movie: Auntie Mame

[mellowtigger]

It's still subzero (Fahrenheit).  The sun's been up for an hour, but weather.com still says it's -8F (-22C).  It was similar last night when I walked to the Heights Theater to watch a showing of the 1958 film "Auntie Mame".  While there, I met cpj (sorry about your pager interruptions?), perkk , and geometrician .  There is a lot of ice all over the roads and sidewalks here these days.  Walking the 1.3 miles to the theater was okay since it was downhill.  The walk back home, however, was slightly uphill the whole way.  I slipped a lot, and I nearly fell 4 times.

The movie itself is still a classic.  It is a slowly unfolding amusement, more complex than you'd expect from a "mere" comedy.  It's nice to see an eccentric old woman tackle issues of racism and classism.  It's rather shocking, however, to see how sexism (even threat of physical abuse) doesn't phase anyone in the least.  The times have certainly changed (for the better).

The quotes available from the movie don't really do the film justice.  This experience is more than just the script.  It's the delivery by actress Rosalind Russell that makes it memorable.  Her carefree and absentminded character are very well played.

I hope you have a local theater that still has film feels for some of these old classics.  Go watch them when you get the chance.

In contrast to today's Avatar movie, the sets in the old Auntie Mame are just important background and plot devices.  They are neither the main character of the story nor the moral lesson.

Comments

[geometrician.livejournal.com]

Good to see you last night!

[pangolin.livejournal.com]

When I originally saw the Rosalind Russell version probably around 13-15 years ago, I really liked it. I loved the character and thought she was witty and hilarious for most of the movie. When I saw it more recently, I have to say it wasn't as keen as I remembered, though still a classic.

[litch.livejournal.com]

The author "Patrick Dennis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dennis)", actually Edward Everett Tanner III (isn't that a great name), was a fascinating guy. He published the book it was based on in 55 & it became a best seller (the same year he had 2 other books on the NYT best seller list, the only time an author has manage to pull of that hat tirck), they made a play in 57 with Russel in the lead that was a hit and then the movie in 59 which became the highest grossing movie of the year. He wrote a best seller sequel around then. A few years later in the sixties he did another hit that became a smash Neil Simon play Little Me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Me_(musical)).

Then, with all that fame and acclaim he decided to become a professional butler. And was evidently so good at it that at one point he even worked for Ray Kroc.

[chernovog.livejournal.com]

"It was ghastly, simply ghastly!"