It may not have been filmed the same way at all. Gene Saks was so concerned with having to shoot Ball in a flattering way (through gauze and vaseline as the joke goes) and shoot around the fact that she was too old to do most of the physical comedy required that it straight-jacketed every shot (remember Mame is on screen 95% of the time). One can only imagine what Saks might have been able to do with a young, vibrant leading lady like Lansbury who didn't care how she was shot, could move and dance as well as anyone in the chorus (footage of her onstage in "It's Today" shows she was a first rate dancer) and perform all of the physical comedy required without a problem. He could have freed his camera to actually move and it would have added a real vibrancy and energy to the proceedings. Lansbury's presence alone would have turned a fiasco into -- at the very least -- a pretty good movie.
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When I first saw it, I thought my tv was dirty or dying. It does look like Vaseline and gauze were placed over the camera.
This thread has made me look into this movie more. I saw this movie when I was a kid that loved anything Lucy or musical. But the more I think about the movie today, it just gets worse and worse in my mind. Updated On: 11/28/05 at 10:45 AM
I will not say it's a great film. It did always cross my mind how someone like Gene Saks, who directed it on B-way turned it into a mish-mash, but the same thing goes for The Last of the Red Hot Lovers which was also a BOMB, which Saks directed on b-way too. It's a mystery we shall never know the answer too. It would be nice to have either a nice remake or tv-production of it. I did hear that they wanted to do something like that, rumor had it once that Cher was in the running to play MAME.
"Love the Art in Yourself. Not Yourself in the Art." -- Stanislavski
i believe gene saks has stated he shot lucy through a bag of crushed ice...or maybe i'm just projecting. i love a disaster, so i hastened to watch this film but i found it terribly sad. lucy is truly out of her element. she gives off visable fumes of desperation. the titanic in chiffon. i love the book and the roz film is not to be missed.
Hi there. Got to say that, being British, I really like this movie, and I think the reason is that Lucy is not an icon in the way she is to you guys in this country(of course we know and appreciate her), and so it is far easier to suspend your disbelief. In fact my partner and myself watched the movie on VHS a few months ago and LOVED it. We prefer the original, but didn't have a big problem with this version. By the way, when is it being released on DVD? Sure it's camp...but then..........so are we!!! Tally-ho!
Remember on I Love Lucy when Ricky would never let Lucy into the show because she couldn't sing and dance? Well, Lucy finally found someone who would let her into the show. And she stinks.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Don't get me started on this ****fest. Pardon the language Lucy looks like Marcia Cross in most of her closeups. She sings like a frog and well...does dancing really make her that happy?
I love this film and will defend it to my dying day. That's the great thing about this board - we all can talk about our likes, dislikes and our opinions.
Case in point, "Departed," which one Best Picture last year at The Oscars, I thought was probably one of the worst films I've ever seen. It was so predictable......every cop was on the take, the Boston accents came and went, Jack Nicholson was so over the top as he always is nowadays. People get upset when he's not playing "Jack." And, that closing shot of the mouse at the end of the movie. A piece of trash film.
I saw this movie and I enjoyed it bec. I love MAME and I really never saw Angela's stage version, though I can see why people dislike Lucille Ball...
Bea Arthur's The Man in The Moon is just hilarous! and I love the Mame number too.
I actually own this on VHS. I showed it to my friends..one time and half way to the movie.. they told me they rather shot themselves than finish the movie! lol!
Why dig up a three year old thread just to say you hated the movie?
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Why? Only three years earlier she starred in a big screen Disney musical "Bedknobs And Broomsticks" and she wasn't particularly good or memorable in it. Her talents didn't keep it from bombing.
Ball's MAME makes PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE seem a masterpiece. Read the book "Darling I'm Your Auntie Mame" that tells of all the ladies whe did the part and you will see the demands that Ball made and the real problems she presented. The studio did not think Lansburry was a big enough name to sell the film.
The producer actually told Jerry Herman, "One day, you'll thank me for this." It was in that book, A Fine Romance.
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ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
I've only seen it once, but I enjoyed it. It's strange, I don't know whether it was for camp value or if I genuinely enjoyed the film...maybe a bit of both.
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.