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 | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates |
|
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.