Adaptations

The novel was adapted for the stage by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Running from October 31, 1956, to June 28, 1958, at the Broadhurst Theatre, the original Broadway production starred Rosalind Russell in the title role. The original Broadway cast also included Robert Allen as Mr. Babcock, Yuki Shimoda as Ito, Robert Smith as Beau, Polly Rowles as Vera Charles, and Peggy Cass as Agnes Gooch. In 1957, both Russell and Cass were nominated for Tony Awards with Cass winning.
In December 1958, a film of the same title based on the play was released by Warner Brothers with Russell, Shimoda, and Cass reprising their roles. Russell was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for her portrayal. The film was the highest grossing U.S. film of the following year.
In 1966, a musical version, titled Mame, starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, opened on Broadway. It was a triumph in New York and then toured the country with great success.
In 1974, the musical was made into a film of the same title starring Lucille Ball, Bea Arthur (reprising her stage role), and Robert Preston. This film was a failure at the box office—despite breaking attendance records during its Radio City Music Hall run—and critics generally panned it for Ball’s singing ability and thought she was not up to the part (she was 62 years old).
In 2016 screenwriter Annie Mumolo told Vanity Fair that she was working on a “modern-day” adaptation of the novel as a film with Tilda Swinton as Mame.

Plot

“Young Patrick Dennis, orphaned at the age of 9, is sent to live with his only living relative: his father’s sister Mame, a free-spirited bachelorette in New York City. He arrives at Mame’s during Prohibition, and the story follows his life with Mame through his college years. Although Patrick narrates the story, Mame is the real main character.We follow her through flapper parties, the Crash of 1929 (where she becomes a shopgirl at Macy’s and meets the love of her life), her marriage and the long life after marriage. Throughout the story, her main objective is to prevent Patrick from being turned into a stuff shirted stockbroker or banker by the executor of his parent’s estate! Which is a battle, since this banker controls the money Patrick’s parents left him and is determined to make Patrick a “pillar of society”. Beginning with free school and continuing through sabotaging a disastrous engagement, Mame manages to instill in Patrick a bright and accepting spirit which is open to the world.

Cast Lists

References

1. Auntie Mame (1956 non-musical play starring Rosalind Russell) at the Internet Broadway Database

2. Mame (1966 musical play starring Angela Lansbury) at the Internet Broadway Database

3. The Classic New York of Mame Dennis Walking Off the Big Apple: A Strolling Guide to New York City