Mame (1974)

29% of critics liked it
(7 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(346 ratings)

Lucille Ball stars in this film version of the hit Jerry Herman Broadway musical, which featured an electrifying performance by Angela Lansbury. As Patrick Dennis' plucky and resilient Auntie Mame, Ball's low-pitched, growling moan of a voice (a spine-chilling reminder of the sound of Linda Blair's… More Lucille Ball stars in this film version of the hit Jerry Herman Broadway musical, which featured an electrifying performance by Angela Lansbury. As Patrick Dennis' plucky and resilient Auntie Mame, Ball's low-pitched, growling moan of a voice (a spine-chilling reminder of the sound of Linda Blair's demon-possession in The Exorcist) and her gaudy and lumbering fashion-horse gait turns Mame into an elderly cross-dresser. In this guise, Mame rehashes the plot from Dennis's novel and the previous non-musical Rosalind Russell film. During the Depression era 1930s, she enrolls her nephew into a liberal private school, tries a turn in show business (with the help of her friend Vera [Beatrice Arthur]), and marries a well-to-do Southern planter (Robert Preston). After her husband's death, Mame concerns herself with her now grown-up nephew, his girlfriend, and the girlfriend's intolerant parents. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 2 hr. 12 min.
Directed By: Gene Saks
Written By: Dennis Patrick, Paul Zindel
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 27, 1974 Wide
On DVD: Jun 19, 2007
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic Reviews

Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
The fine music elevates this above miscast Lucy's negatives.
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
best left on the shelf.
Nell Minow, Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
Overstuffed, but the music's still great.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jason V

Mame never achieves the heights it should, but it's not nearly as terrible as some other reviews would have you believe. It does stumble while telling its story primarily because of the time jumps the audience has to figure out through small (and not so small) visual queues.… More
Mame never achieves the heights it should, but it's not nearly as terrible as some other reviews would have you believe. It does stumble while telling its story primarily because of the time jumps the audience has to figure out through small (and not so small) visual queues. There's also the matter of key points of the story being left out, such as Patrick and Mame reconciling in the third act. Lucille Ball feels like she's channeling Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard, she fails to make the character her own; instead, Mame is a pastiche of this and that with no true "self." I'm not as much a stickler for singing voices as some, though it is painfully obvious when certain actors are being dubbed. The production, for all its lavishness, falls flat without a lick of energy in it. Plots are introduced and casually dismissed. The Depression, for instance, which wipes out Mame's fortune, is mentioned almost in passing. Does she cry or despair over it? Nope. She keeps on singing. What makes this woman tick? Where does she get her limitless reservoir of energy and good nature from? What makes her tick? We don't know and I doubt anyone connected to the film knows, either, sadly.
Leo L

A favorite! Absolutely love Lucille Ball in this movie.

Cast

            Lucille Ball as Mame Dennis

            Robert Preston as Beauregard

            Bea Arthur as Vera Charles

            Kirby Furlong as Young Patrick

            Bruce Davison as Older Patrick

            Don Porter as Mr. Upson

            Joyce Van Patten as Sally Cato

            Lucille Benson as Mother Burnside

            Barbara Bosson as Emily

            James Brodhead as Floorwalker

            Audrey Christie as Mrs. Upson

            Jane Connell as Agnes Gooch

            Doria Cook as Gloria Upson

            Eric Gordon as Boyd

            Patrick Laborteaux as Peter

            Ruth McDevitt as Cousin Fan

            John McGiver as Mr. Babcock

            Burt Mustin as Uncle Jeff

            Alice Nunn as Fat Lady

            Roger Price as Ralph Divine

            Leonard Stone as Stage Manager

            Ned Wertimer as Fred Kates

            John Wheeler as Judge Bregoff

            Bobbi Jordan as Pegeen

            George Chiang as Ito

            Beatrice Arthur
            
See full cast

Mame (1974)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Jason V

Leo L

Cast