Mame

Mame Dennis is an eccentric woman with a taste for parties, art and free thinking, and her bohemian circle of friends shares her appetite for life. When her young nephew Patrick is left in her care after his father dies, she takes on the job of raising the boy. Rather than shape him to fit other people's expectations, she brings him into her world and teaches him that life should be enjoyed to the fullest. This puts her at odds with the more conventional people who think they know what is best for the child.

The film is a musical adaptation of the 1958 picture Auntie Mame, which was itself based on a novel and a stage play. Gene Saks directed it, placing it between Cactus Flower and Brighton Beach Memoirs in the run of films he made; the screenplay was written by Paul Zindel. Lucille Ball leads the cast as Mame, with Robert Preston, Bea Arthur, Bruce Davison, Kirby Furlong and Jane Connell among the credited players, 74 in all.

Released in March 1974, it had a budget of 12 million dollars and returned about 7 million worldwide. Its reception sits in the middle range, with an IMDb score of 5.9 from roughly 3,700 votes and a TMDB rating of 5.8 from a much smaller group of 33.