Screening times:
Saturday, May 17, 8:30 PM

Elaine May | USA | 1972 | 106m
with Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin, Audra Lindley, Eddie Albert

What better month to celebrate groundbreaking comedic talent Elaine May, while we semi-patiently await further news on Crackpot, May’s first narrative feature since Ishtar? The Heartbreak Kid is the second in a three-part series of Elaine May films, screening on Saturday nights in May.

Elaine May’s outrageously funny and ruthless The Heartbreak Kid was an instant hit in 1972 and it is still widely considered to be one of the funniest American movies ever made.

May’s gutsy anti-romantic comedy stars a never-slimier Charles Grodin in a career high as a newlywed who decides to leave his Jewish wife (Jeannie Berlin) for an icy shiksa goddess (Cybill Shepherd) on their honeymoon.

“'The Heartbreak Kid' is a movie that manages the marvelous and very peculiar trick of blending the mechanisms and the cruelties of Neil Simon’s comedy with the sense and sensibility of F. Scott Fitzgerald.” - Vincent Canby, New York Times (1972)

"Due to her experience in an industry dominated by men, May was undoubtedly fluent in the nuances of masculinity and the male ego, a subject that became the focus of many of her films... it is unsurprising that May used her renowned comedic flare to poke fun at their weak points and flaws." - Emily Ruuskanen, Far Out Magazine (2025)

Winner: Best Supporting Actor; Best Supporting Actress - National Society of Film Critics Awards 1973
Winner: Best Supporting Actress; Best Supporting Actor - New York Film Critics Circle Awards 1972