Auntie Mame (film)
Encyclopedia
Auntie Mame is a 1958 film based on the novel
by Patrick Dennis
and its theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence
and Robert Edwin Lee
. This film version stars Rosalind Russell
and was directed by Morton DaCosta
. Mame
, a musical version of the story, appeared on Broadway and was later made into a 1974 film starring Lucille Ball
as the title character.
. Mame is a flamboyant, madcap woman, who hosts frequent parties with eclectic, bohemian guests. Patrick is quickly introduced to his aunt's free-spirited and eccentric lifestyle, including Vera Charles, a lush of a Broadway
actress, who spends many of her nights passed out in Mame's guest room. Mame's frequently repeated motto is "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!"
Since Patrick's father was a wealthy man at the time of his death, Patrick's inheritance comes with an executor, Mr. Dwight Babcock. Mr. Babcock disapproves of Mame's
lifestyle and wants to interject decorum and discipline in Patrick's life. Mame has Patrick enrolled at a progressive school run by a friend of hers. Mr. Babcock insists that Patrick be enrolled at Bixby's, a nearby boy's prep school. When he finds out that Mame has not enrolled Patrick at Bixby's, he issues an order: Patrick is to go to St. Boniface boarding school and Mame will only see him at the holidays and during the summer.
When Mame's investments are lost in the stock market crash of 1929, she takes a series of jobs—stage acting, telephone operator, sales girl at Macy's --that all end disastrously. At her sales job at Macy's
, she meets a man named Beaureguard Burnside, a rich oil man from the South. He's immediately smitten with her and she falls in love with him as well. Mame and Patrick visit Beau's family estate in Georgia. Sally Cato, who's in love with Beau, tries to sabotage Mame's relationship with Beau. She organizes a fox hunt, suspecting Mame is lying about being a horsewoman (and rightly so) and gives Mame a wild horse. Mame manages to stay on the horse and catches the fox at the end. Beau proposes to her on the spot in front of his family.
For their honeymoon, Beau and Mame travel around the world. Mame is sad about leaving Patrick, but they keep in touch through letters and frequent visits during holidays. Through their correspondence, Mame gets a sense that Patrick is growing into a stuffy, conventional man, and she worries for him. When Beau dies while they are climbing the Matterhorn
, Mame comes home. Patrick surprises her by installing a dictating machines and a secretary, Agnes Gooch, for her convenience. He and her friends convince her to write her autobiography.
Patrick and Lindsay, a friend of Mame's, arrange for a collaborator (and ghost writer) for Mame, a Mr. Brian O'Bannion. It becomes clear that O'Bannion is using Mame as a meal ticket; Mame dictates her life to Agnes and both of them are hard at work on her autobiography, while O'Bannion does nothing. One day, as he tries to get fresh with Mame (apparently to retain her favor lest she kick him out), Patrick walks in on them and disapproves. He announces that he has a girlfriend, Gloria, and wants to bring her over to meet Mame. He cautions Mame to act responsibly while Gloria is there. She calls him beastly and he almost leaves, but at the last minute Mame says she will do whatever he wants to make him and Gloria happy.
Patrick thanks her—for agreeing to behave (and possibly for everything she's done for him) -- and goes to bring Gloria. Meanwhile, O'Bannion insists Mame get dressed for a party to meet movie producers interested in Mame's autobiography. Mame hurriedly dresses the dowdy Agnes up and tells O'Bannion that Agnes is an heiress merely doing secretarial work for "life experience." O'Bannion's mercenary instincts kick in and he gladly escorts Agnes to the party in Mame's place. When Agnes returns the next day, she is disheveled and remembers very little of her night with O'Bannion—only that she thinks she saw a movie with a wedding scene in it.
Patrick brings Gloria over, but Mame is horrified to see how upper-crust and snobby she is. Against Patrick's wishes, she goes to visit Gloria's family in a Connecticut
gated community. Her parents are just like Gloria, and Mame wants nothing to do with them.
Mame arranges a dinner party at her apartment and she invites Gloria, her parents, and Mr. Babcock...and a few of Mame's closest friends, including Vera, Lindsay and the man who runs the progressive school Patrick used to attend. On the night of the party, Patrick meets Pegeen, Mame's new secretary—Agnes is now several months pregnant and staying with Mame in "her friendless condition." Everything about the evening is a disaster—the food, the drink, the furniture, and the company. Lindsay surprises the attendees with the galleys from Mame's autobiography; the madcap content leads Gloria to insult the other attendees; Patrick defends them, attacking Gloria's friends instead. In a bizarre twist, the release of the book prompts a telegram from O'Bannion, requesting his efforts be rewarded, efforts that can be proven by his wife—Agnes Gooch O'Bannion!!! The evening ends with Babcock also having a go at Mame, but Mame puts him in his place.
Cut to several years later, with Patrick and Pegeen now a married couple. Their son Michael wants to travel with Mame on her trip to India
. The two of them wear down Patrick and Pegeen's objections, and the movie fades away as Mame tells Michael of all the wondrous sights they will see.
for Best Actress in a Leading Role
(Rosalind Russell), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(Peggy Cass), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color
(Malcolm Bert, George James Hopkins), Best Cinematography, Color
, Best Film Editing
and Best Picture
. It was also nominated for three Golden Globes of which it won two.
American Film Institute
recognition
, Louis Winthorpe III's girlfriend Penelope Witherspoon is overheard telling her friends at the golf club a story that ends with "...and she stepped on the ping pong ball!", a clear reference to Gloria Upson's story about herself and Bunny Bixler which she tells at the ill-fated dinner party.
Phoebe imitates Gloria when she meets Mike's parents in an episode of Friends, The One with Ross Inappropriate Song.
Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
by Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis
Patrick Dennis was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade was one of the bestselling American books of the 20th century. In chronological vignettes "Patrick" recalls his adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis...
and its theatrical adaptation by Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence was an American playwright and author.-Life and career:Lawrence was born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Sarah , a poet, and Samuel Schwartz, a printer. He worked for several small newspapers as a reporter/editor before moving into radio as a writer for CBS....
and Robert Edwin Lee
Robert Edwin Lee
Robert Edwin Lee was an American playwright and lyricist. With his writing partner, Jerome Lawrence, Lee worked for Armed Forces Radio during World War II; Lawrence and Lee became the most prolific writing partnership in radio, with such long-running series as Favorite Story among others.-Life and...
. This film version stars Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
and was directed by Morton DaCosta
Morton DaCosta
Morton DaCosta was an American theatre and film director, film producer, writer, and actor.-Career:Born Morton Tecosky in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, DaCosta began his career as an actor in the Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth starring Tallulah Bankhead in 1942...
. Mame
Mame (film)
Mame is a 1974 musical film based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Gene Saks, written by Paul Zindel, and starring Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur.Warner Bros...
, a musical version of the story, appeared on Broadway and was later made into a 1974 film starring Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
as the title character.
Plot
Patrick Dennis, orphaned in 1928 when his father unexpectedly dies, is placed in the care of Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell), his father's sister in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Mame is a flamboyant, madcap woman, who hosts frequent parties with eclectic, bohemian guests. Patrick is quickly introduced to his aunt's free-spirited and eccentric lifestyle, including Vera Charles, a lush of a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actress, who spends many of her nights passed out in Mame's guest room. Mame's frequently repeated motto is "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!"
Since Patrick's father was a wealthy man at the time of his death, Patrick's inheritance comes with an executor, Mr. Dwight Babcock. Mr. Babcock disapproves of Mame's
lifestyle and wants to interject decorum and discipline in Patrick's life. Mame has Patrick enrolled at a progressive school run by a friend of hers. Mr. Babcock insists that Patrick be enrolled at Bixby's, a nearby boy's prep school. When he finds out that Mame has not enrolled Patrick at Bixby's, he issues an order: Patrick is to go to St. Boniface boarding school and Mame will only see him at the holidays and during the summer.
When Mame's investments are lost in the stock market crash of 1929, she takes a series of jobs—stage acting, telephone operator, sales girl at Macy's --that all end disastrously. At her sales job at Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, she meets a man named Beaureguard Burnside, a rich oil man from the South. He's immediately smitten with her and she falls in love with him as well. Mame and Patrick visit Beau's family estate in Georgia. Sally Cato, who's in love with Beau, tries to sabotage Mame's relationship with Beau. She organizes a fox hunt, suspecting Mame is lying about being a horsewoman (and rightly so) and gives Mame a wild horse. Mame manages to stay on the horse and catches the fox at the end. Beau proposes to her on the spot in front of his family.
For their honeymoon, Beau and Mame travel around the world. Mame is sad about leaving Patrick, but they keep in touch through letters and frequent visits during holidays. Through their correspondence, Mame gets a sense that Patrick is growing into a stuffy, conventional man, and she worries for him. When Beau dies while they are climbing the Matterhorn
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...
, Mame comes home. Patrick surprises her by installing a dictating machines and a secretary, Agnes Gooch, for her convenience. He and her friends convince her to write her autobiography.
Patrick and Lindsay, a friend of Mame's, arrange for a collaborator (and ghost writer) for Mame, a Mr. Brian O'Bannion. It becomes clear that O'Bannion is using Mame as a meal ticket; Mame dictates her life to Agnes and both of them are hard at work on her autobiography, while O'Bannion does nothing. One day, as he tries to get fresh with Mame (apparently to retain her favor lest she kick him out), Patrick walks in on them and disapproves. He announces that he has a girlfriend, Gloria, and wants to bring her over to meet Mame. He cautions Mame to act responsibly while Gloria is there. She calls him beastly and he almost leaves, but at the last minute Mame says she will do whatever he wants to make him and Gloria happy.
Patrick thanks her—for agreeing to behave (and possibly for everything she's done for him) -- and goes to bring Gloria. Meanwhile, O'Bannion insists Mame get dressed for a party to meet movie producers interested in Mame's autobiography. Mame hurriedly dresses the dowdy Agnes up and tells O'Bannion that Agnes is an heiress merely doing secretarial work for "life experience." O'Bannion's mercenary instincts kick in and he gladly escorts Agnes to the party in Mame's place. When Agnes returns the next day, she is disheveled and remembers very little of her night with O'Bannion—only that she thinks she saw a movie with a wedding scene in it.
Patrick brings Gloria over, but Mame is horrified to see how upper-crust and snobby she is. Against Patrick's wishes, she goes to visit Gloria's family in a Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
gated community. Her parents are just like Gloria, and Mame wants nothing to do with them.
Mame arranges a dinner party at her apartment and she invites Gloria, her parents, and Mr. Babcock...and a few of Mame's closest friends, including Vera, Lindsay and the man who runs the progressive school Patrick used to attend. On the night of the party, Patrick meets Pegeen, Mame's new secretary—Agnes is now several months pregnant and staying with Mame in "her friendless condition." Everything about the evening is a disaster—the food, the drink, the furniture, and the company. Lindsay surprises the attendees with the galleys from Mame's autobiography; the madcap content leads Gloria to insult the other attendees; Patrick defends them, attacking Gloria's friends instead. In a bizarre twist, the release of the book prompts a telegram from O'Bannion, requesting his efforts be rewarded, efforts that can be proven by his wife—Agnes Gooch O'Bannion!!! The evening ends with Babcock also having a go at Mame, but Mame puts him in his place.
Cut to several years later, with Patrick and Pegeen now a married couple. Their son Michael wants to travel with Mame on her trip to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The two of them wear down Patrick and Pegeen's objections, and the movie fades away as Mame tells Michael of all the wondrous sights they will see.
Awards and honors
The film was nominated for Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Rosalind Russell), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Peggy Cass), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Malcolm Bert, George James Hopkins), Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
and Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
. It was also nominated for three Golden Globes of which it won two.
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
recognition
- 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 LaughsAFI's 100 Years... 100 LaughsPart of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 funniest movies in American cinema. A wide variety of comedies were nominated for the distinction that included slapstick comedy, screwball comedy, romantic comedy, satire, black comedy, musical comedy, comedy of...
#94 - 2005: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie QuotesAFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie QuotesPart of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes is a list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. The American Film Institute revealed the list on June 21, 2005, in a three-hour television program on CBS...
#93- "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!"
Cast
- Rosalind RussellRosalind RussellRosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
as Mame Dennis - Forrest TuckerForrest TuckerForrest Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television from the 1940s to the 1980s. Tucker, who stood 190 cm tall and weighed 93 kg , appeared in nearly 100 action films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:Forrest Meredith Tucker was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of...
as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside - Coral BrowneCoral BrowneCoral Browne was an Australian-American stage and screen actress.-Career:Coral Edith Brown was the only daughter of a restaurant-owner. She and her two brothers were raised in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, where she studied at the National Gallery Art School...
as Vera Charles - Fred ClarkFred ClarkFrederick Leonard Clark was an American film character actor.-Career:Born in Lincoln, California, Clark made his film debut in 1947 in The Unsuspected. His 20-year film career included almost 70 films, and numerous television appearances...
as Dwight Babcock - Roger SmithRoger Smith (actor)Roger LaVerne Smith is an American television and film actor and screenwriter. He starred in the television detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He is married to the actress Ann-Margret.-Early life:...
as Patrick Dennis - older - Patric KnowlesPatric KnowlesReginald Lawrence Knowles was an English film actor who renamed himself Patric Knowles, a name which reflects his Irish descent. He appeared in films of the 1930s through the 1970s...
as Lindsay Woolsey - Peggy CassPeggy CassMary Margaret “Peggy” Cass was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part...
as Agnes Gooch - Jan Handzlik as Patrick Dennis - younger
- Joanna BarnesJoanna BarnesJoanna Barnes is an American actress and writer.Barnes was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but moved to Los Angeles, California soon after finishing her education, and took up a contract with Columbia Pictures...
as Gloria Upson - Pippa ScottPippa ScottPippa Scott is an American actress who has appeared in movies and television since the 1950s. She was also married to a founding partner of Lorimar Productions, Lee Rich...
as Pegeen Ryan - Lee PatrickLee Patrick (actress)Lee Patrick was an American theater and film actress.-Early life and education:Born in New York City, Patrick began acting on Broadway in 1924. For more than a decade, she was constantly employed and established herself as a popular actress. She appeared in the original 1929 production of June...
as Doris Upson - Willard WatermanWillard WatermanWillard Lewis Waterman was a character actor in films, TV and on radio, remembered best for succeeding Harold Peary as the title character of The Great Gildersleeve at the height of that show's popularity.Peary was unable to convince sponsor and show owner Kraft Cheese to allow him an ownership...
as Claude Upson - Robin HughesRobin HughesRobin Hughes was a film and television actor-Background:Robin Hughes was born June 7, 1920 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to English parents...
as Brian O'Bannion - Connie GilchristConnie GilchristConnie Gilchrist was a stage, film and television character actress.Born Rose Constance Gilchrist in Brooklyn, New York...
as Norah Muldoon - Yuki ShimodaYuki ShimodaYuki Shimoda was an American actor best known for his starring role as Ko Wakatsuki in the NBC movie of the week, Farewell to Manzanar in 1976. He also co-starred in a 1960s television series, Johnny Midnight , with Edmond O'Brien. He was a star of the silver screen, early television and the stage...
as Ito - Brook Byron as Sally Cato MacDougall
- Carol Veazie as Mrs. Burnside
- Henry Brandon as Acacius Page
Production Crew
- Production Design - Malcolm C. Bert
- Art Direction - Malcolm C. Bert
- Set Decoration - George James Hopkins
- Costume Design - Orry-KellyOrry-KellyOrry-Kelly was the professional name of Orry George Kelly , a prolific Hollywood costume designer....
- Makeup Supervisor - Gordon Bau
- Makeup - Gene Hibbs
- Hair stylist - Myrl Stoltz
- Makeup - Robert J. Schiffer
- Assistant Director - Joseph Don Page
- Art - interior - Robert Hanley
- Storyboard - Harold Michelson
- Sound Department - M.A. Merrick
- Stunts - Roydon Clark, Bob Herron, Dick Hudkins, Boyd 'Red' Morgan, Audrey Scott, Dean Smith
- Stage producers - Lawrence Carr & Robert Fryer
- Music supervisor - Ray Heindorf
Box office performance
This film was the #1 moneymaker of 1959, earning a net profit of $8,800,000.Pop culture references
In the 1983 movie Trading PlacesTrading Places
Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film, of the satire genre, directed by John Landis, starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. It tells the story of an upper class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler whose lives cross paths when they are unknowingly made part of an elaborate bet...
, Louis Winthorpe III's girlfriend Penelope Witherspoon is overheard telling her friends at the golf club a story that ends with "...and she stepped on the ping pong ball!", a clear reference to Gloria Upson's story about herself and Bunny Bixler which she tells at the ill-fated dinner party.
Phoebe imitates Gloria when she meets Mike's parents in an episode of Friends, The One with Ross Inappropriate Song.
See also
- List of American films of 1958
- Auntie Mame (novel by Patrick Dennis)Auntie MameAuntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
- Mame (musical)MameMame is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 Broadway play, by Lawrence and Lee, that had starred Rosalind Russell...
- Mame (musical film)Mame (film)Mame is a 1974 musical film based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Gene Saks, written by Paul Zindel, and starring Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur.Warner Bros...