Mame

Somewhere in a parallel universe, the 1974 film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Mame (based on the 1958 movie Auntie Mame, which was inspired by an earlier novel) was completed by its original, legendary director George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story). Cukor’s star, playing Mame, the freethinking guardian of her orphaned nephew, was none other than Angela Lansbury, who won a Tony Award for her performance on the Great White Way. Sounds pretty good, no? Sadly, in our universe, Cukor had to drop out of the production before it started (and was replaced by actor-director Gene Saks), and Lansbury—incredibly—was passed over for Lucille Ball. The result is a plodding Technicolor beast with no hint of charm, grace, or the mixed blessings of time’s passage (the latter also being an element in the story, which takes place over 20 years). Viewers meet Mame as a high society diva in the Jazz Age, a reckless partier whose friends include well-heeled bankers and a well-connected judge. The good times slow down when Mame’s 9-year-old nephew, Patrick (a flat Kirby Furlong), comes under her care, basking in her largess and bohemian lifestyle. But the intervention of a conservative trustee, along with the financial impact of the Great Depression, the death of a spouse, and much else, redirects the course of Mame and Patrick’s lives over and over. Ball, in a word, is terrible in her last big-screen movie role, haunted by the ghost of her former slapstick glory on TV, and a nightmare to listen to when she sings. Saks, who did decent work directing The Odd Couple and Cactus Flower has trouble negotiating the possibilities of a widescreen image, opting instead for stage-bound shots with no imagination. Saks’s then-wife, Bea Arthur, reprising her Tony Award-winning role, is the best thing going in this disaster. Extras include a vintage featurette. Not recommended. (T. Keogh)