Life is a Banquet with Mame

I stumbled across a musical called Mame (1974) starring Lucille Ball the other day and I loved it! The movie is based on the Broadway musical by Jerry Herman that starred the ever lovely Angela Lansbury but to be honest I can’t see anyone but Lucy as the eccentric Mame. I also adored the hilarious Beatrice Arthur who played Mame’s "bosom buddy" Vera Charles.

From what I can see, the film wasn’t a huge hit (although it was nominated for two Golden Globes) because most people thought Lucille Ball was too old to play Auntie Mame but I personally loved the seasoned lady. It gave more authenticity to the fact that she was a fun-loving, eccentric aunt.

This being a musical I guess I should say something about the songs: they’re cute but nothing I have to run right out and buy (the soundtrack has always been kind of hard to get hold of until recently). What I loved about this film had little to do with the singing --although to be honest, I loved hearing Lucille Ball sing (she did all her own parts)– no, what I loved was how humorous and altogether fun Mame was. This movie is definitely something that I will add to my collection soon.

~ Warner Brothers has released Mame to DVD this year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include many bonus features other than a featurette called Lucky Mame and the original trailer.



Bosom Buddies


Lucille Ball Interview: