You’re invited to party hearty – and in fabulous style – with this lavish 1974 screen version of the beloved Broadway musical. Lucille Ball brings star sparkle to the title role, a high-living grande dame who’s outlandishly eccentric and, when suddenly faced with raising an orphaned nephew, fiercely loving. Veterans of the New York stage original join her: Beatrice Arthur as best friend Vera, Jane Connell as prim governess Agnes, choreographer Onna White and director Gene Saks. As Mame’s husband Beauregard, Robert Preston (The Music Man) sings “Loving You,” written specially for the film. Jerry Herman’s songs, from “It’s Today” to “We Need a Little Christmas” to “If He Walked into My Life,” rank among the best show tunes ever. For a grand time, bring home Mame.
For thoughts on Mame, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:
Video Quality
Warner Archive presents Mame with a pretty impressive 1080p master transfer released in 2018 sourced from a new master created at the time. The film was shot using Technicolor, and despite this being an earlier effort from Warner Archive, this disc holds up as a truly ravishing effort for material. The film features some stunning colors within the environments, costumes, and production design that pops off the screen with notable intensity. Black levels are largely deep, and highlights maintain great stability throughout. The main shortcoming of the picture is the reported techniques used to keep the camera from capturing Lucille Ball is too much clarity, but subtle details are still apparent with the appropriate amount of natural film grain intact. The film appears to be almost entirely free of dirt and damage, and there do not appear to be any digital anomalies such as compression artifacts, banding or any other such nuisances. Warner Archive has delivered really good work here.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that represents this material as intended. With music being one of the driving forces of the film, it is a pleasure to experience this track which executes these elements beautifully. While the mono presentation is more subdued than most musicals from this era, the musical numbers come alive as they should. Exchanges of dialogue come through clearly from beginning to end. The track balances vocals with the environmental nuances and the accompanying music with robust clarity. No matter how many elements are at play, this audio experience maintains its fidelity very well. Warner Archive has provided a really good audio track that does not exhibit any glaring signs of age-related wear and tear. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are provided.
Special Features
- Lucy Mame: A nine-minute vintage featurette that discusses the exciting prospect of Lucille Ball playing the titular role that acts as an extended preview of the film.
- Theatrical Trailer (3:44)
Final Thoughts
Mame has a notorious reputation amongst musical fans, but it is nowhere near the level of quality you would expect based on some opinions. Yes, Lucille Ball is not the strongest singer, but she generally makes up for this with her acting abilities in other moments. The other performers do a nice job and the story flows very well despite its rather lengthy runtime. There is a general sense of warmth radiating off the film, and it largely delivers an entertaining time. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray with an admirable A/V presentation and a small selection of special features. If you are a Lucille Ball fan, you should give this a shot. Recommended
Mame can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
