It's impossible to pick just one Doris Day to movie to watch in your life, but if you have to choose only three, I insist you watch Romance on the High Seas, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Love Me or Leave Me. Even though she neither looks nor sounds anything like Ruth Etting, Doris Day gives an incredible performance in this biopic of the famous 1920s singer. Ruth started out in a dance hall, as described in one of her most famous songs "Ten Cents a Dance" before she was discovered by powerful mobster Marty Snyder, played in the film by James Cagney. I've seen this film many times, and while I had one impression of it at first, I've since learned to appreciate the other levels of the story and performances. The first time I watched it, my heart went out to my beloved James Cagney, and I started crying every time Doris Day would reject his advances and hurt his feelings. As I got older and watched it again and again, I absorbed the complex and cunning relationship between the two main characters-but it still makes me cry! Doris plays a conniving wannabe star, stringing Jimmy along with empty promises of her affections just so he'll help her career. I didn't pick up on her intentional meanness the first time through; I thought she was just being an idiot by not falling for him. Every word out of her mouth is intentional, and she knows the power she holds over him. Doris is so fantastic in this untrustworthy role that if you've never seen one of her movies, I wouldn't recommend watching this one first. You might forever after see her as a bad girl and never trust her again!On the other hand, Jimmy Cagney's character isn't as golden as I once thought he was. He notices Doris's body in her skintight dress and nothing more. He promises her stardom, but when she holds out her end of the bargain, his attraction grows. Although at first he's only interested in a one-night stand, Doris becomes his obsession and his reason to live, and he gives an incredibly heartbreaking performance. James Cagney's performance in Love Me or Leave Me is one of the greats I often reference in my disillusionment with the Academy Awards. He, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, and an un-nominated Robert Mitchum were all passed over in favor of Ernest Borgnine in Marty, one of the most ridiculous awards in Oscar history. When you watch Love Me or Leave Me and you finish drying your tears, you'll probably lose respect for the Oscars, too. Cameron Mitchell is supposed to play the antithesis of James Cagney's character: kind-hearted, honest, and easy to love. I don't think he's any of those qualities, so his scenes with Doris were easily the weakest in my opinion. I am admittedly biased; I don't know if anyone would have been easier to love than James Cagney in this film. On the upside, Robert Keith and Harry Bellaver are very likable and sweet in their supporting roles, so it's relatively easy to drown Cameron out and pretend he's not in the movie.Love Me or Leave Me is a fantastic movie, an essential for James Cagney, Doris Day, or musical fans. You'll probably want to familiarize yourself with their other films first, though. To make sure you can appreciate Doris's new dramatic talent, watch Pillow Talk or Romance on the High Seas first, and to make sure you're on James Cagney's side, watch Angels with Dirty Faces and The Strawberry Blonde first.

If your only knowledge of Doris Day comes from the annoying comedies she did with Rock Hudson, you should check this movie out, a fictionalized bio-pic of 1920s torch singer Ruth Etting. Etting is managed by -- and marries - Marty "Moe" Snyder, a gimping Chicago hoodlum whose laundry business is basically a front for extortion. Cagney portrays Snyder in classic sock-to-the-jaw fashion. However, the character lacks the calculating shrewdness of other Cagney hoodlums - and his denseness makes him even more of a sociopath. Theirs is a classic dysfunctional bond. She uses him to get ahead and even marries him after he nearly rapes her. Later, when she does reach the top, they divorce and he stalks her. Yet somehow, through it all, she feels sorry for him. I'm not a huge fan of Day nor of musicals and yet she really does great on the many fine songs that Etting originated. These great standards are presented simply as part of the story, not as production numbers that distract from it and Day sings each one beautifully. Despite an arguably sentimental ending, the story -- with its themes of possessiveness, paranoia, jealousy, grandiosity and co-dependency -- delves into prime film noir territory.

"Love Me or Leave Me" is the fictionalized but essentially accurate biopic of Ruth Etting (Doris Day), popular vocalist from the 1920s and 30s. It's a tragic story about an ambitious but principled young woman who attracts the attention of a gangster, Marty Snyder (James Cagney), with an inferiority complex and a need for control.Cagney plays his part with such conviction that the film is not enjoyable to watch. His Marty Snyder never ceases to dominate Ruth with his smothering attentions and a jealous eye.Day displays her singing voice, some dance moves, a killer body that is often overlooked because of her prim portrayals, and a strong dramatic performance. Ruth's sad story, in reality, is much as the film depicts. The ending of the film is a concession to neat Hollywood endings, but dramatically it serves its purpose.There have been other films about women who were dominated by men wanting to capitalize on their talents (see "Star 80"), with destructive results. This one is convincing, thanks to its two stars. Fans of either will want to see this film.

As a performer, Doris Day had it all from the start. Beautiful, sexy, and gifted with one of the loveliest voices ever to grace the silver screen, she also had an enormous gift for light comedy that made her a superstar at Warner Bros in a series of lighter-than-air musicals as good as anything MGM and the Freed unit ever produced. And later on, her talent for comedy would make her a legend in three unforgettable, hilarious films co-starring her pal Rock Hudson; the first of these, PILLOW TALK, would garner Day her only Oscar nomination.Now a talent for comedy is not to be despised; in fact, any actor will tell you that in many ways comedy is harder to do than drama. But it seemed to come so easily to Day that when she made the 1955 biopic of 1920's singer Ruth Etting, LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, some of her fans were shocked. For while LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME has plenty of music in it, sung only as Day could sing, it was a far cry from the lightweight stuff people associated with her.LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME is a slightly fictionalized biography of Ruth Etting, who was quite a big singing star in the 1920s and who actually made a couple of film appearances in the early sound era. And it marked a huge departure for Day, playing a broad on the make with questionable morals who gets mixed up with Chicago gangster Martin "The Gimp" Snyder, played with his customary intensity by the legendary James Cagney.Day does not pull any punches in this film. Etting is no innocent girl from the country. She is an ambitious singer who wants to go places and is not too scrupulous about allowing Snyder to help her career along. That he does so because he is smitten with her she is fully aware of but she tries to pretend she doesn't notice. But Snyder, though a thug, is not a fool, and he is most definitely not accustomed to being denied what he wants. So when Ruth finally gets her big break in the Ziegfeld Follies, and Marty is barred from backstage, he throws a huge fit, breaks her contract with Ziegfeld, and rapes Ruth in a shockingly obvious scene for a 1950s film. Next thing we know, she has married him.Ruth is a woman who is great on the stage but cannot stop making bad choices in life. Marrying Snyder out of a sense of obligation, she does not love him and it isn't long before she is in utter misery, particularly when she goes to Hollywood and reunites with old flame Johnny Alderman (Cameron Mitchell), who she still carries a torch for but does not dare to get close to for fear of what her insanely jealous husband will do.This is by far the hardest-hitting film Doris Day ever made, and pitted against the immortal Cagney, she reveals a set of acting chops as sharp and as hungry as his. She matches him scene for scene and moment for moment, and their scenes together grow in intensity until the final confrontation when she demands a divorce, which devastates her husband and drives him to seek revenge.It would be unfair to reveal too much more. This is without a doubt my very favorite of all of Doris Day's movies, an unflinching look at a woman who isn't always sympathetic, and Day has no problems showing Etting's true nature, warts and all. And when she is working with Cagney the screen threatens to catch fire.Brilliant, intense, disturbing, and with gorgeous music. What a package.