Mame

By Dana Van Nest

The 1974 film version of Mame stars legendary Lucille Ball and is based on the 1966 hit Broadway musical, not the 1958 movie. When 10-year-old Patrick Dennis's father dies, he is sent to live with his eccentric Auntie Mame. Mame may know nothing about being a parent, but she's got love and spontaneity in spades, and Patrick blooms in the time spent with her. Though Miss Ball seems sadly miscast when Mame begins (she's too old and can't sing), by the time the movie reaches the famous foxhunt scene when Mame accidentally wins the hunt, and in turn the heart of gallant Beauregard Burnside, you start to believe Lucy is Mame.

Reprising her Broadway role (for which she won a Tony), Bea Arthur plays Mame's boozy pal Vera Charles. Songs include the now-classic "We Need a Little Christmas" and "Bosom Buddies" plus "Loving You," sung by Robert Preston's Beau and written for this movie.

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