Lucy MAME where are you? (1 Viewer)

Any one else waiting for Lucy's MAME. I saw the cd in a store the other day and remembered this was the only title to sell out over at Rhino Record's website. Not a great film, not even a good film, but still there are some things to like about it, especially for Lucy fans.

Agreed. Like many others, a Lucy fan is a Lucy fan. Bring on an anamorphic 5.1 ASAP.

MAME has had a rough record on Video so far.

Surely Warners would be giving this title some consideration.
Anamorphic and STEREO !! please.

to do stereo for Mame would be tough. Lucys vocal tracks were made up of many different bits from many takes. I have heard that not all of these takes still exist. Even if they did exist, it would be tough to reconstruct for a stereo dvd.

Joe,

Did stereo prints for Mame ever exist when the film was first released to theaters?

warners, surprisingly decided to go with straight mono for this.

Should have gone straight to a bonfire.

I was joking with someone the other day about how there isn't a movie in history, no matter how bad, how misbegotten, how awful, that someone doesn't come on saying "When is this coming to DVD already - we need it." I said the one movie that no one would say that about is Mame. I was wrong.

I'm a huge Lucy fan and wouldn't touch this monstrosity with a ten foot pole. It can't even pass as camp, unfortunately. It's only redeeming feature is Bea Arthur and they cut all her best lines out (I wonder who thought that would be a good idea?).

I'm a big Lucy fan too. I bet I've seen every episode of I Love Lucy three - maybe four times, yet I agree that Mame is simply one of the most disasterous pictures ever made. It certainly was not the greatest choice Lucy ever made. While Bea Arthur is great, she was unable to save that clunker from dying.

Other than the fact that Lucy was 20 years too old for the role and her singing voice was terrible, she was perfect for the role.

I agree that "Mame" is a fairly hapless film largely due to Lucy's miscasting. But I don't think it deserves to be included in the category of all-time bombs, nor is it even the worst of the Broadway musical adaptations released in the 1970s ("Man of La Mancha," "Song of Norway" and "A Little Night Music," anyone?). The film is watchable (and I can't say the same for those other films just mentioned), except during those extremely soft focus close-ups of Lucy.

"Mame" has some redeeming features, such as Bea Arthur's recreation of her stage role (she steals every scene she's in), and a stellar performance by Robert Preston in one of his few musical film roles. Too bad that Madeline Kahn didn't play Agnes Gooch; she was hired but then let go, apparently due to tensions with the star.

Oddly enough, the film didn't receive unanimous pans when it was released; I remember reading a favorable review by Vincent Canby in the NY Times.

Well the WB chat mentioned they are looking into it, so that could be good news.

Erik, you are right. Mame, while bad, isn't the worst of the worst. That award easily goes to Half a Sixpence or Song of Norway. It certainly is watchable though certainly flawed. Interestingly enough, because Lucille Ball did a personal appearance tour with the film's release, it was a financial success, and even broke a record at the Radio City Music Hall.

Quote: "But I don't think it deserves to be included in the category of all-time bombs, nor is it even the worst of the Broadway musical adaptations released in the 1970s ("Man of La Mancha," "Song of Norway" and "A Little Night Music," anyone?)."

Hey Erik, while "Song of Norway" and "Little Night Music" were bad, I happen to like "Man of La Mancha" very much. It may not have great musical numbers but the script is intelligent and the acting first rate. Plus the tranfer on the new DVD is stunning.

Ryan, I think "Half a Sixpence" is a pretty good film and the tranfer on the new DVD is beautiful.

I've seen some really bad films and neither of these fall into that catagory. (any one remember "Xanadu" or "Can't Stop the Music"?)

Greg, I agree that Man of La Mancha is an "okay" film. However, I disagree with your assesment of Half a Sixpence, other than the fact that the transfer was great. I found the film long, boring, tedious, and an outright mess. At least Parmount gave us the roadshow version (a trailer would have been nice).

Oh yeah, Xanadu easily wins the worst of the worst award. What a bad nightmare!

Would have been great to see her, but I absolutely love Jane Connell in that role. And her song cracks me up.

I, too, think that Mame is one of those very watchable bad movies. I can't say that about Song of Norway. Oh, bad, bad memories of hours stolen from my life never to be reclaimed...

"Oh my God. Somebody's been sleeping in my dress."

Of the last gasp of big musicals - the worst is easily Song of Norway and At Long Last Love, which is so bad it has to be seen to be believed I would also throw in last years Its Delovely which has only two great musical moments and the rest is ka ka.