Mame (film)

Mame
Original film poster by Bob Peak
Directed by	Gene Saks
Written by	Paul Zindel (screenplay) Patrick Dennis (novel, "Auntie Mame")
Based on	Mame by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee
Produced by	James Cresson Robert Fryer
Starring	Lucille Ball Bea Arthur Robert Preston Bruce Davison Jane Connell
Cinematography	Philip H. Lathrop
Edited by	Maury Winetrobe
Music by	Jerry Herman
Production company	ABC
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	March 7, 1974 (1974-03-07) (NY) [1] March 27, 1974 (1974-03-27) (LA) [1]
Running time	132 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million
Box office	$6.5 million[2]

Mame is a 1974 Technicolor musical film in Panavision based on the 1966 Broadway musical of the same name (itself based on the 1958 film Auntie Mame) and the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis.

It was directed by Gene Saks, and adapted by Paul Zindel, and starred Lucille Ball in her final theatrical film performance. The film also stars Bea Arthur, Bruce Davison, and Robert Preston.

The story focuses on the madcap life of Mame Dennis (Ball), which is disrupted when she becomes the guardian of her deceased brother's son. She marries a wealthy Southern plantation owner (Preston), is widowed, yet through it all, with the help of her dearest friend, Vera Charles (Arthur), manages to keep things under control.