a great later role, as “the Gimp”, who walks away with the movie.

Cast: Doris Day, James Cagney
Runtime: 116 min