• Rating:
• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Sophisticated Comedy
• Themes: Eccentric Families
• Director: Morton Da Costa
• Main Cast: Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne, Fred Clark, Roger Smith
• Release Year: 1958
• Country: US
• Run Time: 161 minutes

Plot

Auntie Mame began as a novel by Patrick Dennis (aka Ed Fitzgerald), then was adapted into a long-running Broadway play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. This 1958 film version permits Rosalind Russell to recreate her stage role as Mame Dennis, the flamboyant, devil-may-care aunt of young, impressionable Patrick Dennis. Left in Mame's care when his millionaire father drops dead, young Patrick (Jan Handzlik) is quickly indoctrinated into his aunt's philosophy that "Life is a banquet--and some poor suckers are starving to death." Social-climbing executor Dwight Babcock (Fred Clark) does his best to raise Patrick as a stuffy American aristocrat, but Mame battles Babcock to allow the boy to be as free-spirited as she is. In 1974, Auntie Mame was remade as the filmmusical Mame with Lucille Ball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

Auntie Mame reunites star Rosalind Russell and her Broadway director Morton DaCosta in an enthusiastic film version of their long-running stage hit. While less polished than many stage-to-film adaptations, Auntie Mame has a vitality that allows the audience to share in the fun that the characters are having on the screen. The film's major flaw is its episodic nature and lack of narrative flow between sequences. Nonetheless, the good scenes are very, very good, and the story has a consistently upbeat tone. Tech credits are strong, with cinematographer Harry Stradling and set designers Malcolm C. Bert and George James Hopkins contributing splendid work. Indicating the production's overall high quality of production, it was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. A word of caution: when looking for this film at the video store, be careful not to confuse it with the inferior 1974 Lucille Ball musical remake. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Rosalind Russell - Mame Dennis
• Forrest Tucker - Beauregard Burnside
• Coral Browne - Vera Charles
• Fred Clark - Mr. Babcock
• Roger Smith - Patrick Dennis

Joanna Barnes - Gloria Upson; Patric Knowles - Lindsay Woolsey; Peggy Cass - Agnes Gooch; Jan Handzlik - Patrick Dennis as a child; Pippa Scott - Pegeen Ryan; Lee Patrick - Mrs. Doris Upson; Willard Waterman - Mr. Claude Upson; Robin Hughes - Brian O'Bannion; Connie Gilchrist - Norah Muldoon; Yuki Shimoda - Ito; Carol Veazie - Mrs. Burnside; Henry Brandon - Acacius Page; Olive Blakeney - Dowager; Booth Colman - Perry; Margaret Dumont - Noblewoman; Gregory Gaye - Vladimir Klinkoff; Rand Harper - Pianist; Terry Kelman - Michael Dennis; Owen McGiveney - Man wearing Monocle; Barbara Pepper - Mrs. Krantz; Richard Reeves - Mr. Krantz; Dub Taylor - Veterinarian; Ruth Warren - Mrs. Jennings; Morton Da Costa - Edwin Dennis; Paul Davis - Stage Manager; Charles Heard - Dr. Feuchtwanger; Doye O'Dell - Cousin Jeff

Credit

Malcolm C. Bert - Art Director; Betty Comden - Screenwriter; Morton Da Costa - Director; Morton Da Costa - Producer; Patrick Dennis - Screenwriter; Patrick Dennis - Book Author; Adolph Green - Screenwriter; Ray Heindorf - Musical Direction/Supervision; George James Hopkins - Set Designer; Bronislau Kaper - Composer (Music Score); Robert E. Lee - Screenwriter; Robert E. Lee - Play Author; Orry-Kelly - Costume Designer; William H. Ziegler - Editor; Harry Stradling - Cinematographer; Jerome Lawrence - Play Author

Similar Movies

Funny Girl; Hello, Dolly!; Mame; Travels with My Aunt; The Women; Gypsy; Tea With Mussolini; Isn't She Great; Bells Are Ringing