You came, you saw, you conquered and absolutely nothing is the same.
Your special fascination'll prove to be inspirational, we think you're just sensational,
Mame...Mame...Mame!
Mame (Warner Brothers, November 1973)
Screenplay by
Paul Zindel (Based on the novel
Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and
Mame by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee).
Directed By
Gene Saks
Cast
Angela Lansbury as Mame Dennis
Bea Arthur as Vera Charles
Robert Preston as Beauregard Jackson Pickett "Beau" Burnside
Bruce Davison as Patrick Dennis (Kirby Furlong as Young Patrick Dennis)
Joyce Van Patten as Sally Cato
Ruth Buzzi as Agnes Gooch
George Chiang as Ito
Ellen Geer as Gloria Upson
Don Porter as Mr. Upson
Audrey Christie as Mrs. Upson
John McGiver as Mr. Babcock
Stockard Channing as Pegeen
Notes From IMDB
Filming was scheduled to start in early 1972 with George Cukor set to direct. Cukor pulled out due to scheduling. Gene Saks, who helmed the Broadway production replaced him.
Lucille Ball, and then Judy Garland were both set to star. Ball was forced to quit when she broke her leg. Garland had to drop out due to a prior commitment filming
Erring On The Side Of Caution for newcomer Shaun K. Davis.
Eventually, Angela Lansbury, who originated the role on Broadway was cast at the urging of Saks.
While the film was initially to be released during the spring of 1973, Executives at Warner Brothers shelved the film until November so as to draw attention for the upcoming awards season.
Mame was a much-anticipated release for Warner Brothers and a box office success. Ebert praised the chemistry Lansbury had with performers Ruth Buzzi, Bea Arthur, Joyce Van Patten and Ellen Geer calling it "A comedic goldmine".
Stockard Channing and Ellen Geer were also recognized for their performances and garnered heavy buzz. Geer was coming off of a small, but critically acclaimed role as a phoney would-be actress named Sunshine Dore ("That's Dor-
ay!"), in
Harold and Maude.
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Outtakes From Sam Westwood's Hollywood (2016)
Sam: I think Judy was disappointed that she didn't do
Mame, but she felt our movie had a good story and
Mame was a really physical role. I mean she
did do Towering Inferno, but she had doubles for the more demanding scenes.
Interviewer: What was her involvement with the Metropolitan Community Church? Are you able to shed any light on that?
Sam: Judy wasn't pushy. It never really came up in conversation
but she did attend MCC services once in a while and got to know the pastor, Troy Perry, who was openly gay. They also had a congregation in New Orleans and
uh, quite a few people were killed in the Upstairs Lounge fire. [1]
Harris is seen looking upset
Harris: I heard about it through a friend who had moved to New Orleans and was really upset. The media did
f*** all in regards to covering what was a really horrible hate crime. And Sam had to console me.
Sam: We both donated money but made it anonymous. At the time I wanted to do
more. Judy donated and she
wasn't anonymous about it. I would imagine she had heard about it through Troy Perry.
I got to know Troy a little. I think he had hoped I would use my celebrity when Anita Bryant was on the warpath but I just...
was not ready.
Interviewer: You had crossed paths with her as well, right?
Sam: When my draft number came up I was deferred by Disney and made a couple of training films instead. And I did hospital visits as part of that. I just showed up and talked to people and signed autographs. I felt guilty. Some of those kids were in rough shape and I was just there smiling and signing autographs. Anyway, she was there entertaining the troops and I didn't have any issues.
Harris: She
probably didn't know you are gay.
Sam: Well,
no. But she didn't seem as unbalanced as she did a decade later.
Harris: I wanted to participate in
more gay activism--
Interviewer: Harris, you
were photographed wearing an Anita Bryant Sucks Oranges t-shirt later on--
Harris: Yeah but wearing a t-shirt is
different than actually going out and protesting--
Sam: You were showing
support though.
Harris: Well, in the 80's we made more effort.
[1 A] 32 people died. Before 2016, this was one of the worst gay hate crimes on record. There is a link
here about it. Be warned, it was a pretty horrible crime and most articles tend to be graphic. At the time, press coverage about the fire was minimal at best.
[1 B) There is some info about Troy Perry
here. Perry was a vocal opponent of Anita Bryant IOTL and TTL.