The madcap life of eccentric Mame Dennis and her bohemian, intellectual arty clique is disrupted when her deceased brother's 10-year-old son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, instilling in him her favorite credo, "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death."
Acting
Bea Arthur steals every scene as the pickled, poisonous Vera Charles.
Costume
The title number's white pantsuit alone deserves its own billing.
Practical Effects
Pre-CGI spectacle: actual sets, actual dancers, actual madness.
Director
Gene Saks
Lucille Ball
Mame Dennis
Bea Arthur
Vera Charles
Robert Preston
Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside
Bruce Davison
Patrick as an adult
Kirby Furlong
Patrick as a boy
Jane Connell
Agnes Gooch
Joyce Van Patten
Sally Cato
Don Porter
Mr. Upson
Audrey Christie
Mrs. Upson
John McGiver
Mr. Babcock
Patrick Labyorteaux
Peter
Lucille Benson
Mother Burnside
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lucille Ball was so insecure about her singing that she had numbers re-orchestrated and some dialogue added to cover breaths. She was fifty-three playing twenty-nine in the opening.
This was Bea Arthur's final film before Maude made her a household name; she originated Vera on Broadway and reportedly found Ball's casting "interesting."
US
