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Always armed with a colorful dress and an acerbic quip, the flamboyant, vibrant socialite Mame Dennis is the quintessential roaring 20's flapper, with a huge desire to live life to enjoy it and also just for the hell of it. Into this world comes her young orphaned nephew Patrick Dennis. Immediately the two fall in love with each other, and she spends the rest of the movie, which takes us through the Great Depression and beyond, trying to rescue him from the stuffy, conventionalist people he's used to. The boy is left in Mame's care when his millionaire father drops dead. Nora Muldoon introduces Patrick to Mame on October 1, 1928. Patrick quickly learns about his aunt's philosophy that "Life is a banquet--and some poor suckers are starving to death." (the original line on stage was "sons of bitches" rather than "suckers". The film was made while Hollywood was
still under the thumb of the hidebound production code so the book had to be toned down a bit. ). Social-climbing bank executor, Dwight Babcock, does his best to raise Patrick as a snooty WASP aristocrat. He packs Patrick off to his alma mater--St. Boniface. This brings us to the main theme of the book, Aunty Mame battles Babcock to allow the boy to be a free-spirit like her. There are a couple of bumps along the way, but there are plenty of fun adventures that prove that Mame is one hell of a woman. After losing her fortune in the 1929 Wall Street crash, Mame makes the acquaintance of the charming oil tycoon Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside (Forrest Tucker). She proves that she loves Burnside for himself rather than his millions during a zany fox-hunt sequence, and her subsequent marriage to Burnside assures her nephew's financial future. Left a widow when her husband falls off an Alp, the disconsolate Mame decides to keep busy by writing her memoirs, with frowzy secretary Agnes Gooch (Peggy Cass) acting as her stenographer. Mame and her best friend, eternally drunken actress Vera Charles decide to come to the loveless Gooch's emotional rescue by fixing her up with a date--and the result is an almost instantaneous pregnancy for the luckless Agnes, who is then "adopted" by big-hearted Mame. All of the film's various plot lines are threaded together in a climactic party scene, in which Mame tries to save her grown-up nephew from a disastrous marriage to a shallow socialite (Joanna Barnes). Auntie Mame nonetheless delivers solid laughs throughout, with Rosalind Russell absolutely brilliant in the role she was born to play.
Always armed with a colorful dress and an acerbic quip, the flamboyant, vibrant socialite Mame Dennis is a quintessential roaring 20s figure. America dufring the 20s let go of a range of convebtiins. I wouldn;t call Mame a flapper, she was too old for that. She did have a huge desire to live life to enjoy it and also just for the hell of it. She wanted to experiment with everything without really understnding it. She just wanted to try different things and she was particularly disturbed by prejudice. Although her Japanese houseboy seems rather a sterotype in a movie which skewers WASP prejudice.
Into this world comes her young orphaned nephew Patrick Dennis. We are not sure about his mother, but his millionaire father has been bringing him up in his dull, conventional world. Patrick and his nanny, Nora Muldoon, are terrified when they first arrive at 23 Beekman Place. Patrick has been so carefully sheltered by his father, who thinks Mame is a nut case, that he is a blank slate and Mame sees immeditely she can shape the boy.
Immediately Mame and Patrick fall in love with each other, and she spends the rest of the movie, which takes us through the Great Depression and beyond, trying to rescue him from the stuffy, conventionalist people he's used to. The boy is left in Mame's care when his millionaire father drops dead. Nora Muldoon introduces Patrick to Mame on October 1, 1928. Patrick quickly learns about his aunt's philosophy that "Life is a banquet--and some poor suckers are starving to death." (the original line on stage was "sons of bitches" rather than "suckers". The film was made while Hollywood was
still under the thumb of the hidebound production code so the book had to be toned down a bit.
Social-climbing bank executor, Dwight Babcock, does his best to raise Patrick as a snooty WASP aristocrat. Mame tries to avoid him, but he finally shows up unannounced at 23 Beekman Place. The major plot line in "Auntie Mame" was the struggle between the banker Mr. Babcock and Mame over who will win over Patrick. Here the opening salvo was fired. Patrick enertains Mr. Babcock while Mame who has slept late recoveribg from a hangover hiridly get dressed. Mame has taught Patrick how to make cocktsils, something inappropriate for boys his age. Mame immediately taken the offensive by demanding to know why Mr. Babcock is drinking so early and in front of the boy.
There are a couple of bumps along the way, but there are plenty of fun adventures that prove that Mame is one hell of a woman.
The first dustoff between Mame and Mr. Babcock is where Patrick will go to school. Mame has a friend who runs a progressive school. She enrolls Patrick there. She tries to confuse Mr. Babcock, but he finally tracks Patrick down at the school. He finds the teachers and student without any clothes. Apparently the teachers were exokaining how little fishes fertilize their eggs. He brings Patrick back wrapped in his coat. He tells Mame that he will be back the next date to escort Patrick to his alma matter--St. Boniface. He turns to Patrick and tells him, "And kid, you better be wearing knickers." (Knickers was a term at the time that mean short pants in general.) Mr. Baabcock then packs Patrick off to St. Boniface--the stuffy boarding school that Mame wanted to keep him away from. This brings us to the main theme of the book, Aunty Mame battles Babcock to allow the boy to be a free-spirit like her.
After losing her fortune in the 1929 Wall Street crash, Mame is destiture except for her apartment and has to go to work. She makes a has out of the various jobs she tries. At the toy department of a department store she creates havoc.
She is overwealmed by the paperwork in a busy store at Christmas time. It is there she first meets Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside (Forrest Tucker) who is buying toys for his nephews and nieces. Next her friend Vera Charles finds a small role for her in the play Vera has she starring role. Mame is determined to make it into a larger part. Again Mame makes a disaster of it and the auduence is left laughing at what was to be a serious play. It is here Patrick finds her crying on the darkened stage. He has taken off from St. Boniface to see opening day of the play. He of course tells her that she was the only good part of the play. Based on what we see of the plsy, he was probably right. They retreat to 23 Beekman Place for an early Christmas and Patrick to his delight gets his first lobng pants. And it is just this time in a Dickensian moment that Beau tracks Mame down. And Mame finds out that he is an oil tycoon and charming to boot.
Mame proves that she loves Burnside for himself rather than his millions during a zany fox-hunt sequence, and her subsequent marriage to Burnside assures her financial future.
Left a widow when her husband falls off a mountain in the Alps, the disconsolate Mame decides to keep busy by writing her memoirs, with frowzy secretary Agnes Gooch (Peggy Cass) acting as her stenographer. Mame and her best friend, eternally drunken actress Vera Charles decide to come to the loveless Gooch's emotional rescue by fixing her up with a date--and the result is an almost instantaneous pregnancy for the luckless Agnes, who is then "adopted" by big-hearted Mame.
All of the film's various plot lines are threaded together in a climactic party scene, in which Mame tries to save her grown-up nephew from a disastrous marriage to a shallow socialite (Joanna Barnes). Auntie Mame nonetheless delivers solid laughs throughout, with Rosalind Russell absolutely brilliant in the role she was born to play.
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