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Cast: Lucille Ball, Robert Preston, Bea Arthur
Genre: Musical
About: Set in the roaring 1920's. A nine year old kid who's been recently orphaned comes to Manhattan to live with his only relative, the free spirited Mame.
Review: Ugh, this might be one of the worst movie musicals to be adapted from Broadway play. And yes, this is a reboot of the wildly successful movie Auntie Mame (1958) the one with Rosalind Russell. So how can a very successful Broadway play end up being such a stinker? Lucille Ball.
Bless her heart, she's the queen of comedy but she can't sing a stitch. Oh sure she can croak some, but what good is a lead in a musical who can't hold a note? And to be blunt, Lucy isn't up to the part. I hardly believed her as the wildly entertaining free spirit. Lucy has some pretty big high heels to fill in the role of Mame...Rosalind Russell defined the role in 1958 and on Broadway Angela Lansbury was the toast of the town as the feisty, colorful Mame. Let's face it Lucy ain't got it here. She knew it too, that's why it's her last theatrical movie she ever made.
It's not all Lucy's fault, the kid actor who comes to live with her is a pivotal character...and he had the personality of wet noodle. But latter on he's become a young man and so there's a different actor playing him, and that actor too is milquetoast.
Saving the day is Bea Arthur, who's colorful as an aging flapper. Sadly Robert Preston, beloved actor from The Music Man doesn't add much to the movie.
Watch, if you must.
Mame (1974)
Director: Gene SaksCast: Lucille Ball, Robert Preston, Bea Arthur
Genre: Musical
About: Set in the roaring 1920's. A nine year old kid who's been recently orphaned comes to Manhattan to live with his only relative, the free spirited Mame.
Review: Ugh, this might be one of the worst movie musicals to be adapted from Broadway play. And yes, this is a reboot of the wildly successful movie Auntie Mame (1958) the one with Rosalind Russell. So how can a very successful Broadway play end up being such a stinker? Lucille Ball.
Bless her heart, she's the queen of comedy but she can't sing a stitch. Oh sure she can croak some, but what good is a lead in a musical who can't hold a note? And to be blunt, Lucy isn't up to the part. I hardly believed her as the wildly entertaining free spirit. Lucy has some pretty big high heels to fill in the role of Mame...Rosalind Russell defined the role in 1958 and on Broadway Angela Lansbury was the toast of the town as the feisty, colorful Mame. Let's face it Lucy ain't got it here. She knew it too, that's why it's her last theatrical movie she ever made.
It's not all Lucy's fault, the kid actor who comes to live with her is a pivotal character...and he had the personality of wet noodle. But latter on he's become a young man and so there's a different actor playing him, and that actor too is milquetoast.
Saving the day is Bea Arthur, who's colorful as an aging flapper. Sadly Robert Preston, beloved actor from The Music Man doesn't add much to the movie.
Watch, if you must.