Angela Lansbury as Mame "too common for words"

[Almira]

Posted: 3/17/11 at 9:29pm

I've had a copy of UNCLE MAME, the biography of AUNTIE MAME author Patrick Dennis, for years and am only now getting around to reading it.

I was surprised at his assessment of Lansbury in MAME:

"Angela Lansbury was just too common for words, which is one thing Mame cannot be. Celeste Holm should at least be a bit classier."

All this time I thought her performance was universally beloved.

Guess not.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/17/11 at 10:17pm

He was something of a professional crank. And I think of him every single time something on NPR is sponsored by the Joan B. Kroc Foundation.

[Almira]

Posted: 3/17/11 at 10:58pm

I think of him every single time something on NPR is sponsored by the Joan B. Kroc Foundation.

Lately so have I.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/17/11 at 11:42pm

If Patrick Dennis were a poster on BroadwayWorld, he would be universally loathed for his contrarianism.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/17/11 at 11:46pm

PJ, you might be on to something. Perhaps Patrick Dennis is muscle?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/17/11 at 11:50pm

Are they both dead?

Posted: 3/18/11 at 10:21am

I've read things from the time that paint Mame as a bit beneath the New York Theater-goer. A tourist hit if you will.

But Patrick Dennis was a professional bitch.

[Almira]

Posted: 3/18/11 at 12:54pm

I should add the comment was part of a private letter sent to his sister.

In the same letter he mentioned that he found the musical to be a complete "bore."

I don't have hateful feelings towards Dennis for his Lansbury comment. Whether I agree or not, he is, after all, THE authority when it comes to Mame Dennis.

Updated On: 3/18/11 at 12:54 PM

Posted: 3/18/11 at 1:29pm

He did create the character- he's certainly entitled to his opinions. Having read "Uncle Mame" and the other book that chronicled the piece from book to film, I got the impression that Dennis was very conflicted about his success. He seemed far fonder of the projects that didn't connect- a certain attitude of "If millions of people love it, how good can it be?"

[genius2]

Posted: 3/18/11 at 4:49pm

Wasn't there some speculation that he made all that "Auntie Mame" up? That it wasn't really autobiographical?

[Almira]

Posted: 3/18/11 at 5:23pm

AUNTIE MAME, the novel, is a complete work of fiction. It was never intended to be thought of otherwise. Mame Dennis is an original character created by the imagination of Edward Tanner. Hence, he IS the authority on the character.

The confusion comes from Edward Tanner using the pseudonym "Patrick Dennis" to write a fictitious "memoir" of his adventures with his Auntie Mame Dennis. There was no "real" Auntie Mame.

When the book was on the bestseller list it was under "fiction."

Updated On: 3/18/11 at 05:23 PM