Is The Lucy MAME Movie Really That Bad??- Page 3

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 8:35pm

I beleive I heard somewhere that the vaseline wasn't on the camera, it was slathered on Ball's face.

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 8:50pm

It's just too bad that the dvd of "Mame" doesn't have any bonus materials.....no extra features. Back then, no one thought to save deleted scenes and featurettes and the like.

When "Mame" was being filmed, it got TONS of publicity and Lucy did a lot of press for the film.

[Theatrical Landladies]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 9:23pm

I really respect the opinions given but....

I saw this film at the cinema with my Grandmother in Glasgow when it was released. We both loved it and cried when young Patrick ran into Mame's arms at the end of the MAME title song. This scene is reprised at the end of the film and we cried again. We laughed a lot too through the film but not in any knowing, deriding way but simply because we enjoyed it.

All the great feelings I had when I first saw it at the age of 12 still come back when I see it now. I still have my Gran's PHOTOPLAY from the release of the movie and all the talk is about Lucy's energy and her ability to shoot the dance scenes in "one take" (not sure I believe that one).

My partner watched it on TV with me for the first time not long after we met 14 years ago and he laughed at me when I cried again. He loves the movie now. Isn't the title music great?

I love the film. I know it is very flawed as I go to the theatre all the time and know Lucy was miscast but I still think she looks beautiful and her costumes were stunning and her house was amazing etc. etc. I finde her touching and sincere. I just can't bring myself to apply the later knowledge I have gained about performances to something I saw when I was young and I genuinely still get great pleasure from this movie. I think it is worth finding your own opinion and taking time to watch this movie.

I watch the VHS very ocassionally but REALLY wish I had a widescreen version of the film (does anyone know if it is available?). I would have (probably) preferred Angela but didn't know that when I first saw the film at the cinema so I still really enjoy Lucy.

Better start rewinding the tape......

The short answer is ... I don't think it is "THAT" bad.

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/1/08 at 10:37pm

"Mame" is available on dvd in the wide screen version.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 10:40am

If only it had been done with Lansbury instead.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 11:23am

TheatricalLandladies -- where have YOU been. The film was released on DVD this past June 2007.

Not only is the film in anamorphic widescreen but it also contains the sensational original theatrical trailer (it makes the film look incredible) as well as the 1974 LUCKY "MAME" featurette.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 11:27am

I love the poster they used for the cover art...

[Theatrical Landladies]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 1:44pm

Thank you BRODYFOSSE! Don't think you can get it in REGION 2 (Europe) but will get it anyway as it will play on the computer.

This site can be SO helpful!!!

[gcal]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 4:51pm

What is the 1974 Lucky Mame feature?

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 5:15pm

Does anyone have a link to the original trailer for the film?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 6:19pm

The 1974 LUCKY "MAME" featurette is a short documentary on the making of the film done to promote the film.

These 'featurettes' are/were short promotional films released by the studios for several decades. They are similar to the short documentaries seen today on DVDs.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 6:37pm

Landladies, thank you for that post. I also enjoyed the film, for many of the same reasons you did. Rather than focus on her lack of excellent singing and dancing, what struck me was the warmth and sincerity she gave the character.

For me it's important to be pulled into a film because of the story, and I was. Singing and dancing is fine, but I didn't miss them in the film.

I'd see it again!

[nealb1]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 5:38pm

From what I understand, when "Mame" is aired "down under" in Aust. on tv, they have a slighty different version of "Mame" with different camera angles & different takes. It's too bad that none of that material is on the dvd that came out last year.

[sparkleplenty]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 6:29pm

The magic and star power that Lansbury brought to Mame on stage would at least have gotten through on film, I think. She was so good, that as she puts it, "Maybe film critics would have supported it, and probably the audience would have followed suit" It is a sad, lost opportunity. All we have are a few clips from the stage musicqal and maybe as a hint of what it would have been like, check out Lansbury's performance at the Oscars of "Thoroughly Modern MIllie" - whenever that was - is that still out there on You-tube or anywhere? -
" Mame" was actually my first Broadway hit experince and I never forgot how wonderful Lansbury was.
Lucille Ball should simply have turned down the part (and should be ashamed of herself for having that much vanity to think she could pull it off - OMG that awful croak of a voice!) -. Like say Cary Grant when turning down the film version of "My Fair Lady" - "No thanks - that part belongs to Rex."

[jv92]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 6:42pm

But unlike Cary Grant, Lucy was an opertunist with a rapidly fading star that, unfortunately for her, faded even faster after Mame.

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 6:51pm

Lucy playing Mame is as bad Rachel York playing Lucy.
Now get Lindsay Lohan to play Rachel York.

[Sonia&Vernon]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 7:20pm

Warner Brothers said it was either Lucy as Mame or no movie. The only other person who was remotely considered for the role was Elizabeth Taylor, who was immediately discounted.

Lucy wanted them to dub her voice in the film, but Warner Brothers wouldn't hear of it. They said that type of thing wasn't done anymore.

[jv92]

Posted: 2/4/08 at 8:31pm

"Lucy wanted them to dub her voice in the film, but Warner Brothers wouldn't hear of it. They said that type of thing wasn't done anymore."

The way I heard it (maybe I'm taking movie publicity too seriously) Lucy felt her vocals were PERFECT for Mame. I'm paraphrasing here but she once said something along the lines of Mame drank and smoked and partied all night. She wouldn't sing like Julie Andrews.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 9:01am

Point of clarification on two points:

The film was only done because of Ball's interest. No one was seriously considered. (Elizabeth Taylor was considered for DOLLY, not MAME.) In fact, she had a great deal of her own money invested in it, which convinced WB to do it, even though musicals had been bombing at the box office.

Ball never claimed to be a singer, and she was open to being dubbed in the role. However, all agreed that her voice was too recognizable from all the singing she had done on her TV show, so the best idea was to get the best takes from her that they could. If you listen closely, you can hear words and phrases clearly edited from varying takes.

[GHOSTLIGHT2]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 9:44am

I hate to talk badly of anyone but Lucille Ball was a truly terrible business women who literally ran Desilu studios into the ground after Her divorce, because She did not know how to do anything at all.
People hold Her up as an iconic woman when in truth She was NOT a skilled comic.
If You asked the people who worked on 'I Love Lucy' they would have all agreed (I never heard any voices to the contrary) that Desi, Vivian, and Will Frawley hit there marks and did it right while Lucy had to figure out how to do it in the most effective manner.
Why would anyone be surprised that Her MAME would not live up to expectations?
I have no doubt that she was a good woman and a good person but as with all of us She could not be better than she was.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 10:00am

Lucy not a skilled comic? Oh, come on ... She's one of the best. She rehearsd and rehearsed til she got it right ... and over 50 years later, her antics are still as funny today as they were when first aired. Didn't you ever read what her own writers said about her comic ability and timing? They couldn't rave enough.

I happen to love the movie Mame ... Its a guilty pleasure. No, Lucy can't sing and the movie is overblown, but its still fun to watch. Lucy has a warmth that is very touching. Bea Arthur looks like a drag queen and Jane Connell is way too old for Gooch. But its great to see their performances preserved on film nonethelss. I can certainly understand why so many people don't like the film, but there are plenty of movie musicals that are much worse (Man of LaMancha, A Little Night Music, A Chorus Line, to name a few).

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 10:15am

I guess I went in with very low expectations, but I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Sure it wasn't a masterpiece, but it was far from the travesty everyone has made it out to be.

Granted, I also like "The Wiz."

[philcrosby]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 11:58am

Lucy was an amazingly skilled clown. Her physical work was fearless and she knew how to land a line.

She was not in any way skilled at improvisation. She rehearsed and rehearsed to get things right in a way that sometimes drve others nuts.

It's no surprise that one of the highlights of her MAME is her roller-skating exit from the store after meeting Beau. Pure Lucy. But she was miscast as MAME.

[karen24]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 12:48pm

As it happens, just the other day I was browsing through a book I found remaindered at Barnes & Noble: "But Darling, I'm Your Auntie Mame!: The Amazing History of the World's Favorite Madcap Aunt," by Richard Tyler Jordan. I didn't wind up buying it (now I kind of wish I had; maybe I'll go see if it's still there), but it goes into quite a bit of detail about all of the various versions of the story, and ends with a chapter on the Lucille Ball movie. You might want to look for it if you're interested in things like how different people were cast, etc.

I saw the Ball version once, I think when it first came out in theaters, and just remember thinking at the time that the Roz Russell version was much better. The business of filming Ball through all those filters (gauze, Vaseline, etc.) was really a huge distraction. And I agree with Margo's excellent assessment that Ball just could not play that type of Sutton Place character and make it believable.

[Kev]

Posted: 2/5/08 at 1:14pm

Issues with this film aside (the filtering, the deletion of soo many witty lines, etc.), might I just say that I find the ending sequence to be lovely and right on target. On the final "Mame"s of the title song reprise, Lucy/Mame is shown in an embrace with each of the other principals; it's truly heartwarming and a perfect way to end an otherwise uneven film.