http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tISsu3bsGnw
Musical Theater Mash - the guy has some interesting takes on what went wrong with the film.
"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."
Lansbury was more the character but their both not very good singers.
shareLansbury was more the character but their both not very good singers.
I'd have to agree with you 'Harold'- Dame Angela had a remarkable stage singing voice as she was earning the first of her 5 (or is it 6) Tonys. And keep in mind body-miking and theater sound systems were TOTALLY different back in the '60's (even in the 80's). She completely surprised me the first time I heard her sing live onstage, back in the day. And people need to read Mr. Herman's autobio- he worked & worked with Ms Ball, just trying to help her finish one, 3-word phrase on the correct beat and somewhat close to the correct key & note. Never really happened, sad.
shareLansbury is a "character singer," or a "singing actress." She's not the type who just gets up and sings a song for the sake of singing a song, except in rare instances. She sings because her character sings. And her singing is different according to each character, though always unmistakably Lansbury. She's always recognizable, but her singing as Mame is as different from Countess Aurelia is different from Rose is different from Nellie Lovett. Yet they're all Lansbury, the singing actress.
In my case, self-absorption is completely justified.
Wanna learn how to spell the word “they’re” instead of “their”? I’m going with “no,” you idiot.
shareWatching it now on Turner Classic Movies in the States. And, from the first second Ball tries to sing, you realize...she can't. At all. Kind of a problem in a musical.
I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood
Before she even sings, with the few lines she has before the song, she is already just blah. There's a "phoning it in" quality to the whole performance, if I remember correctly from the last time I made myself watch it.
I think I'll turn it off now, and listen to Angela Lansbury singing the songs instead.
I think all the posts here are on target. Lucy just never owns the part. I realize at 62 or 63 - I've heard both - she was trying to recapture some of her motion picture glory and God knows only God had more money or power in 1974, so I'm sure she did whatever was necessary to garner the role of her lifetime. It did not serve her well. Much better I think if she could have landed a great supporting role where she could shine a few times during the movie ala Hermione Gingold. Or Beatrice Arthur. But Lucy could see herself only in the lead and she got it. Now each time we all watch it we have to compare her to the great Rosalind Russell who has never been outdone in Mama and Angela Lansbury who certainly comes in 2nd. Too bad that money and power usually win over great talent. Similar to Vivien Leigh taking Streetcar away from Jessica Tandy who did it on Broadway, although I love the Leigh performance and consider it one of her very best. Or Audrey Hepburn taking My Fair Lady away from Julie Andrews - although again I cant imagine anyone else doing it. I never saw Julie or Jessica perform. Lucy was a great TV comedienne during the golden age of TV. That's about the most you can say for her. She never shined on the stage or screen as she obviously did on TV. That was her medium.
shareThat's about the most you can say for her. She never shined on the stage or screen as she obviously did on TV. That was her mediumShe shined in films prior to her tv series. The problem was not the fact of it being a film, but the wrong film. Ball was deluded to assume her fans would not want to see her in anything but a sitcom , or in this case, a comedy-musical. Ball did not even have a vibrato. How can she sing without a vibrato? Ball already knew she could not sing, but did it anyway. share
https://www.datalounge.com/thread/17736430-miscast-mame-angela-lansbury-vs-lucille-ball-
The kid is an idiot. Critiquing the movement of the two stars? It was all set by the same choreographer, Onna White. Too much of Lucy staring out into space? Take it up with the director. It's also important to note that the video he uses of Lansbury in performance is from the 1983 revival that closed in three weeks or so and for which everyone but Anne Francine was panned for being no longer up to it. (Especially Jane Connell.) Lansbury was huffin' and puffin' through the whole thing. I thought she would keel over dead during That's How Young I Feel. No wonder. She looks 20 pounds heavier than she was when she debuted in the role.share
The real problem with the movie is that for some reason, Warner Brothers hired Paul Zindel to write the book for this most comedic of musical comedies. His previous big success was The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, a wrenching drama of a family crashing and burning. Why? Oh, why? Why did they hire him to write the screen play for MAME? So, if you want to know the big difference between Lansbury and Ball, Lansbury had jokes to bat out of the park and Ball got a clunky, awful, dreary and dry script that no one could play successfully. She was an experienced producer. She should have seen that problem and demanded it be addressed.
Ball was not a great choice for Mame. In 1974, Lansbury was not nearly the big name she is now. The two actress Oscars in 1973 went to Glenda Jackson and Tatum O'Neal. The fifth highest grossing film of that year was The Way We Were. So thank your lucky stars you got Lucille Ball in this movie as Mames were exactly not littering Hollywood Boulevard.
In any event, MAME is entirely unnecessary. It followed Auntie Mame by only a few years and it added nothing to the original play. But it has given DataLounge its most enduring and dependable topic. You can't kill it.
—Anonymous
reply 7 an hour ago