1958 film
For the 1966 musical starring Angela Lansbury, see
Mame (musical)
. For the 1974 musical film starring Lucille Ball, see
Mame (film)
.
Auntie Mame
is a 1958 American
Technirama
Technicolor
comedy film
based on the 1955
novel of the same name
by Edward Everett Tanner III (under the pseudonym
Patrick Dennis
) and the 1956
play of the same name
by
Jerome Lawrence
and
Robert Edwin Lee
. This film version stars
Rosalind Russell
and was directed by
Morton DaCosta
. It is not to be confused with a musical version of the same story that appeared on Broadway in 1966 and was later made into a 1974 film,
Mame
, starring
Lucille Ball
as the titular character.
Plot
[
edit
]
Patrick Dennis, orphaned in 1928 when his father Edwin dies unexpectedly, is placed in the care of his aunt, Mame Dennis, in
Manhattan
. Mame is flamboyant and exuberant, hosting frequent parties with a variety of guests and free-spirited friends including the frequently-drunk actress Vera Charles; Acacius Page, who runs a nudist school; and Lindsay Woolsey, a book publisher. Mame quickly becomes fond of Patrick, and aims to give him as broad a view of life as possible. Patrick's inheritance is managed by Dwight Babcock, a trustee of the highly-conservative Knickerbocker Bank, who was instructed by Edwin to restrain Mame's influence. Without Babcock's knowledge, Mame enrolls Patrick in Page's school. When this is discovered, Babcock forcibly enrolls Patrick into his alma mater, preventing Mame from seeing her nephew except during holidays and during the summer.
When Mame is bankrupted by the
1929 stock market crash
, she takes a series of jobs which end disastrously. During one job as a
Macy's
sales girl, she meets Southern oil baron Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside. Both are smitten, and he invites Mame to his estate. Despite an attempt on her life by Beau's original betrothed, Mame and Beauregard are married, travelling around the world for their honeymoon. Mame continues to receive letters from Patrick (and vice versa), indicating Babcock is influencing him into a more conventional personality. After Beau dies while climbing the
Matterhorn
in 1937, Mame comes home after a prolonged period of mourning to discover the now-adult Patrick gifted her with a dictaphone, typewriter, and secretary, Agnes Gooch. He and her friends persuade her to write her autobiography. Patrick and Lindsay arrange for a collaborator/ghost writer for Mame, Brian O'Bannion, who rapidly proves to be a fortune hunter.
Patrick announces to Mame that he is engaged to Gloria Upson, a girl approved by Babcock from a "
restricted
" community in
Connecticut
called Mountebank. Mame is initially angered by the change in his character, but relents to please him. She also sabotages O'Bannion's attempted wooing by sending Agnes to a party in her place, lying to O'Bannion that Agnes is a secret heiress. When Agnes returns, she barely remembers the evening, thinking they saw a movie with a wedding scene. After Mame meets Gloria, who proves to be spoiled and prejudiced, she visits Gloria's parents in Mountebank at their house, "Upson Downs", some time later. Finding them to be boorish and anti-Semitic, she invites them and Gloria to a dinner party at her apartment with Patrick, Babcock, and some of her friends.
On the night of the party, Patrick meets Mame's new secretary Pegeen, and the two are attracted to each other; Agnes also lives there, now pregnant due to her night with O'Bannion and presumed to be unmarried. The entire party is choreographed to show up the Upsons: Lindsay surprises the attendees with
galleys
from Mame's autobiography, reminding Patrick of forgotten adventures. The book's release prompts a telegram from O'Bannion demanding half the royalties for his efforts, also revealing that he married Agnes on their night out. When Gloria insults Mame's company, Patrick instead defends them and insults Gloria's own circle, ending their relationship. Mame dedicates her royalties to a home for refugee Jewish children in Mountebank, much to the Upsons' horror. The Upsons leave in a huff. Mame berates Babcock for his attempts to manipulate Patrick's life; he also leaves. By 1946, Patrick and Pegeen are married and have a son Michael. Mame and Michael persuade his parents to let Mame take the child on a journey to India, and the movie fades as Mame tells Michael of all the wondrous sights they will see.
Cast
[
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]
|
|
Russell as Mame
|
Production
[
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]
Morton Da Costa directed the
Broadway stage adaptation
, which ran from October 1956 through June 1958, for 639 performances. Rosalind Russell originated the role of Mame and was nominated for the 1957
Tony
award for
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
. She played Mame until January 20, 1958, when
Greer Garson
took over the part.
[4]
Russell, Peggy Cass, Yuki Shimoda and Jan Handzlik reprised their Broadway roles in the film.
The
Motion Picture Herald
review observed that the film "provided a unique means of establishing time and plot progression" through the changing decor of Mame's
Beekman Place
apartment. The review in the
Los Angeles Examiner
(June 1958) named six different styles: Chinese, 1920s Modern, "
Syrie Maugham
” a French style named for writer
Somerset Maugham
's wife; English,
Danish Modern
and East Indian. When the Upsons visit Mame, they run afoul of the Danish Modern furniture, which is equipped with lifts.
[5]
The film received an Academy Award nomination for
Best Art Direction
(
Art Direction:
Malcolm Bert
;
Set Decoration:
George James Hopkins
).
The costume design for the film, which include outfits for Mame that coordinate with the sets, was provided by
Orry-Kelly
, who had worked with Rosalind Russell on a number of films.
[6]
The New York Times
critic
Bosley Crowther
observed: "The lavish decor of Mame's apartment is changed almost as frequently as are her flashy costumes, and all of them are dazzling, in color and on the modified wide-screen."
[2]
Rosalind Russell broke her ankle on the first take of a scene where she runs down the stairs. Filming was delayed until she recovered.
[7]
Several online sources, including
Rotten Tomatoes
' and
AllMovie's
biographies of actor and journalist
Joanna Barnes
,
[8]
[9]
mistakenly describe Gloria Upson as "
Vassar
educated". Gloria is "an Upper Richmond Girls School girl”, and proud of it. She does not understand the concept of a college major, but proclaims that the school is "top drawer."
[10]
In 2008, in
The Seattle Weekly
,
Gavin Borchert
described the character succinctly as a "lockjawed prep princess". On AllMovie,
Hal Erickson
adds that the character "spoke as though she had
novacaine
in her upper lip (the playwrights' description of the character)."
[8]
Reception
[
edit
]
Rosalind Russell drew wide praise for her performance. In an article describing why
Turner Classic Movies
has named it one of “
The Essentials
”,
[11]
Andrea Passafiume
observes that the role transformed Russell's career, “first on the Broadway stage and then on the big screen. Having long been a top level movie star throughout the 1930s and 40s, Russell's career in Hollywood was dwindling as she settled into middle age. The role of Mame Dennis... gave her the chance to be glamorous and showcase her sharp comedic talents, which reminded the world that she was still a vital force to be reckoned with. The success of the play made her the toast of Broadway, and the hit film gave her her first Oscar® nomination as Best Actress in more than a decade".
[11]
Passafiume adds that the film also transformed
Warner Bros. Studios
, which was "desperate for a hit, having suffered through a string of recent disappointments which put the once thriving studio increasingly in the red.
Auntie Mame
was the answer to their prayers and helped restore the studio's former glory."
[11]
Auntie Mame
became
the second highest-grossing film of 1958
, earning a net profit of $8,800,000.
[12]
The movie premiered at the
Radio City Music Hall
, and
Bosley Crowther
of
The New York Times
wrote that "for all its absurd exaggerations and bland inconsistencies, this picture of a tireless party-giver is a highly entertaining thing to see. And, because of the gags that gush from it, it is a constantly amusing thing to hear.
[2]
Variety
called the film "a faithfully funny recording of the hit play, changed only in some small details to conform to motion picture mores ... Rosalind Russell recreates the title role for the film and re-establishes herself as a top picture personality."
[13]
Harrison's Reports
called the film "a fast and furious comedy, with a glamorous background and considerable deep human appeal ... Rosalind Russell, who scored a huge success in the stage play, repeats her wonderful performance as the uninhibited heroine in this screen version. She fits the role so ideally that it is difficult to imagine any one else in the part."
[14]
Richard L. Coe
of
The Washington Post
called the film "broad as the Atlantic, too broad for me, but it's still a hilarious, observant comedy ... Miss Russell remains just plain wonderful in the part."
[15]
John McCarten
of
The New Yorker
dismissed the film, writing that Russell "works hard," but that the film "bogs down badly before it has gone any distance."
[16]
The Monthly Film Bulletin
wrote that the film was "virtually a one-woman revue, a series of turns?Mame as hostess, shopgirl, telephone operator, counterfeit Southern Belle, writer, actress?carried along on a strong current of personality. Rosalind Russell, who created the part on the stage, takes a turn or two to get into her stride; once established, however, her superbly confident timing and powerfully empathic comedy personality see her happily through."
[17]
Leonard Maltin
gives the film 3.5 out of 4 stars: “Episodic but highly entertaining, sparked by Russell's tour-de-force performance.”
[18]
Stanley Kauffmann
of
The New Republic
wrote- 'The film script suffers from the same
integral fault as the play. For about the first third, it is diverting high comedy growing out of credible characters; then, for fear of losing momentum, the writers start to pump in gags and gaggy situations. What starts out as glittering comedy descends through farce to circus'.
[19]
As of September 2020,
Auntie Mame
has a score of 93% on the review-aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
, based on 14 reviews.
[20]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
Others
[
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]
The film is recognized by
American Film Institute
in these lists:
Home media
[
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]
Auntie Mame
was released on
Blu-ray
on December 5, 2017 with an all new
HD
remaster of the film and an audio-only track of music from the film.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Auntie Mame - Details"
.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films
. Retrieved
July 4,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
Crowther, Bosley (December 5, 1958).
"Screen: 'Auntie Mame'
"
.
The New York Times
. p. 39
. Retrieved
October 27,
2020
.
- ^
Cohn, Lawrence (October 15, 1990). "All-Time Film Rental Champs".
Variety
. p. M144.
- ^
"Auntie Mame ? Broadway Play ? Original"
.
Internet Broadway Database
. Retrieved
September 18,
2020
.
- ^
"Auntie Mame (1958) ? Notes"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Retrieved
December 24,
2023
.
- ^
"Tunic, from the film "Auntie Mame" - Orry Kelly"
.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
. 2016-06-21
. Retrieved
2023-12-24
.
- ^
"Auntie Mame (1958) - Trivia"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Retrieved
December 24,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Joanna Barnes | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos"
.
AllMovie
. Retrieved
2020-09-18
.
- ^
"Joanna Barnes"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
2020-09-18
.
- ^
"Gloria Upson Quotes in Auntie Mame (1958)"
.
TheCharacterQuotes.com
. Retrieved
September 18,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
"The Essentials - Auntie Mame"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Retrieved
September 18,
2020
.
- ^
Steinberg, Cobbett (1980).
Film Facts
. New York: Facts on File, Inc. p.
23
.
ISBN
978-0-8719-6313-0
.
When a film is released late in a calendar year (October to December), its income is reported in the following year's compendium, unless the film made a particularly fast impact (p. 17)
- ^
"Film Reviews: Auntie Mame"
.
Variety
. November 26, 1958. p. 6 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
"
'Auntie Mame' with Rosalind Russell"
.
Harrison's Reports
. November 29, 1958. p. 191 – via Internet Archive.
- ^
Coe, Richard L. (January 1, 1959). "Auntie Roz - At Home and Broad".
The Washington Post
. p. B11.
- ^
McCarten, John (December 13, 1958). "The Current Cinema".
The New Yorker
. p. 210.
- ^
"Auntie Mame".
The Monthly Film Bulletin
.
26
(301): 14. February 1959.
- ^
"Auntie Mame (1958) - Overview"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Retrieved
2020-09-18
.
- ^
"From Hungary to Sutton Place"
.
The New Republic
. Retrieved
2023-10-26
.
- ^
"Auntie Mame (1958)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
September 18,
2020
.
- ^
"The 31st Academy Awards (1959) Nominees and Winners"
.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. Retrieved
August 21,
2011
.
- ^
"BAFTA Awards: Film in 1960"
.
British Academy Film Awards
. Retrieved
September 16,
2016
.
- ^
"Auntie Mame"
.
Golden Globe Awards
. Retrieved
July 5,
2021
.
- ^
"1st Annual GRAMMY Awards"
.
Grammy Awards
. Retrieved
December 24,
2023
.
- ^
"Film Hall of Fame Inductees: Productions"
. Online Film & Television Association
. Retrieved
August 15,
2021
.
- ^
"AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs"
(PDF)
.
American Film Institute
. Retrieved
August 21,
2016
.
- ^
"AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes"
(PDF)
.
American Film Institute
. Retrieved
August 21,
2016
.
External links
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