It's the Time For... Makin' Merry!

This is just a brief photo essay to mark the occasion of New Year's Eve. I thought it would be fun to supply you with a variety of pictures depicting some famous ladies who portrayed Mame Dennis (aka - Auntie Mame, as in the play, and Mame, as in the musicalization.) The title of this post comes from a lyric in the song "It's Today," which introduces audiences to the zesty, enthusiastic, madcap aunt of the show. Tooting her own horn at left (as rightly she should!) is the divine Miss Angela Lansbury, who enjoyed unqualified success as Mame. 

Auntie Mame first saw life as a hugely-successful novel by Patrick Dennis, published in 1955. Already by the following year, it had been adapted into a Broadway stage play, starring the indefatigable Miss Rosalind Russell.

When Russell departed the production, her replacement was Oscar-winning film actress Greer Garson. (Now that had to have been quite a switch as these two are not particularly similar in delivery...!)

'Course the idea goes down easier once you see Garson in her Auntie Mame drag instead of in a dated Tinseltown portrait.

After Miss Garson's departure came Canadian-born British actress Beatrice Lillie. (Lillie also was the star when the show went to London's West End.)

Star of the first national tour was 1930s leading lady, Constance Bennett.

As Bennett was absent from movie screens from the early-1950s to 1966, this serves as bridge for how she appeared in those less public years.

The second national tour was headed up by Miss Sylvia Sidney, once a cinematic leading lady (who later returned to great success in cranky supporting parts, copping an Oscar nomination for 1973's Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams.) 

For the California tour, Oscar-nominated wisecracker Eve Arden essayed the part.

Her real-life husband, Brooks West, played her stage spouse Jackson Burnside in the tour.

Looking at the above photos and this one, I began to wonder if young girls had truly invented the duck-lipped selfie smile that's so often razzed or if they merely borrowed it from Miss Eve!

In a rare instance of a Broadway star being permitted to repeat their stage triumph on screen, Russell was cast as Auntie Mame for the 1958 movie. She won the Golden Globe and was Oscar-nominated (losing to Susan Hayward in I Want to Live!) Just check out all the dazzling jewelry in this portrait! Love it.

The much sought-after role was played by many a dame in various productions across the nation (and the world!) Here we find Lucille Ball protege Carole Cook in a 1964 incarnation.

Not long after that, in 1966, Miss Lansbury landed on Broadway in the Jerry Herman musical version with the title shortened to Mame. (Many prior Auntie Mames were either considered or had gunned for the role, along with a legion of other actresses. Mary Martin was on board for a minute, but had a change of heart before it fell to Lansbury, who more than delivered.)

I dearly love this photo of Lansbury in Mame and, in fact, it's what got this whole ball rolling today! (I've always been a hopeless sucker for "statement necklaces" though!)

After two years, Lansbury evacuated the role with Janis Paige successfully inheriting the part.

Next came Jane Morgan as the title character.

Then it was Ann Miller's turn to trot!

Celeste Holm (who had successfully filled in for Lansbury's vacation) headed up the national tour. Holm also was a replacement for the Las Vegas production of the show. Do you remember who the initial headliner was in that?

Yes! Oscar-winner Susan Hayward was the initial star of the Vegas production, which proved to be a grueling introduction to the stage for the veteran film actress.

When the show crossed the pond to open in London's West End, it was Oscar-winner Ginger Rogers who was the famed character.

Rogers discreetly slipped into town unannounced with as little fanfare as possible. LOL!

These shots depict the numbers "We Need a Little Christmas" and "The Moon Song" (The Man in the Moon.)

Rogers, an avowed Christian Scientist, likely had to fall back on her acting chops in order to portray a hangover.

No matter how many times I see it, I'm always staggered by Rogers' eye makeup in this period.

For someone with such light hair and pastel eyes, it's so dark and heavy... almost hypnotic.

This portrait and the shots above come from an invaluable tome made available to audiences at the time...

One tour with Janet Blair had the added attraction of Elaine Stritch on board as Vera Charles.

People from Blair to Sheila Smith lead various productions of Mame (and Lansbury did the California tour and later a 1983 Broadway revival!) Michele Lee and Mariette Hartley took their turns at bat. In 2006, Christine Baranski did it at The Kennedy Center. This gal appears to have not even needed billing when she inhabited the part! (It's Edie Adams, if you don't know.) I couldn't list all the ladies that have played Mame. But I'll toss out some unusual ones.

Dancer Juliet Prowse in a Las Vegas rendition.

Were you ready for this?

As a youth, Brittany had played Baby June in the 1962 movie Gypsy (with Rosalind Russell!), so it's not like she had zero musical background.

In 2014, Boca Raton, Florida audiences were granted the most unusual opportunity of seeing this Mame.

Leslie Uggams...!

The game 71 year-old found herself amid local theatre performers who were favorites of the community there, though hardly "names."

This sort of reminded me of once when my very best longtime friend played Mame and was nothing short of sensational, but every other person in the cast seemed like they were amateurishly wading through molasses. I thoughtlessly proclaimed to her after the performance that she was "...a glorious, beautiful, sparkling Roman candle... stuck in a pile of steaming horse shit!" That got me into some significant trouble at that theatre company, believe you me! LOL

When 1974 brought the movie Mame to screens, it was not the by-then iconic Lansbury in the part, but TV's comic queen Lucille Ball. I'm not going to delve into this now because I have intended for years to do an in-depth post on that movie, but haven't!

I'll just say that few people found the role to be a good fit for Ball. And attempts to temper her familiar clowning persona with less slapstick and more "legitimate" singing and dancing (and a battery of wig and clothing changes) simply did not land well with many audiences. It was far from a "cheap" production. Much money was funneled into it. But the movie was no success at the box office.

Everyone has his favorites, but I think the majority of folks consider Roz Russell to be the definitive Auntie Mame...

...and Angela Lansbury to be the definitive Mame.

Anyhoo... If you're makin' merry and kicking up your heels tonight for New Year's Eve, please be careful! We want you back here in Poseidon's Underworld in 2025. Till next time!

Top Ten Anniversary: Guilty Pleasure Movies

Top Ten Guilty Pleasure Movies

As I've noted more than once over the years, "Bad Movies We Love" are actually among my favorite kind! I absolutely recognize the artistry and quality behind a number of great films, but the unintentionally rotten ones are usually far more entertaining to me personally. Continuing with our ten-year anniversary series of Top Ten lists, I now give you - in alphabetical order - my guiltiest of guilty pleasures when it comes to the cinema! Let's roll 'em...!

BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1979) -- The Poseidon Adventure (1972) won my heart and enthralled me for all time when I saw it on TV for the first time in 1975. Clearly, the impact was profound if you've ever taken notice of the name of this blog! It's belated (and wholly unnecessary) sequel was so indescribably hackneyed and rotten it sank like a stone at the box office before I had ever even known of its existence. Nevertheless, like a poor wounded animal, I cannot help but feel for it in spite of its pronounced awfulness. I love almost anything with people versus water and the all-star cast calls me hither, especially dewy Veronica Hamel and the elegant Shirley Knight, who offers the same sort of graciously detached regality that Faye Dunaway had in The Towering Inferno (1974.) Problem is, Shirl is locked in a total dud of a film with Jack Warden scarcely comparing to the hot Paul Newman of TTI! You can read a lot more about this movie by clicking on the title and perusing its tribute here.

COLOR OF NIGHT (1994) -- Though I rarely mention it, this is one of my very, very favorite terrible movies. It's gorgeous to look at, is brimming over with all sorts of phallic imagery, contains a fascinating supporting cast (including a hysterical bit from the aforementioned Shirley Knight!) and is so bizarrely bent from frame one that its awfulness is unlikely to ever be duplicated! Reviled by critics and basically ignored by audiences, it slammed the lid on eclectic director Richard Rush's career and came perilously close to derailing Bruce Willis'. Infamous for the moment when he gets naked except for his sneakers in a pool with (always barely-dressed) Jane March, exposing the head of his penis, that's only one of several times he and March engage in crazed sex scenes. (And depending on the framing, widescreen or cropped for TV, he has additional nudity as well.) The movie operates at a fever-pitch, despite its length, and has at its core a truly lunatic plot "twist" that is obvious from the first few moments the groundwork is laid.

DINAH EAST (1970) - Completely unknown to me until the excellent blog Dreams Are What Le Cinema Is For profiled it to perfection, I knew I had to have a copy of it and made it happen post haste. Imagine my reaction when I watched the DVD and every male star in the movie proceeded to get completely naked one after another...! It's like the filmmakers spent their $16.98 budget doing everything they could to please me! LOL We need more movies like this, not that anyone today could really grasp that unmistakable verisimilitude that could only come with an earnest desire to be great mixed with only enough money to cover one decent dinner for ten. The movie is aggressively bad, but every participant's heart is in the right place. I utterly adore it.

DIE! DIE! MY DARLING (1965) -- I have been a diehard fan of all "hag horror" films since the day my mother introduced me to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) one afternoon on TV. It kicked off an absolute slew of imitators and wannabes. This one is so terrific because legendary (and legendarily outrageous) stage actress Tallulah Bankhead not only plays against type as a dour, dowdy religious fanatic, but also gives every waking moment of her screen time 110% even though she was frail, sickly and approaching death within a few years! Her target is a young, pert Stefanie Powers, but there are other great performers such as Peter Vaughn, Yootha Joyce and Donald Sutherland as a special needs handyman. It's campy to start with, but the hooty music score puts it over the top even further. Most of all, it's unforgettably vivid and fun to take in.

HURRY SUNDOWN (1967) -- Another notorious howler is this southern-fried drama of racial tension from taskmaster Otto Preminger, who loved pushing the cinematic envelope when it came to hot-button subject matter. A dream cast of actors is saddled with some of the most jaw-dropping dialogue and situations, not the least of which is Jane Fonda getting on her knees and trying to blow Michael Caine's saxophone between his legs. Again, everyone seems to be trying his or her best, and some of the performances are indeed earnest, but the overall effect is one of startled disbelief at what is unfolding before one's eyes.

LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER (1981) -- For people of a certain age (around in cable TV's primary hey-day), there are movies we saw over and over that now seem to have receded from view. This is one that I could never, ever forget. Once glimpse of Nicholas Clay soaping up and hand-washing his beefy body, completely naked, was all I needed to make sure I was in front of the set, with no other pesky people around, for the first half-hour at least every time this flick was on! It's considered a low-rung, exploitative adaptation of the famed D.H. Lawrence, but I couldn't care less. Sylvia Kristel cannot act, but she knew how to play sexy and there aren't enough words for Clay, who also made an impression in Evil Under the Sun and Excalibur (both 1981.)

LOST HORIZON (1973) -- This was one of those bucket-list movies I figured I'd never see, especially in its original length with the infamous fertility dance intact. Thankfully, sometimes the universe is kind to the patient. I had been listening to a soundtrack cassette (!) from the film, purchased for $0.50, when one day in 1998 AMC ran it even though the description was for the original 1937 rendition and I was able to tape it. Later came a DVD with all the squalor included! This is one HOT MESS of a musical, brimming with stars who have no business singing (or pretending to be) and despite top names in every category, a creative fiasco. Bad movies are great, but bad musicals are a scream!

MAME (1974) -- I saw the stage musical Mame before I ever got the "chance" to see the film adaptation and I loved it. Like Lost Horizon, even though there are highly accomplished people involved in most areas of the film, it is a resounding dud much of the time, mostly because its star, Lucille Ball, was a little too old and a lot too vocally challenged to pull off the demanding role (which screamed out for verve, flair and exuberance.) Even the always reliable Bea Arthur is partially hamstrung, though she does provide a few deliciously funny moments. There are many terrific character people doing their best along the way in support (though Jane Connell knew herself that she was far too aged to still play her part effectively.) The lively songs are beaten up and defaced yet, even with Lucy, the title number is an eye-popper. 

THE CARETAKERS (1963) -- Progressive mental health is the subject of this disjointed drama which is punctuated by strreeennnuous overacting by several people, including Polly Bergen (who likes to tear her clothes apart) and Janis Paige (who makes the word manic seem sedate in comparison!) Then there are other performances more than a bit staid, such as from Robert Stack and the disinclined Diane McBain. However, on hand to make this dreary picture unforgettable is the silver-haired, dragon-like head of nurses played by Miss Joan Crawford. She (and her right-hand woman Constance Ford) are a hoot as severe overseers who don't believe in newfangled ways. One highlight is watching Crawford conduct a self-defense judo course to her new hires! Ahh... the likes of this (and her) will never be seen again...

WHERE LOVE HAS GONE (1964) -- A lurid soap opera (adapted from a novel inspired by Lana Turner and the death of her lover at the hands of her teenage daughter) is given incredibly glossy and tame treatment. But that's the way we like things! I don't want kitchen sink drama. I want a grand staircase, bouffant hair and gowns by Edith Head. Throw in, too, a velvety Jack Jones sung theme song over the opening credits. Some folks have snickered that Bette Davis (as Susan Hayward's mother) resembled George Washington, but I love her silvery, uptown look. You can keep yer Apple Annie...!

My list of favorite guilty pleasures goes far, far beyond ten! Some that aren't mentioned here are omitted simply because the film in question turns up for some reason in another Top Ten list. But these ten represented a pretty good cross-section of where my dubious taste in movies lies! Ha ha!

BONUS PICS!

A (very) rare happy moment for Diahann Carroll, Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway while on location for Hurry Sundown. The shoot was plagued by ill will from many local townspeople in the various southern cities in which it was shot and Preminger reportedly often took several of the less-powerful actors and crew to task, sometimes viciously.

A dazzling shot of Miss Joan about to set foot on the set for her judo instruction scene in The Caretakers. 5'3" she may have been, but she towered on screen!

The End!