Auntie Mame (1958)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Morton DaCosta

Writers:

Betty Comden (screenplay) and
Adolph Green (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 December 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

An orphan goes to live with his free-spirited aunt. Conflict ensues when the executor of his father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle.

Plot Keywords:

Socialite | Will | Orphan | Love | Guardian

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Rosalind Russell	...	Mame Dennis
Forrest Tucker	...	Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside
Coral Browne	...	Vera Charles
Fred Clark	...	Dwight Babcock
Roger Smith	...	Patrick Dennis -older
Patric Knowles	...	Lindsay Woolsey
Peggy Cass	...	Agnes Gooch
Jan Handzlik	...	Patrick Dennis - younger
Joanna Barnes	...	Gloria Upson
Pippa Scott	...	Pegeen Ryan
Lee Patrick	...	Doris Upson
Willard Waterman	...	Claude Upson
Robin Hughes	...	Brian O'Bannion
Connie Gilchrist	...	Norah Muldoon
Yuki Shimoda	...	Ito

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #19033) | USA:Unrated (video release) | USA:TV-MA | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Mame's line in French at Macy's is "Après moi, le déluge" ("After me, the flood"). This quote is attributed to King Louis XV of France and represents a philosophy of living for now when disaster looms in the future. In the movie, it relates to purchasing Christmas gifts on credit so that one doesn't have to worry about paying for them right away, something that a rich socialite would be very comfortable with.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ito passes Agnes on the staircase, as she is returning from her night out with Mr. O'Banion, he asks her "What happened Missy Gooch?" and she replies "I lived". Between the question and answer, Agnes' mink stole starts off over her left shoulder, and suddenly it is draped over her right one.

Quotes:

Auntie Mame: Oh, Agnes! Here you've been taking my dictations for weeks and you haven't gotten the message of my book: live!
Agnes Gooch: Live?
Auntie Mame: Yes! Live! Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Flaming Moe's (#3.10)" (1991)

One of the greats!!!!

Auntie Mame is a long movie, but it goes by as fast as a giggle!! There are few movies that I care to watch over and over again. I never tire of Auntie Mame because the screenplay is simply a brilliant piece of work. Comden and Greene are from the laudable days where one was expected to engage the brain when writing comedy! Practically every line is a quotable classic. Warner Brothers did us all a service by hiring theater director Morton da Costa to recreate the Broadway stage play. The movie is classy, sumptuously designed and brilliantly staged with those exquisite blackouts after each scene. Rosalind Russell should have won an Academy Award for this role (she refused to campaign for it) because no one will ever come close to getting that perfect timing that she displays in every scene. You love her from the moment she shakes the monkey's hand in the second scene. The supporting cast is perfection, especially Coral Browne, an undeservedly little known actress who makes a meal of Vera Charles. Peggy Cass is hilarious as Agnes Gooch; Forrest Tucker a charmer as Burnside. Everything about this picture makes it a true classic of the American cinema; one of those rare movies that makes you laugh, but even more important, makes you feel good!!! They don't get any better than this!