Mame: the motion picture extravaganza

[ChiChi]

Posted: 8/23/11 at 11:36pm

Okay, so I know it sucks and totally admit to it being a guilty pleasure of mine. But really, what were they thinking? How do you go from "Angela Lansbury is not a big enough star" to saying "The logical person would be Lucy with her smoker's cough."

So anyone else like it? Anyone have theories of why it couldn't be any better?

Updated On: 8/23/11 at 11:36 PM

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 8/23/11 at 11:40pm

I have yet to see the movie, but her If He Walked Into My Life sounds very heartfelt.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 8/23/11 at 11:43pm

My point exactly. There are definitely some warm moments to her vocals, but since we know the material, we also know that it was written with the intent of being sung by a real singer.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 12:08am

I think this may be the first time Angela Lansbury has ever been called a "real singer." She is considered a very gifted actor-who-sings (and occasionally dances). And she is one of the all time great musical theater stars, in my opinion.

She's also a fine musician who, when I worked with her briefly decades ago, was as knowledgable as the conductor on every instrument in the orchestra.

And I love her cast albums. All of them. Even "Prettybelle".

But a "real singer" is somebody like Barbara Cook.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 1:28am

It's not just Miss Ball. This movie is a big bow-wow all the way around.

[Urban]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 1:46am

Didn't Lucy also throw alot of money into the movie or something to the point where they had to accept her?

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:18am

Does anybody know if Angela Lansbury plays any instruments?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 4:56am

^^^^

I'm not sure if this a John Doyle reference or a laugh at my badly worded post.

Yes, I did make it sound as if Lansbury could play all the instruments. Probably not. I meant she knew exactly what each instrument was doing and exactly why the "Gypsy" orchestra needed an extra clarinet.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 4:56am

(deleted double post) Updated On: 8/24/11 at 04:56 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 7:21am

Compared to Lucille Ball anyone's a real singer!
Saving graces of the MAME film: Jane Connell and Bea Arthur.
Robert Preston also does a very nice job with the title song.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:31am

That was Lucy?!? There was so much gauze over the lens I couldn't tell.

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:46am

"Mame" is one of my all time faves. Yes, a guilty pleasure.

When I first saw the film, it had opened at The Cinerama Dome at Easter 1974. I only knew Lucy from the Channel 11 7pm nightly reruns of "I Love Lucy." So, to see LUCY up on the silver screen singing and dancing, was just so thrilling. Didn't occur to me at 9 years old that she couldn't sing and was miscast.

Angela Lansbury wasn't considered a big star to be considered for the film. She's often asked many times as to why she didn't do the film. And, she so graciously replies, "Because no one ever asked me."

Would the film have been better/different with Angela? Of course.

The production values are first class - gorgeous sets and costumes, and the title number is a show stopper. In certain parts of the film - certainly in the 2nd act, Lucy seems much more comfortable with the role. She has some great moments with Bea Arthur singing "Bosom Buddies."

Whenever I watch it, it transports me back to when I first saw it and gives me happy memories.

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:51am

I saw the movie as a youngster and Lucy WAS Mame to me. Now I can wish it had been someone (anyone?) else, but to me it was thrilling. And the Mame number is captured beautifully.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 12:23pm

I remember seeing it for the first time on AMC as a kid and loving it. The music was just wonderful and Lucy was hilarious. It wasn't until high school, when I was in a school production of the show that I realized how lackluster the film was. I still love it, due to nostalgia and the fact that it was my first exposure to the material, but it is sort of a mess.

I agree that Lucy seemed much more at home during act II than the first part of the film. She probably knew she was too old. Acting wise, though, she was quite good, but just a little too old.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 12:57pm

I find it odd that the Disney studios felt Angela was a big enough name to star in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS but she wasn't considered a big enough star to do the film version of MAME, a role she originated on the stage. By the time the MAME film was done Lansbury had a long, long career in films many of them highly regarded and classics. I don't buy this argument AT ALL.

Posted: 8/24/11 at 1:37pm

Mame was a huge huge hit on stage. Stake were very high. Lansbury had made a couple films but Lucy was the biggest entertainer in the world.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 1:47pm

Definitely qualifies as a guilty pleasure. I saw it before I saw the original "Auntie Mame" and though the former is so far superior it isn't funny, I enjoy both.

Jane Connell makes the movie for me.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 1:48pm

Lansbury had made a couple of films

That is a HUGE understatement.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:04pm

Lansbury had 2 Oscar nominations at that time, right?

I actually love Lansbury's voice. I think it is just perfect for Mame, Dear World, Sweeney, Gypsy, Night Music, Beauty and the Beast, King and I, etc. Is she Audra McDonald or Barbara Cook? Of course not. But she's got a great instrument.

I would have actually loved to see her as either Phyllis or Carlotta in Follies...ah well...

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:08pm

Look, I LOVE Angela Lansbury. Always will. But in terms of potential box office draw? Good lord, there was no contest. I wish to God they would have cast he in that film- but Lucy starring in this film was literally front-page news.

Hindsight is 20/20.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:34pm

It's Bea's perf that makes it for me.

"I was never in the chorus...I was NEVER in the chorus!"

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:46pm

If Lucy hadn't been so self-centered, she should have offered the part to Julie Andrews. Julie had the name, Julie had the class, Julie had the voice.

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:57pm

Angela had 3 Oscar nominations by then. But, she wasn't really considered a box office star.

Check out this clip of her singing the title song to "Thoroughly Modern Millie" from the 1968 Oscars. She's so brilliant, and very, very MAME.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Y67ZpUIEI

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 3:01pm

I was actually generally just wondering if Angie played any instruments... :P

[philcrosby]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 3:42pm

1. At the time the film of "Mame" was made, musicals were dead at the box office. No studio would make a musical without a huge star and/or some huge investment to help guarantee profitability.

2. Also at that time, Lucille Ball was one of the biggest and most beloved stars in the world. Her current TV series was consistently in the Top 5 on TV and she was still an icon from her previous two series, which were being run almost continuously in syndication. Lucy sang and danced (enthusiastically if not well) in all of them, was an undeniable beauty in her day, and one of the greatest physical comedians ever.

3. And yes, she sank a lot of her own money into the production. She is the reason it got made. In Jerry Herman's memoir, he recalls meeting with Warner Bros to complain about Lucy's casting in the role because she couldn't sing it and was told that without Lucy there was no movie.

Lansbury is absolutely right when she says she was never asked to do the film. Without Lucy there would not have been one.

It is one of the most glorious train wrecks ever on screen!