Who doesn't love Auntie Mame?! An all time favorite classic of glamorous fashion, interiors, wit and whimsy!
Who doesn't love Auntie Mame?! An all time favorite classic of glamorous fashion, interiors, wit and whimsy!
When Patrick Dennis’ (Jan Handzlik) father passes away, he is sent to live with his liberated and free-spirited aunt Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell). However, the executor of Patrick’s father’s estate has been given the responsibility of keeping Patrick on the path of the straight and narrow. Ordered to keep Mame’s wild ideas about education and social life from tainting Patrick’s ultimately successful future, Dwight Babcock (Fred Clark) puts him in a boarding school right before the Depression hits. With no money to sneak him away, Mame goes to work to make money, first as an actress, then a telephone operator, and finally a clerk at Macy’s. Each venture turns out to be a disaster culminating with her getting fired from Macy’s right before Christmas. However, she has caught the eye of Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside (Forrest Tucker) a rich oilman who’s totally smitten with Mame. With a change of hair color and an affected southern accent, she sets off to win over the family. Which she does, hilariously. The next few years are spent traveling the world with Beauregard and sending exotic gifts to the fast growing Patrick back at the boarding school. Beauregard, fond of taking pictures of Mame, eventually meets his end on a Swiss Mountain having lost his footing. Mame then returns to her apartment in New York and is encouraged by her friends Lindsay (Patric Knowles) and Vera (Cora Browne) to write her own memoirs. With the apt attention of the socially awkward secretary Agnes Gooch (Peggy Cass) and the occasional help of freeloading poet Brian O’Bannion (Robin Hughes), Mame manages to buy a best seller. With those funds she plans on opening an art school for Jewish children, namely to spite the Upsons (Lee Patrick and Willard Waterman), the parents of Gloria (Joanna Barnes), Patrick’s fiancée. Boarding school has turned Patrick into what Mame always feared, a stick in the mud. Deciding to investigate Gloria’s parents, she realizes they are really after Patrick’s trust fund. Basically Babcock pimped Patrick out to Gloria. Hoping to have Patrick avoid marrying Gloria, Mame throws an intimate party inviting particular guests she is sure that Babcock and the Upsons will disapprove of. Hopefully Patrick will see Gloria for what she truly is. Auntie Mame is a great film, full of cocktail party bonhomie, wise cracks and a relationsship between Russell and Browne any pair of BFF's would envy, it's definitely a must see! Tonight on TCM! Good movie!The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman's older husband. Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn Dir: Tay Garnett
Rosalind Russell in 'Auntie Mame', 1958.
Lucille Ball, Mame
Rosalind Russell, Auntie Mame.
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Rosalind Russell
I first met and fell in love with Auntie Mame in high school. I was home from school (don't remember why) and happened to turn on A&E. I didn't turn it off for the rest of the day. They were running a movie marathon of "Auntie Mame" starring Rosalind Russell and I was hooked. I must have watched it 3 times that day. My mom by the way thought I was completely crazy but let me do it anyway. Now this post isn't about the movie or the book. It's about why I loved this character when I first met her and why I still do to this day. It's about the way Auntie Mame connected with a part of me that was craving something I didn't even know I was missing. This was the mother I always wished I had. I envied little Patrick with a vengeance. Why should he get the perfect (in my view) mother when I didn't get one. I just didn't think it was very fair. Now I didn't give a second thought to the fact that Mame was only getting custody of Patrick because his father (her brother) had just died. Who cared about the reason? I was green with envy. Mame was the ideal liberal, free thinking woman of her day. She believed in experimental education, couldn't stand snobbery, and was so shockingly outspoken it took your breath away. Even when she lost all her money and lost Patrick to a boarding school all in the same day she rose to the challenge and rebuilt her life anew. She was brazenly resilient and I admired her for it. She never stayed down and never let those around her fall down. Here was an individual who took control. A woman who wouldn't let someone else dictate to her the way she should live her life. A loving mother who cared for her charge and made sure he grew up to be a man any mother would be proud of. A woman who took in a single, pregnant women in a time when the idea was scandalous. I could go on and on about parties, fox hunts wearing boots that don't fit, jingle bell bracelets, world travels, and writing books. There was so much to this woman that I still am amazed every time I watch the movie, read the book (Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis), or even watch the musical with Lucille Ball as Mame. She has been my inspiration in so many things. In the movie she says "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." I believe that's true and I never want to be one of those "suckers". For that is what Auntie Mame Dennis did. She Lived, Lived, Lived.
This series of posts considers What would fictional characters' favorite poets/poems be? Today's guests are Jama Rattigan of Jama's Alphabet Soup and Laura Shovan of Author Amok. Jama says: The character I have chosen is Mrs. Patmore, the cook, from "Downton Abbey." My favorite scenes from the series take place in the kitchen (big surprise), and as she is a little plump and very cuddly and huggable, somehow I associate her with nursery rhymes, like "Simple Simon," or "Polly Put the Kettle On." As she is a quintessential British cook, I think she'd also appreciate A.A. Milne's "Cottleston Pie" and "The King's Breakfast." I can hear her reciting these as she kneads dough or stirs soup in one of her big kettles. A little Cottleston Pie for you: Recipe time! * Cottleston Pie * Mrs. Patmore’s Infamous Raspberry Meringue Pudding. * Mrs. Patmore's Sauté Chicken Lyonnaise (scroll down). Plus a song: "Polly Put the Kettle On" by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. ~~~~~~~~~~ Laura Shovan chose the character Auntie Mame from Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame. Laura says: For Auntie Mame, I have two poems: "Barter" by Sara Teasdale and "The Passionate Freudian to His Love" by Dorothy Parker. The early chapters of Auntie Mame mention that she has a signed copy of Teasdale's book. Presumably, they are friends. I would NOT have picked Teasdale for Mame otherwise, but I think Mame would appreciate the "a moment of loveliness/splendor is worthy giving up a lifetime of peace" theme. Barter by Sara Teasdale Life has loveliness to sell, All beautiful and splendid things, Blue waves whitened on a cliff, Soaring fire that sways and sings, And children's faces looking up, Holding wonder like a cup. Life has loveliness to sell, Music like the curve of gold, Scent of pine trees in the rain, Eyes that love you, arms that hold, And for your spirit's still delight, Holy thoughts that star the night. Spend all you have for loveliness, Buy it and never count the cost; For one white singing hour of peace Count many a year of strife well lost, And for a breath of ecstasy Give all you have been, or could be. ~~~~~~~~~~ Of course, I had to find a Dorothy Parker poem for Auntie Mame. They would have been frenemies, for sure. Both women are known for their wit. Mame would appreciate this one because it skewers popular psychology. Auntie Mame would be the first to jump on a budding trend, like psychoanalysis. But she's also magnificent in her ability to see through anyone's pretenses -- save her own. an excerpt of The Passionate Freudian to His Love by Dorothy Parker While the pale moon gleams, we will dream sweet dreams, And I'll win your admiration, For it's only fair to admit I'm there With a mean interpretation. In the sunrise glow we will whisper low Of the scenes our dreams have painted, And when you're advised what they symbolized We'll begin to feel acquainted. So we'll gaily float in a slumber boat Where subconscious waves dash wildly; In the stars' soft light, we will say good-night— And “good-night!” will put it mildly. ~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you to Jama and Laura for sharing their Fictional Favorites! Another thanks to Laura for having me on her blog today! Also, I'm sharing a poem video by my daughter at Savvy Verse and Wit. Please stop by! I'm going to "diverge" from my regular Friday Fictional Favorites and have them multiple days next week -- I'm offering poems for the five factions in Divergent by Veronica Roth. Do you know what faction you would join? Maybe these Fictional Favorites will help you decide... Diane at Random Noodling is our Poetry Friday host.
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Oh, how we wish there was preserved video of this performance!!! As much as we adore Roz Russell, and revere the film, one can only imagine ...
