Two for the Seesaw (1962)

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Shirley MacLaine (The Children's Hour) is Gittel, an eccentric dancer from the Bronx, and Robert Mitchum (Man with the Gun) is Jerry, a mid-western lawyer whose marriage is on the rocks, in Two For the Seesaw. Gittel and Jerry meet in Manhattan, where Jerry has headed for a new life when his old one falls apart. There he meets an old friend, Oscar (Eddie Firestone, Duel), who invites him to a swinging Greenwich Village party where he meets the charming bohemian Gittel. The two hit it off, if only physically at first, and begin an affair, but there are several factors conspiring against their relationship besides their differences in backgrounds. This intimate film, bolstered by fine direction from legendary filmmaker Robert Wise (Run Silent, Run Deep), is a compelling drama that also features the stirring onscreen chemistry of Mitchum and MacLaine and the intelligent handling of the original material, the play by William Gibson (The Miracle Worker).