Auntie Mame (film)
| Auntie Mame | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Morton DaCosta |
| Produced by | Morton DaCosta |
| Written by |
Play: Jerome Lawrence Robert Edwin Lee Novel: Auntie Mame Patrick Dennis (1956) |
| Screenplay by |
Betty Comden Adolph Green |
| Starring |
Rosalind Russell Forrest Tucker Coral Browne Roger Smith Peggy Cass Jan Handzlik Joanna Barnes Robin Hughes Pippa Scott |
| Music by | Bronislau Kaper |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
| Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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143 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $9 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
Auntie Mame is a 1958 Technicolor comedy film based on the 1955 novel of the same name 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 in 1966 and was later made into a 1974 film Mame starring Lucille Ball as the title character.
Patrick Dennis (Jan Handzlik), orphaned in 1928 when his father unexpectedly dies, is placed in the care of Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell), his father's sister in Manhattan. Mame is a flamboyant, exuberant 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 (Coral Browne), a Broadway actress, who spends many of her nights passed out drunk in Mame's guest room, and Lindsay Woolsey (Patric Knowles), a book publisher. 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 a trustee, Mr. Dwight Babcock (Fred Clark). Mr. Babcock disapproves of Mame's lifestyle (as did her brother, Edwin) 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, Acacius Page (Henry Brandon). Mr. Babcock insists that Patrick be enrolled at Bixby's, a nearby boy's prep school. When he learns that Mame has not enrolled Patrick at Bixby's and then finds him at Page's school, 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, which is what his father wanted in the first place.
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