Watch Mame For Free

Thanks for the memories!

hyped garbage

Good movie but grossly overrated

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Movie version of a hit Broadway musical. In the 1920s Mame (Lucille Ball) a "free spirit" has to bring up young Patrick (Kirby Furlong) an orphaned nephew. He is introduced into her freewheeling lifestyle and grows into a conservative jerk (Bruce Davison) who's somewhat ashamed of his aunt. Robert Preston also pops up and Beatrice Arthur is hysterical as Mame's best friend.OK--Ball can't sing and she's at least 10 years too old for the role--but I still loved it! Lavishly produced with beautiful settings and costumes. The songs are great and I was never bored. Ball, again, can't sing but her acting was right on target. A neglected gem.

It always amazes me how anyone can - not only 'like' this, but 'love' it. Give it 9, or, 10 stars.I 'like' this movie - for it's awfulness, as do those people who get how wrong everything is, with this.When MAME came out, I got to see it (live through it, more accurately). At ROCERFELLER CENTER (they actually showed movies, then) with my mom.Even then - as a little kid, the horror before me was apparent.Ms. Ball was too old, and, had no singing ability (if she ever had one).There was a classic skit on SCTV: 'Count Floyd's HAVE YOURSELF A SXARY LITTLE Christmas, which featured the fabulous Catherine O'Hara as Luceille Ball, signing (croaking) a 'Christmas-ised' version of 'Mame.' The off-camera singers would do 90% of the singing, then, Luceille would chime in; 'Christmas,' sounding like a dying fog-horn.THAT is the best MAME Ms. Ball was in - NOT this.The story of how this mess got made is in the terrific book,'But, Darling, I'm Your Auntie MAME.'Angela Lansbury had starred in, and MADE this musical a classic. But, the studio wonks didn't think she'd have the 'drawing power' to sell movie tickets.Lucy - at the tail-end of her TV days, still had some pull, and, yanked it away from Ms. Lansbury.The ONLY (GREAT) casting, is the inimitable Bea Arthur, as Vera Charles, and, she was recreating her Broadway role.Yes, I love the awfulness of this, but, even then, I've the common sense NOT to give it SO MANY stars.

I won't belabor the point made by numerous other posters about how wrong for this role the non-singer/non-dancer, 63-year old Lucille Ball was. I'll just remind folks that THERE WAS A REASON why Ricky tried desperately to keep Lucy out of show biz for all those years!Unfortunately, "Mame" probably would have been a flop under the best of circumstances, coming as it did at the tail end (and I mean the very tip of the tail!) of the traditional Hollywood musical. Despite pouring tens of millions into big-budget musicals during the latter half of the Sixties (several of which nearly sank their respective studios!), by the early Seventies it was painfully apparent that the musical was in it's death-throws. 1972's "Man of La Mancha" and 1973's "Lost Horizon" really put the final nails in the coffin... sadly at the time, no one knew the Last Rites had been performed and they went on with this travesty of a movie. Interesting that it took MGM's retro masterpiece "That's Entertainment" (also released in 1974) for movie-goers to finally realize the old-time Hollywood musical was dead as a doornail. I personally remember the startling contrast between "That's Entertainment" and "Mame" when I saw them both in theaters.Still, financial considerations aside, the producers could have at least opted for a good picture, even if it did end up losing money. Some financial flops, such as 1968's "Finian's Rainbow", are at least nowadays rather well regarded. Some posters have mentioned Rosalind Russell's great turn in 1958 non-musical "Auntie Mame", and it's worth considering what she might have made of the musical role. Though never considered a singer, Miss Russell did a very creditable job as Mama Rose in 1962's "Gypsy". Her low, gravelly voice worked fine in the part, something the producers of "Mame" no doubt hoped to emulate with Miss Ball... sorry, didn't work. Sad that "Mame" came to the screen so late, and Miss Russell was not only aged, but I believe even then suffering from the cancer that finally took her life in 1976.Another obvious choice for the title role would have been the actress who made the part her own during it's long Broadway run -- Angela Lansbury! Her singing and acting skills had a huge part in making the Broadway production such a success. I grew up listening to the Original Cast album, and can say that the gifted Miss Lansbury was perfect for the role, yet without being too "stagy" and "overbearing", in the manner Ethel Merman and Carol Channing always came across on film. Unfortunately, they followed the time-honored tradition of casting a "big name" in the role, feeling Miss Lansbury didn't have enough "star power" for the movie version (that, and Lucy's obsession with playing the role). Ironically, that same type error, made a couple years earlier in "Man of La Mancha" (passing over the talented, beautifully voiced Richard Kiley for the non-singer Peter O'Toole) doomed that film to well-deserved obscurity. What "Mame" might have been with Angela Lansbury reprising her stage role is something we're left to speculate on.

I am sorry to say I fall on the side of the dissenters here - "Mame" is a flop of mammoth proportions. Lucille Ball prances and croaks her way through the role of the big hearted eccentric Mame, who's softer side shows itself when an orphaned nephew comes to stay. The story is slight and it's punctuated with a seemingly endless parade of dreadful musical numbers...right from the very opening when the credits are accompanied by a terrible warbled ditty about arriving in Manhatten (sung by Jane Connell), it's clear that things are not going to be good. Lucille Ball is no singer either, but she keeps trying all the way through, until you are so beaten over the head with bad music it all starts to wash over you.There are a few gems of fun in the otherwise painful 2 hours - first of all Bea Arthur as Vera Charles steals every scene she is in: "Someone's been sleeping in my dress..." And Lucille Ball still had some of her magic - out of the entire 2 hours plus running time I had just one real laugh watching her face as she politely choked down a nasty tasting snack at the home of her potential in-laws - it reminded me how she used to be such a star of physical comedy.Apart from this though, there is very little to enjoy here. The first half of the film demands that you feel the family love between Mame and her 9 year old ward, but this is sadly impossible due to the wretched performance turned in by the actor playing the young child, and to make matters worse he gets a solo in a song that seemingly has no tune ("My Best Girl"), which I actually had to cover my ears for! The only song that's any fun at all is "Bosom Buddies", but again that's largely due to Bea Arthur again. All the songs that Lucille Ball sings are ruined, especially near the end where she sings the song off screen ("If He Walked Into My Life") at the same time as we watch her wandering about her empty house trying to look pained in the film's supposed emotional highlight...it just doesn't work at all.Sorry folks, but this Mame is just...lame