Bea Arthur stole that whole number... and the whole movie!!!! Magnificent as always. I saw her one-woman show years ago, just before she passed and she talked about the wonderful experience of working with Angela Lansbury on Broadway in 'Mame'... and the not-so-wonderful experience of doing this movie with Lucille Ball... she still was phenomenal, though... those looks she gave Lucy! LOL
Hi Eddi, my name is Terri Kendall and I am simply dying to know what she said of working with Angela Lansbury v.s. Lucille Ball. Please tell me.🙏 . I am thinking one was a joy and the other - a pain. 😂❤️
@@floydkendall2703: That's basically what she said! Angela was wonderful to work with and was a consummate professional, whereas she said that it was a very difficult set on the movie with Lucille. Bea was still wonderful in it, though. Bea Arthur's one-woman show (with her superb pianist) was so fantastic! ... very warm, intimate and funny. I will never forget the thrill I got when she looked STRAIGHT at me and said 'Shady Pines, Ma!' with that famous look of hers!!!! I died right there and then! LOL
My favorite scene is where Mame keeps slipping off the crescent moon prop during the Man in the Moon production number. It's great how Vera hides her anger, smiling at the audience as she exits the stage, as soon as she's out of sight, her smile instantly disappears - replaced by a look of absolute fury as she tells the stagehands: ''Tell her to get her ass on than moon!!!!" It's pure classic Bea Arthur.
Bea Arthur really blew me away with her performance in this movie Musical. Nobody else that comes to my mind could have given such a perfect performance.
when Shade was classy. when Bea told Lucy, "if I kept my hair natural I'd be bald," for some reason I was waiting to see either Betty White or Rue McClanahan at the receiving end of that shade remark.
All criticism aside,this is still a fun number.Lucy always entertained and I’m grateful for the pleasure she has afforded the world. Whenever I’m feeling down,”The Long,LongTrailer” lifts me up again.She was attractive and very,very funny.Thank you.
I'm not a big fan of this version, I far prefer Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell. But I do love this number, and Bea Arthur was terrific as Vera Charles.
I wonder if anyone today understands the meaning of the coin on the table. I'm old enough to remember that you once needed a coin to get into a public toilet.
Gregg Bildr: It is a matter of opinion and Lucille Ball was terrible but Bea Arthur and Robert Preston we’re great. I wish the soundtrack included the reprise of “Bosom Buddies” when they send Gooch on the town.
I think the point is that in Auntie Mama, it was indeed a dramatic comedy movie. Mame was a movie musical version of it - each with its own merits I believe.
The two great tragedies of this film version of Mame were 1) Lucille Ball muscling her way into the role, when Lansbury was the obvious choice, and if not Lansbury, any number of mature Hollywood stars of the time would have been 100 times better than Lucy; and 2) Lucy getting Madeline Kahn booted from the Agnes Gooch role simply because she was afraid that Kahn was getting more laughs than her.
Bea Arthur thought she had a pretty decent shot at an Oscar nomination here; there was precedent (like Joel Grey) to win an Oscar and a Tony for the same role, and the Hollywood Foreign Press did give her a Golden Globe nomination…..but I think the poor box office and critical reception to the whole film ultimately doomed her chances. One can only imagine how great this movie might have been with Angela Lansbury!
Katherine Burbott: Please, save yourself bitch attitude for your family who has to put up with you. Rod Labbe’s comment is right on target which is why the film was so poorly received. But how do you know what Rod Labbe’s voice sounds like??
Lucy, enormously talented as she was, was dissipated by booze and cigarettes and simply too old for this role. One can only imagine how fab this show could be with a casting reboot.
I've always wondered where the director and choreographer were for this film. Lucy got her start as a chorus girl. Clearly, she had paid her dues as a dancer, and yet there is no grace or art to any movement she made in this film. During her musical numbers, she just flails about aimlessly. Surely the director noticed. Was he afraid of Lucy?
I watch this movie every year at Christmas. The snobs like to talk about how they like Rosalind Russell as Aunty Mame better than Lucille Ball as Mame but this version makes me happy and that's all that matters to me. I also like auntie Mame as well but this one's more cheery. And yes Angela Lansbury was a better singer than Lucille Ball but Lucille Ball was a better comedian, blah blah blah. So that's that. I don't know why people insist on comparing apples to oranges anyway.
The Rosalind Russell was brilliant in the original Mame which of course is a classic .. and she was a tour de force in larger than life stage to movie roles her Mama Rose in Gypsy was also brilliant... The character of Mame is what use to be referred to as a “woman of a certain age” which Lucy was at that particular time and was age appropriate for the role ... Bea Arthur was the original Vera her husband at the time Gene Saks was the original director of the play.. it had some really strong Jerry Herman numbers (La Cage aux Folles, Hello Dolly) ... which were thinly disguised or actual drag shows.. Lucy’s singing voice is kind of irrelevant...Carol Channing was the most famous Dolly and she certainly did not have the strongest voice ... The problem with the movie was 1974 was not the right year for that type of big brassy old school movie musical ... they kind of went out of style in the 1960s ...the next transfer from broadway to movie was Grease which was a big movie musical but the score was updated from broadway .. and you can’t deny the sex appeal of young Olivia Newton John and even younger John Travolta in 1978...
No, the problem that the movie did poorly was 1) Lucille Ball was too old, hence the filters which accentuated the problem, 2) Lucille Ball’s lack of singing voice and ability to interpret the songs, 3) Lucille Ball’s lack of line delivery and lack of dancing ability, 4) a weak, unfunny and unimaginative screenplay and 5) director Gene Saks lack of enthusiasm and interest in the project with Lucille Ball as the lead when he wanted Angela Lansbury (or anyone but Lucille Ball). He should have stepped aside and let someone who wanted Lucille Ball in this role-and was deaf and blind-direct and THEIR career suffer.
Because Lucille Ball contributed $2 million to the film’s budget and had the various “Lucy” shows as an audience to build on. Angela Lansbury only had beauty, youth, wit, charm and delivery; it wasn’t enough.
Because at the time Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur had the two highest rated shows on television and the producers thought they would be a huge box office draw.
Lucille Ball was brilliant in ILL and often wonderful in her previous film work. But whether the cigs, the executive pandering of a studio that she owned, or just age, she lost it all. And she didn't need the filters. I saw her in person at this time, and she was beautiful.
Why did the director guide these two such that there is no underlying playfulness or camaraderie between the characters? They come across as women who actually dislike each other rather than friends who just enjoy trading witty barbs.
postgraduate well, from the above comments it sounds like Bea had a horrible time. She probably didn’t respect Lucy in the role and whoever casted and directed.
I don't think that at this stage in her career, Lucy was capable of that kind of subtlety in her acting. Bea could have done it, she did it for years on Golden Girls, but if she had the match would have been too uneven.
postgraduate: Gene Saks had made successful versions of several Neil Simon plays but there wasn’t anything he could do with Lucille Ball’s delivery. She just didn’t have the goods.
Beatrice Arthur was heavy and this was an attempt by the costume designer to camouflage it; hues they failed. She was criticized for looking like a truck driver in drag by a critic.
Honestly Bea Arthur should have played Mame and Lucy should have been Vera Charles in this movie. I know Bea won a Tony for the Vera role but wow she had power.
Marilyn Cwik: Bitch, Can’t you see and hear? Lucille Ball is taking this number, Beatrice Arthur and the whole movie down like the iceberg did to the Titanic but just in less time with no survivors.
@Marilyn Cwik Lucy was a comedy genius, but definitely not in this particular instance. Her comedy style (very broad slapstick) was not appropriate for the role. She was also very obviously not confident in the musical numbers, and that clearly shows through in her performance. This song is supposed to be witty banter between friends, not bitter enemies glaring daggers at each other. Bea Arthur tried to salvage what she could, but it was a lost cause.
Really, Matt Deans, really, I mean, really. It’s bad enough you’re using ‘old roadkill’ to insult this film excerpt, but have you taken the time you no ball asshole to think how month old roadkill would feel being insulted by this film excerpt. Exactly, it would feel worse!!
Come on, be fair. You try doing better with a broken leg that hadn't quite mended, a rotten script, and a director who hated you (and was also Bea Arthur's husband, who had directed the Broadway show; Lucy had wanted George Cukor but lost him when her leg postponed filming for almost a year). Why Bea Arthur should consider it a "tremendous embarrassment" is beyond me since the critics agreed she was the hit of the film. At least when Lucille Ball was still alive and a local LA channel would run an "I Love Lucy" marathon on her birthday (which she would always watch because toward the end of her life she didn't like to leave the house), interspersed with greetings from celebrities, Bea did one referring to herself as Lucy's "bosom buddy," which was nice.
"If He Walked Into My Life", is such a beautiful song. Not dubbing in Lucy's singing voice was such a big mistake. That was such a dreadful disappointment.
Just noticed, Lucy is wearing a winter white outfit and a white hat. So completely wrong. Fashion alert. Sad that this weak production spent so much money on the wrong cast. I do love Lucy, but Mame is not her in the least. Angela, Bette Miidler.... So many who could have turned out a brilliant performance. The costumes are the best part.
Terrible movie. Bea Arthur was so talented, she should have never done this. Lucille Ball was a comedic genius in her time, but any movie that required she sing should never have gotten off the drawing board.
Not a fan of Bea - She seemed incredibly unkind to Betty White and was completely disrespectful to the entire production consisting of carpenters, extras, and everyone who showed up to shine a light on her face by saying the film was a tremendous embarrassment. Truly an ungrateful actor. Thousands would of killed for the opportunity
Asshole, complete asshole. It was a poor film and the casting of Lucille Ball who paid her way into the film (liner notes on Rhino soundtrack) affected every aspect. I’m certain Bea Arthur was well paid and did her best, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have an opinion and expressed it. PS: That’s not Betty White but Lucille Ball in blurry white croaking like a frog.
Hardly. Read the book sweetie, you are missing the entire character of Mame. This shiny, weak musical with Lucy is the worst. They should have gotten Angela to do the role. (WHICH was written for Judy Garland.) Know your theatre before you start blabbering about subjects you are completely ill educated about. . .
Obviously she wanted the best she could get. Unfortunately by surrounding herself with talented costars, age appropriate and who could sing, it only showed off what she couldn’t do.
It has to be one of the top 5 worst remakes of all time. Horrendous casting (Arthur does her best), dreadfully performed songs, Lucy (!!!!!!!!!!) and my god, that hug medley at the end. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, it does...again and again and again.
This movie. Sigh. It's almost unwatchable. It's bad yes, but the lens on the closeups are so smeared with vaseline and/or pantyhose, you can barely make out what's happening. I thought I was losing my eyesight but it was just Lucy's vanity.
Mar West was thinking about doing a film at this time-not this one!-and asked when watching it, “Is there something wrong with the picture?” due to all the blur ones from scene to scene.
dmnemaine: Both you and 94110mission are wrong. The film rights were sold to Warner Bros. After the musical opened; they were not part of the deal for the film of the stage version. No film version could be released until 1971 to allow the show to Ron on Broadway and tour (in fact, HELLO, DOLLY! on Broadway with Ethel Merman was paid to close so the film version could be released.). Lucille Ball agreed you ‘contribute’ $2 million dollars to get the title role. It was downhill from that point.
John Pickford I’m “not” wrong. The film rights to the 1956 “book” was acquired by Warner’s and resulted in the 1958 movie. You are correct, as I have just found, that many people confuse the Broadway musical with the 1st film version when they are two entirely different projects with separate business deals.
If you don't have a great voice at least know how to sing talk, Lucille Ball has complete lack of timing, rhythm, and musicality, which makes it painful to watch her.
Terrible movie. The only things great about it were the costumes and sets. Lucy couldn't sing or dance to save herself! Lucy literally bought her way into the movie. Why she thought mame would be a perfect role for her is beyond belief!
What a tragic iteration of the original Auntie Mame, Lucy is croking old crock in the part. Bea while being a good actress is no classy chic Coral Brown and Agnes Gooch is a complete washout with no comparison to the brilliant Peggy Cass. The little boy Patrick is cloying and annoying and Bruce Davison is horribly miscast as the adult Patrick. It makes me cringe every time I see it.
Bea Arthur stole that whole number... and the whole movie!!!! Magnificent as always. I saw her one-woman show years ago, just before she passed and she talked about the wonderful experience of working with Angela Lansbury on Broadway in 'Mame'... and the not-so-wonderful experience of doing this movie with Lucille Ball... she still was phenomenal, though... those looks she gave Lucy! LOL
Lucille Ball wasn't exactly easy to get along with
Don't care what you say, "I love Lucy"!
She was truly an amazing person and actress! I miss her.😭
Hi Eddi, my name is Terri Kendall and I am simply dying to know what she said of working with Angela Lansbury v.s. Lucille Ball. Please tell me.🙏 . I am thinking one was a joy and the other - a pain. 😂❤️
@@floydkendall2703: That's basically what she said! Angela was wonderful to work with and was a consummate professional, whereas she said that it was a very difficult set on the movie with Lucille. Bea was still wonderful in it, though. Bea Arthur's one-woman show (with her superb pianist) was so fantastic! ... very warm, intimate and funny. I will never forget the thrill I got when she looked STRAIGHT at me and said 'Shady Pines, Ma!' with that famous look of hers!!!! I died right there and then! LOL
My favorite scene is where Mame keeps slipping off the crescent moon prop during the Man in the Moon production number. It's great how Vera hides her anger, smiling at the audience as she exits the stage, as soon as she's out of sight, her smile instantly disappears - replaced by a look of absolute fury as she tells the stagehands: ''Tell her to get her ass on than moon!!!!" It's pure classic Bea Arthur.
😄😆🤣😂
Amo esta película con Lucy Ball y sobre todo esa gran canción en el sur
Bea Arthur really blew me away with her performance in this movie Musical. Nobody else that comes to my mind could have given such a perfect performance.
when Shade was classy. when Bea told Lucy, "if I kept my hair natural I'd be bald," for some reason I was waiting to see either Betty White or Rue McClanahan at the receiving end of that shade remark.
All criticism aside,this is still a fun number.Lucy always entertained and I’m grateful for the pleasure she has afforded the world.
Whenever I’m feeling down,”The Long,LongTrailer” lifts me up again.She was attractive and very,very funny.Thank you.
Classy, sumptuous costumes sets and musical composition.
Lucial Ball is beautiful.
Lovely musical
I don't care what anyone says. I love this version!!! Seen it many times over and over. Best film of Mame.
Well, there’s no accounting for taste, Is there? For the record, IT’S THE ONLY FILM OF “MAME” THERE IS!!
@@johnpickford4222 And that is really sad. Because it's a terrible movie.
Tbh I think Bea looks better in black suits her more 😂
I was 7 but I remember seeing this at the theater. Already loved Lucy and “Maude” at that age. ❤️
"I'll be Alice B Toklas, if you'll be my Gertrude Stein". SO gay and I luuuuuuuvvvvv it! Not even remotely subliminal.
I'm not a big fan of this version, I far prefer Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell. But I do love this number, and Bea Arthur was terrific as Vera Charles.
Bea Arthur did a great job, as always. Lucy tanked so badly in this role that Bea Arthur was forever embarrassed about being in the movie with her.
I love bea arthur more then anyone else
I think Bea looks fantastic here!
Stephanie Bibb: Yes, she was fantastic. Along with Robert Preston, she is the only reason to watch it.
Say what you will about this version but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
It’s not as bad as so many people claim it is. I get a kick out of it when I watch it.
I wonder if anyone today understands the meaning of the coin on the table. I'm old enough to remember that you once needed a coin to get into a public toilet.
Funny, but I just finished watching the far superior Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell. I can’t imagine how they thought this could ever compare.
It had Robert Preston and Bea Arthur and some wonderful songs poorly performed.
I loved this movie.. I'm glad they did it!
@@johnpickford4222 Matter of opinion... I loved this movie.
Gregg Bildr: It is a matter of opinion and Lucille Ball was terrible but Bea Arthur and Robert Preston we’re great. I wish the soundtrack included the reprise of “Bosom Buddies” when they send Gooch on the town.
It wasn't as good but it was a good adaptation.
I think the point is that in Auntie Mama, it was indeed a dramatic comedy movie. Mame was a movie musical version of it - each with its own merits I believe.
I love this film !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Two of my favorites love This
My mom and my aunt. 🥰😂🥰
The two great tragedies of this film version of Mame were 1) Lucille Ball muscling her way into the role, when Lansbury was the obvious choice, and if not Lansbury, any number of mature Hollywood stars of the time would have been 100 times better than Lucy; and 2) Lucy getting Madeline Kahn booted from the Agnes Gooch role simply because she was afraid that Kahn was getting more laughs than her.
Lucille Ball was simply much too much of an angry person to play someone as loving and kind as Auntie Mame
Classic ❤
私は子供の時みたので、靴屋のアルバイトでローラースケートの説明しながら履いてしまって、滑るシーンがおかしくて笑っておなかが捩れるくらいおもしろかったかなぁー
Bea Arthur thought she had a pretty decent shot at an Oscar nomination here; there was precedent (like Joel Grey) to win an Oscar and a Tony for the same role, and the Hollywood Foreign Press did give her a Golden Globe nomination…..but I think the poor box office and critical reception to the whole film ultimately doomed her chances. One can only imagine how great this movie might have been with Angela Lansbury!
Can Lucy really talk about anyone else with "the voice of a frog?"
takes one to know one, sugar.
Rod Labbe Bea’s voice is naturally deep. Lucy’s was shot due to chain-smoking.
Hahahaha it is funny that hers sounds very froggy when she says that.
Not to mention natural hair!
Katherine Burbott: Please, save yourself bitch attitude for your family who has to put up with you. Rod Labbe’s comment is right on target which is why the film was so poorly received. But how do you know what Rod Labbe’s voice sounds like??
Lucy looks good in white
It is nice to see that there were was at least a few decent numbers from the musical “Mame”’s movie version that is generally considered a flop.
Awesome!
Hey wait...Lucille Ball was in her 60s in this movie...She looked younger
She looked younger because they put her in soft focus. Watching her blurry scenes makes me feel like I need glasses.
@@jusssayin480 A bit like Calista Flockhart in the tv show "Supergirl"?
Juss Sayin LMAO. It's like watching the movie with an astigmatism.
One critic at the time wrote Lucy looked as though the lens was coated with Vaseline.
John Saxton: That’s a fucking insult. To Vaseline.
Lucy, enormously talented as she was, was dissipated by booze and cigarettes and simply too old for this role. One can only imagine how fab this show could be with a casting reboot.
I've always wondered where the director and choreographer were for this film. Lucy got her start as a chorus girl. Clearly, she had paid her dues as a dancer, and yet there is no grace or art to any movement she made in this film. During her musical numbers, she just flails about aimlessly. Surely the director noticed. Was he afraid of Lucy?
Vera is more like a Maude than a Dorothy...I just love Bea
I heard a little Dorothy @1:59, especially that chuckle during "Benchley" and the way she says "You Snake".
I always thought bette Midler would make a good auntie mame
To hell with MAME, I want her as my aunt. And she can tell me dirty jokes ‘till the cows come home!
Michael Van Etten I think she’d be a better Vera Charles
I bet she would!
I Just Love This xx
Vanity thy name is Lucy
The two did great in this film and bee Arthur face of pist off looks
At the time of this film coming out both actresses where at the top. Bee rather and Lucy. Oh I still sing this song
Bea Arthur saved this movie and duet.
I watch this movie every year at Christmas. The snobs like to talk about how they like Rosalind Russell as Aunty Mame better than Lucille Ball as Mame but this version makes me happy and that's all that matters to me. I also like auntie Mame as well but this one's more cheery. And yes Angela Lansbury was a better singer than Lucille Ball but Lucille Ball was a better comedian, blah blah blah. So that's that. I don't know why people insist on comparing apples to oranges anyway.
The Rosalind Russell was brilliant in the original Mame which of course is a classic .. and she was a tour de force in larger than life stage to movie roles her Mama Rose in Gypsy was also brilliant...
The character of Mame is what use to be referred to as a “woman of a certain age” which Lucy was at that particular time and was age appropriate for the role ...
Bea Arthur was the original Vera her husband at the time Gene Saks was the original director of the play.. it had some really strong Jerry Herman numbers (La Cage aux Folles, Hello Dolly) ... which were thinly disguised or actual drag shows.. Lucy’s singing voice is kind of irrelevant...Carol Channing was the most famous Dolly and she certainly did not have the strongest voice ...
The problem with the movie was 1974 was not the right year for that type of big brassy old school movie musical ... they kind of went out of style in the 1960s ...the next transfer from broadway to movie was Grease which was a big movie musical but the score was updated from broadway .. and you can’t deny the sex appeal of young Olivia Newton John and even younger John Travolta in 1978...
If you like Ms Russell, watch the movie "A Majority of One" (if you havent already seen it). Shes just wonderful in it and its a great movie.
Oh, please. Lucy was really terrible in it.
No, the problem that the movie did poorly was 1) Lucille Ball was too old, hence the filters which accentuated the problem, 2) Lucille Ball’s lack of singing voice and ability to interpret the songs, 3) Lucille Ball’s lack of line delivery and lack of dancing ability, 4) a weak, unfunny and unimaginative screenplay and 5) director Gene Saks lack of enthusiasm and interest in the project with Lucille Ball as the lead when he wanted Angela Lansbury (or anyone but Lucille Ball). He should have stepped aside and let someone who wanted Lucille Ball in this role-and was deaf and blind-direct and THEIR career suffer.
Every time I watch this scene I am bothered by the fact that Lucille Ball's hat and shoes are white while her dress is off-white. Tragic
Did Bea say "I've dished you" or "I've dissed you"?
"Dished" as in "to dish the dirt" or to spread unkind gossip. No one said "dissed" when this film was made.
Why on earth wasn't Angela Lansbury allowed to do this role she was on Broadway with Beatrice Arthur
Because Lucille Ball contributed $2 million to the film’s budget and had the various “Lucy” shows as an audience to build on. Angela Lansbury only had beauty, youth, wit, charm and delivery; it wasn’t enough.
Because at the time Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur had the two highest rated shows on television and the producers thought they would be a huge box office draw.
@@Muttonchop_USA And instead the movie was a big bomb. It was financial disaster at the box office and a critical disaster as well.
Lucille Ball was brilliant in ILL and often wonderful in her previous film work. But whether the cigs, the executive pandering of a studio that she owned, or just age, she lost it all. And she didn't need the filters. I saw her in person at this time, and she was beautiful.
40 and death lol
Why did the director guide these two such that there is no underlying playfulness or camaraderie between the characters? They come across as women who actually dislike each other rather than friends who just enjoy trading witty barbs.
postgraduate well, from the above comments it sounds like Bea had a horrible time. She probably didn’t respect Lucy in the role and whoever casted and directed.
I don't think that at this stage in her career, Lucy was capable of that kind of subtlety in her acting. Bea could have done it, she did it for years on Golden Girls, but if she had the match would have been too uneven.
postgraduate: Gene Saks had made successful versions of several Neil Simon plays but there wasn’t anything he could do with Lucille Ball’s delivery. She just didn’t have the goods.
@@llcooljay520 Bea Arthur's husband was the director. The studio chose Lucy.
I thought I was looking at Death becomes Her
Well, more like “Death Warmed Over.”
@@johnpickford4222 Dead you ever see the movie death becomes her? They look exactly like the characters.
Alexandria Hall: Don’t insult Meryl Streep with Lucille Ball although someone should have shot a canon ball through her.
WELL
AT LEAST YOU BOTH HAVE THE SAME TALENT OF
SINGING !
😎
And how is your sing/risking voice?🤮
@@johnpickford4222 That doesn't matter. What matters is that Lucy couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.
Just looking at these two linebacker outfits makes me sweat. And whose idea was it to dress Bea up in Joan Crawford drag?
Guess they knew .... who Lucy's following was !! 😆😆
Beatrice Arthur was heavy and this was an attempt by the costume designer to camouflage it; hues they failed. She was criticized for looking like a truck driver in drag by a critic.
Mmmmm, sweat because you think she looks hot. Or she looks like linebacker? But no wire coat hangers.
@@johnpickford4222 Sweat because both costumes look like they weigh 50 lbs. each!
it looks chic at certain angles
Watch the Coco Peru version.
I guess that's where wax museum started their business
CRUEL AND UNNECESSARY: Wax museums were in existence long before this movie was made. But this movie belonged in a wax museum that much is true!!
Honestly Bea Arthur should have played Mame and Lucy should have been Vera Charles in this movie. I know Bea won a Tony for the Vera role but wow she had power.
Didn't sing 'we'll always be harmonising' because they couldn't.
me and my best friend...
Silly changes to the original lyrics. Why?
Sorry but this number has all the energy and pizzazz of month old roadkill.
Oh I needed the laugh. Can I like ten times?
Bloody Mary was royalty too. You may have to look that up. I don't expect you'd know who that was.
Marilyn Cwik: Bitch, Can’t you see and hear? Lucille Ball is taking this number, Beatrice Arthur and the whole movie down like the iceberg did to the Titanic but just in less time with no survivors.
@Marilyn Cwik Lucy was a comedy genius, but definitely not in this particular instance. Her comedy style (very broad slapstick) was not appropriate for the role. She was also very obviously not confident in the musical numbers, and that clearly shows through in her performance. This song is supposed to be witty banter between friends, not bitter enemies glaring daggers at each other. Bea Arthur tried to salvage what she could, but it was a lost cause.
Really, Matt Deans, really, I mean, really. It’s bad enough you’re using ‘old roadkill’ to insult this film excerpt, but have you taken the time you no ball asshole to think how month old roadkill would feel being insulted by this film excerpt. Exactly, it would feel worse!!
This was really great compared to Robert Preston's number about Mame revivaling the Old South. I just about threw up before mercifully over....
Come on, be fair. You try doing better with a broken leg that hadn't quite mended, a rotten script, and a director who hated you (and was also Bea Arthur's husband, who had directed the Broadway show; Lucy had wanted George Cukor but lost him when her leg postponed filming for almost a year).
Why Bea Arthur should consider it a "tremendous embarrassment" is beyond me since the critics agreed she was the hit of the film. At least when Lucille Ball was still alive and a local LA channel would run an "I Love Lucy" marathon on her birthday (which she would always watch because toward the end of her life she didn't like to leave the house), interspersed with greetings from celebrities, Bea did one referring to herself as Lucy's "bosom buddy," which was nice.
The transition portion where there is no singing does not feel right. It seems awkward.
It would not that bad if you had not seen Lansbury and Russell before. But I did. So it was awful
Lucy and Bea had the appeal to be in Mel Brooks Comedies.. Well Bea was in 1 of Mel Brooks comedies..
“Oh a bull crap artist.”
-History of the World Part 1
"If He Walked Into My Life", is such a beautiful song. Not dubbing in Lucy's singing voice was such a big mistake. That was such a dreadful disappointment.
But there was NO singer who could be used because her own speaking voice was so poor; it would have been too obvious.
The Rosalind Russell version is way better!
Me-OW, ladies! Would either of you care for a bowl of 9-Lives?
Lucy was awful, but Bea was PERFECT!
Did they cut the part where Gale Gordon comes in and shouts "Mrs. Carmichael!"
Just awful!
Why awful!?
Just noticed, Lucy is wearing a winter white outfit and a white hat. So completely wrong. Fashion alert.
Sad that this weak production spent so much money on the wrong cast. I do love Lucy, but Mame is not her in the least.
Angela, Bette Miidler.... So many who could have turned out a brilliant performance.
The costumes are the best part.
Bea hated doing this movie
If this was a bit better it would be dreadful.
lol
At this moment Hollywood stopped being great to be just grandiloquent, ugh...
Still Love Lucy but this never worked. Glad they let Bea Arthur play the role she created on stage, still film was a big 👎!
Terrible movie. Bea Arthur was so talented, she should have never done this. Lucille Ball was a comedic genius in her time, but any movie that required she sing should never have gotten off the drawing board.
Not a fan of Bea - She seemed incredibly unkind to Betty White and was completely disrespectful to the entire production consisting of carpenters, extras, and everyone who showed up to shine a light on her face by saying the film was a tremendous embarrassment. Truly an ungrateful actor. Thousands would of killed for the opportunity
Asshole, complete asshole. It was a poor film and the casting of Lucille Ball who paid her way into the film (liner notes on Rhino soundtrack) affected every aspect. I’m certain Bea Arthur was well paid and did her best, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have an opinion and expressed it. PS: That’s not Betty White but Lucille Ball in blurry white croaking like a frog.
Compared to the Roz Russell version this movie is just god-awful.
Amen to that
Hardly. Read the book sweetie, you are missing the entire character of Mame. This shiny, weak musical with Lucy is the worst. They should have gotten Angela to do the role. (WHICH was written for Judy Garland.)
Know your theatre before you start blabbering about subjects you are completely ill educated about.
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Talking isn’t singing.
why did Lucy pick Bea as her costar? she wanted to be the pretty one
Obviously she wanted the best she could get. Unfortunately by surrounding herself with talented costars, age appropriate and who could sing, it only showed off what she couldn’t do.
All prints of this horrible movie should be burned.
Freline: No, you are wrong, it was terrible and should never have been made with Lucille Ball in the title role.
Agreed!!!! Read Pauline Kael's review. Spot on.
TERRIBLE MOVIE!! Watch the original with Rosalind Russell!
It has to be one of the top 5 worst remakes of all time. Horrendous casting (Arthur does her best), dreadfully performed songs, Lucy (!!!!!!!!!!) and my god, that hug medley at the end. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, it does...again and again and again.
This movie. Sigh. It's almost unwatchable. It's bad yes, but the lens on the closeups are so smeared with vaseline and/or pantyhose, you can barely make out what's happening. I thought I was losing my eyesight but it was just Lucy's vanity.
Mar West was thinking about doing a film at this time-not this one!-and asked when watching it, “Is there something wrong with the picture?” due to all the blur ones from scene to scene.
Lucy is terrible in this number. Too much make-up, too.
BIGGEST mistake to cast Lucy in the role of Auntie Mame, she was just HORRIBLE. Angela Lansbury was the only Mame
Lucille Ball bought the film rights purposely so that no other actress could play Mame.
dmnemaine What are you talking about? The film rights had been sold years before when Rosalind Russell made the original movie.
@@94110mission The film rights to the Broadway musical, not the original play.
dmnemaine: Both you and 94110mission are wrong. The film rights were sold to Warner Bros. After the musical opened; they were not part of the deal for the film of the stage version. No film version could be released until 1971 to allow the show to Ron on Broadway and tour (in fact, HELLO, DOLLY! on Broadway with Ethel Merman was paid to close so the film version could be released.). Lucille Ball agreed you ‘contribute’ $2 million dollars to get the title role. It was downhill from that point.
John Pickford I’m “not” wrong. The film rights to the 1956 “book” was acquired by Warner’s and resulted in the 1958 movie. You are correct, as I have just found, that many people confuse the Broadway musical with the 1st film version when they are two entirely different projects with separate business deals.
Waste of celluloid
Terrible
If you don't have a great voice at least know how to sing talk, Lucille Ball has complete lack of timing, rhythm, and musicality, which makes it painful to watch her.
And more painful to hear!
Terrible movie. The only things great about it were the costumes and sets.
Lucy couldn't sing or dance to save herself!
Lucy literally bought her way into the movie. Why she thought mame would be a perfect role for her is beyond belief!
What a tragic iteration of the original Auntie Mame, Lucy is croking old crock in the part. Bea while being a good actress is no classy chic Coral Brown and Agnes Gooch is a complete washout with no comparison to the brilliant Peggy Cass. The little boy Patrick is cloying and annoying and Bruce Davison is horribly miscast as the adult Patrick. It makes me cringe every time I see it.
I saw it one time and that was one time too many.
One of the worst films in history.