Another mistake with LUCY on this picture is that nobody was allowed to be funnier or prettier than her. Principals, supporting cast, bit players, even extras were cast so as not to overshadow Lucy.
This interview did not help in the publicity for MAME. She could have talked about a dozen other things surrounding the film rather than, "I can't sing, I can't dance, come pay money to see me do both".
I'm confused. Why is everyone saying Lucille's voice was dubbed. She just said that it wasn't and she was upset that her awful voice was attributed to the Lisa lady. Now I love her voice and her performance, but obviously she thought it totally ridiculous that people thought her voice was dubbed. So what's the dealio folks?
Angela Lansbury didn't get the part that could've win her an Oscar and lead to better film roles. Lucille Ball did get the part, the film turned out to be a huge disappointment and instead of advance Ball's film career it ended it, since it became the last film in her career. The film version became a lose-lose situation to everybody involved, including public. Lansbury should've gotten the part and Ball was better off Mame.
@picturefan2009 True but Angela Lansbury still had (and still has) great roles after turning this role down, but I would have prefered Angela Lansbury by far!
@DanDaSimmer Angela Lansbury never turned it down. She wanted to reprise her star-making role very much, but the studio thought that she wasn't big enough of movie star to carry a film (although she played leading roles in film before), but it got brutal reviews and bombed anyway.
@DanDaSimmer No, that's incorrect. Lansbury wanted it very badly and was terribly disappointed when she didn't get a chance to reprice her role after the studio chose Ball.
Lucy clearly had a few tickets on herself... Bea Arthur said the movie was a big embarrasment for her... and Jerry Herman really doesn't like it at all. He was dissapointed. Lucy has no idea.... you DO need a good singing voice to pull off Jerry Herman's songs!!!! What is she talking about!!??!?
It's really sad that her performance in Mame was the straw that broke the back of her career... She never recovered from it...she was hard to work with, she ran Madeline Khan (potential Agnes) out of the first cold read, came to her first dance rehearsal in a leg brace, and to make herself appear younger she required so much gauze on the camera that the background blurred on every closeup of her..The movie was an EPIC fail.. :-( I love the OLD Lucy.
Smoking took a heavy toll on her voice over the years, 'cartridge'. In fact, Betty White once recalled that she phoned Lucy's house, and a deep voice answered: "Hello?"/"Oh, Gary {her husband}, this is Betty. Is Lucy home?"/"This IS Lucy!".
Oh my god, look how young Merv Griffin looks here. And she's right, she can't sing, at least not well enough to be in a role where a lot of singing is required.
I loved her in Mame, because she was like a 'real' aunt. She wasn't perfect and that's what I loved about her version of Mane. I loved Angela Lansbury's 'Mame' too, but they are very different performers and Lucy was a genuine comedienne...whech is what the film needed.
I loved Lucille Ball and think she was one of the most gifted comediennes of American film and tv. Having said that, however, her 1974 version of "Mame"
was a trainwreck from start to finish. Luckily we have hundreds of hours of her wonderful tv shows and OTHER movies in which we can enjoy her real talents.
@TracyAndersonFoxhunt , LOL! So says someone who "loves" Miley Cyrus. No doubt Mame had its flaws, but a fan of Miley Cyrus is in no position to criticize. That takes away all your credibility.
Regarding the remarks about Lucy ruining her voice, it was not her "straining" it to sound young, nor was it "yelling." It was the combination of smoking Phillip Morris cigarettes and drinking. She did strain her voice during WILDCAT on Broadway in 1960. But as for her runining her voice in I LOVE LUCY, any experienced actor knows how to "project". Second, there were sensitive microphones to pick up the voices of the four principles, and the others didn't ruin their voices.
@RayPointer , actually, no, there were NOT sensitive microphones back in those days. That was part of the problem: she had to project her voice without the microphones, while at the same time speaking in an unnaturally high pitch. And it is FACT (per voice experts) that speaking continuously in an unnatural pitch damages the vocal chords. As for the projection, there is proper projection and improper projection. Re: the smoking, she advertised Philip Morris, but smoked Chesterfields.
@Beejjjjjj She smoked the sponsor's product in the commercials. Regardless she smoked. As for the "projection" of the voice, one would wonder with all of the "coaches" she had that she was not advised about things that would harm her voice. Sound recording was not that primative in the 1950s, and Glen Glenn was one of the leaders in the industry. The mikes picked up the actors very well. And Lucy did not "scream" all the time. I've seen all of the shows. Please no more silly debates.
@RayPointer , she put Chesterfield in Philip Morris cigarette boxes. She didn't smoke Philip Morris. And I've heard directly from production staff of the show that they did NOT have mikes that allowed their voices to reach the back of the studio audience, so they had to project their voices. Among the advice she got early on was that her voice was too high and she should go out on the freeway and scream at the top of her lungs to deepen it, which she did.
Then to play Lucy, she was always trying to get her voice higher again, so she spoke in a high pitch. Keith Andes said in Wildcat, she did NOT have proper training on projecting her voice and she did particular damage to it from her singing in that show. According to him, nobody trained her or told her what she was doing was wrong. As for silly debates, it's only silly if you're making assertions you can't back up.
@Beejjjjjj Yes, there were body mics in use in the theater at the beginning of the 60's. They weren't even close to what EVERYBODY wears now ( sometimes less is better but the sound boards are very good too) but they used them.
Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't so much the drinking and smoking that destroyed Lucy's voice as it was the SCREAMING. Watch THE LUCY SHOW. It's screaming dialogue. They scream at each other in that show. That's watch destroyed her voice.
@ScrapNfight , to be fair, though, they did those shows in front of a studio audience, and she felt she needed to talk (scream?) that way to reach the folks in the back rows. A lot of shows shot in front of a studio audience are performed this way, e.g., Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mothers-in-Law. I wouldn't so much call it screaming as talking extremely loudly. Whatever, it's really bad for the vocal chords.
@Beejjjjjj True with the live studio audience, but Lucy was doing bad things to her voice way back in I LOVE LUCY. Not just screaming, but the crying sounds and other strange loud sounds she would make to be funny. With THE LUCY SHOW there was screaming dialogue more so than in any of those other shows you mentioned. Lucy needed a "heavy" like Ricky Ricardo or Mr. Mooney to even out her overbearingness. You look at those shows today, she's mean to everyone.
@ScrapNfight , on I LOVE LUCY she was speaking in an unnaturally high pitch all the time to make herself sound younger. Speaking in an unnatural pitch also causes vocal chord damage. As for shows like LAVERNE & SHIRLEY and MOTHERS-IN-LAW, yes, they were screaming their dialogue just as much in those shows. Penny Marshall's voice did get somewhat deeper. Lucy was in vitually every scene of her shows doing this, and also rehearsed non-stop, never giving her voice a rest.
@ScrapNfight , In Lucy's case, you might notice that at the beginning of a season, just after her months-long hiatus from the show, her voice would be rested and sound somewhat natural. But by the middle of the season it would sound hoarse. So those months of "screaming" through rehearsals and tapings clearly took a toll. But over time, rested or not, there was cummulative deterioration. Her voice didn't change much after "Here's Lucy" when she was no longer on the set every day hollering.
@RayPointer Have you watched any of those shows? It's a combination of "projecting" and screaming. I love lucy, but she was hard on her vocal cords. Really hard.
The film version of MAME was a goner before it was released because of the outrage of casting Lucy and not Lansbury. Broadway is worse when it comes to box office casting, and in this case MAME was actually written for Merman and then offered to Mary Martin. Both were too old and would have been grossly miscast. Lucy wasn't that bad and the film is very faithful to the stage version, contrary to some people's distorted memories.
@pudgeuncle Lansbury might have been better suited in the acting department, but her singing voice wasn't that much better than Lucy's. It's easy to think someone who was great on stage would translate the same on film, but that is rarely the case. Just look at the film version of THE PRODUCERS where the actors where no longer fresh in there roles once the film was made. MAME needed someone who had never performed it before.
@ScrapNfight I would be the last person to defend the singing on Broadway since so many actors have sung on stage that the studios would normally dub. Katharine Hepburn, Shelley WInters, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall, and a long list of others are not exactly singers.
@pudgeuncle Just because Lansbury was great on stage doesn't mean it would have translated the same on the screen. It would have been around the same time as BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS and we all saw how dull that was.
@pudgeuncle It was first offered to the Rosalind Russel who originalted the role on stage and repeated it in the film. She turned it down stating that someone else should have a chance at it. But in reality, she turned it down due to health issues that were start for her at that point in time.
I think Mame could still be saved- edit out the tedious, over-done musical numbers epeciaaly the interminable dance parts,, dub, or autotune lucy's voice- edit edit edit- and you might get a watchable movie out of it
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PLEASE DONT READ THIS. YOU WILL GET KISSED ON THE NEAREST POSSIBLE FRIDAY BY THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE. TOMORROW WILL BE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. HOWEVER IF YOU DONT POST THIS COMMENT something bad will happen. NOW UV STARTED READIN DIS DUNT STOP THIS IS SO SCARY. SEND THIS TO 5 VIDEOS IN 143 MINUTES WHEN UR DONE PRESS F6 AND UR CRUSHES NAME WILL APPEAR ON THE SCREEN IN BIG LETTERS. THIS IS SO SCARY CAUSE IT ACTUALLY WORKS THIS ACTUALLY WORKS
Miss Ball was disappointed and upset with WB because she felt that the studio spent too much time pushing "The Exorcist" . But truthfully WB was only following the unexplainable frenzy that surrounded the ground breaking horror flick. Unfortunately MAME got lost in the shuffle.
@cynthiacher True, but no one would know that BEFORE the film was released. Often times studios think they have a big hit on their hands. Such was the case here. They did a lot of promos and TV specials leading up to the film suggesting it was going to be big, yet people stayed away. Since both good and bad films become hits it is more likely people were just tired of the big musical format that dominated movies in the 50's in early 60's and stayed away from ALL musicals around this time.
Also, her co-star in WILDCAT, Keith Andes, said she destroyed her voice in that show by not using proper singing techniques. Search "What's My Line? Lucille Ball" (the one where she's wearing a big black fur collar). This is from 1961 right in the middle of the run of WILDCAT. Her voice is seriously hoarse here, obviously from vocal strain.
In her movies in the 30s, 40s and 50s, she was PERFORMING, not as Lucille Ball but as a character. Besides, in the 30s she was still young and her voice THEN was high. Around the time she met Desi in 1940 she started doing those screaming exercises in the car to deepen her voice. By the 50s it WAS deeper. Search "What's My Line" (w/ guest Lucille Ball, Deborah Kerr) 3/3" and, starting at 4:35 you can hear the real deeper-voice Lucille Ball in 1954, that does NOT sound like Lucy Ricardo.
After WILDCAT, she returned to weekly TV where she played to the back seats of her studio audience by yelling lines. This, plus the screaming exercises early on, the fake high pitch for Lucy Ricardo, the poor singing technique in WILDCAT, and having to talk constantly as star, director & studio head, all wreaked havoc on her voice. Certainly smoking had a big role, too, and most likely was responsible for the polyps she later developed (which cause raspiness), but it wasn't JUST the smoking.
That wasn't her normal tone, it was more baritone. She pushed it even higher for the "Lucy" character. Not to mention having to project her voice each week to a studio audience (as the mics then weren't as sophisticated as they are now). By the 60's she was having trouble pushing her voice to that higher octave. Probably after years and years of damage from using that artificial tone. I've also read that she developed polyps and had to have an operation (though I don't know how true that is).
Lucy's story about the voice dubbing is a bit fishy- It sounds like the producers hired someone to dub her voice, and Lucy put the kibosh on it, Otherwise, why would Lisa Kirk even have been mentioned? Lucy a great comedian, but not right for the role of a rich sophisticated freespirit Too bad we can't go back in time and persuade Lucy and Hello Dolly Streisand in to switch roles
The real story is Lucy WANTED her voice dubbed in MAME, as had been done in most of her early musicals, but Warners balked, saying 1970s audiences were too sophisticated for that. Perhaps Lucy suggested Lisa Kirk dub her voice, but it didn't happen.
I love Lucy and loved this movie when it came out, but I wish like HELL they'd let Landsbury do the movie. Not so much as I wish they'd given "Gypsy" to Merman, but there you are.
Lansbury might have been a better Mame, but she too didn't have a very good singing voice. It was just average too. Better than Lucy, but not the best choice. The best person I ever saw do Mame was SHANI WALLIS of Oliver! fame. She was fantastic and unlike Angela Lansbury or Lucy , Shani Wallis is a REAL singer. Why I think Lucy is a good Mame is she is a beauty in it, even at the age she was. She looked great.
@Cramnella Ethel Merman did not get GYPSY because she could not act. She was allowed to recreate her Tony winning role in Call Me Madam and it was a major flop because of her over the top, phony acting. On stage you can get away with being a "personality" but the screen magnfies the acting lmitations. Any big Broadway musical star of the heydey of Broadway always had limited acting skills, otherwise MGM would have scooped them up.
Yes, I've heard that this film was not received well - but I've seen it many times and it follows the "show" script very closely - and I thought Lucille Ball was great!
I agree! I saw this movie in its original Radio City release. The audience was cheering for the movie - and Lucy - at the end. Ball is brilliant throughout the picture but I think she tops herself as she sits between the Upsons watching Gloria in home movies. Watch her reactions. A wonderful actor, Lucy.
I really enjoyed this clip...especially since it was on tv before any critics saw a preview...truly one of the greatest flops ever produced ...I love Mame for its sheer over the top badness. Lucy was also the executive producer so she had no one to blame but herself...all the critics agreed that it played to none of Lucy's strengths and should have been made 8 yrs before it was - with Angela Lansbury. Truly an ego driven project. A real shame that Lucy ended her movie career w/such a dud
Check out the Youtube clip of with this title: "What's My Line" (w/ guest Lucille Ball, Deborah Kerr) 3/3 Starting at 4:38 in that clip, you can hear Lucille Ball's natural speaking voice back in the "I Love Lucy" days when she WASN'T playing Lucy Ricardo. It's much deeper than on her show. And by continuing to do that "Lucy" voice, she would drive her voice even deeper.
And just as I suspected, you go around Youtube posting these sophomoric flame messages. Obviously, you're seriously starving for attention. It's too bad you lead such a sad life with nothing more useful to offer. You might consider getting counseling before it's too late.
Why are so angry? You obviously don't spend much time reading or you would have a better choice of vocabulary. You're quite pitiful....I'm sure your parents are quite proud of you...
1: You have NO life because you go around posting these mad messages.
2: You are just plain STUPID because your vocabulary is atrocious and fucking plain BAD
3: Get off youtube. Lucy was always beautiful in PERSONALITY! You'll notice that as you get older you'll get unactractive too unless you get work done. Lucy's skin was to fair to get a face lift. Look up her pictures from her 20's. Go ahead you worthless piece of life.
and dnt call me MAN. nd u dnt intimidarte me. U think ur so cool. But If u WERE cool, you would stop threatening people and posting these evil messages!
i LOVE this version and i thought Lucy was FABULOUS! perhaps cause i saw this first. had i seen Angela Lansberry version, who knows. like i
was very disappointed with the Johnny Depp version of Sweeny Todd but LOVED the Broadway version with Angela...um, wait, i forgot my point. OH, yea, that whole thing about "expectations" can cause u not to enjoy something.
That "I Love Lucy" voice wasn't her voice. She pushed her more baritone voice to it's upper register for the "Lucy" voice. That's actually what damaged her vocal chords, decades of using it (improperly) for that characterization.
Check out the Youtube clip of with this title: "What's My Line" (w/ guest Lucille Ball, Deborah Kerr) 3/3 Starting at 4:38 in that clip, you can hear Lucille Ball's natural speaking voice back in the "I Love Lucy" days when she WASN'T playing Lucy Ricardo. It's much deeper than on her show. And by continuing to do that "Lucy" voice, she would drive her voice even deeper.
You're correct that the artificially high-pitched Lucy Ricardo voice damaged her vocal chords. Also years of voice projection to a studio audience (compounded by the high pitch); it's common for stage performers to have vocal chord damage & her shows were done in that style. Also, acting, directing, producing and running a company simultaneously meant she probably talked non-stop, which is also damaging. Add to all that, improper voice projection when she sang in WILDCAT ... and the smoking.
no one shouldnt post bad comments about the great Lucille Ball with respect no bad comments if one dont like the actress then simply dont watch or leave hurtful comments
Bea Arthur didn't want to do it with Lucy as the star, but did it as a favor to someone. Lucy was ok, but not Roselyn Russell or Angela Lansbury by any stretch of the imagination.
Bea was married to the director, Gene Saks (who also directed the stage production). Bea was a professional, but I think you can tell her alliances lie with Ms Lansbury, who was and still is one of her closest friends.
She couldn't sing; she never could. "Mame" is remembered as one of the most endearingly bad movies of all time because Ball was miscast. Ex-husband Desi Arnaz warned her not to do it. He was right.
People constantly blame the cigarettes on the damage to her voice. Yes, they took a toll, but it was more than that. That voice from "the earlier years" you refer to is probably the main reason her voice got damaged later. For the Lucy Ricardo voice, she spoke in an unnaturally high pitch. The NIH says that is a major cause of vocal chord damage. She also used bad singing technique in Wildcat and elsewhere according to colleagues. Her voice dropped noticeably after Wildcat and again after Mame.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
She is lying. In Mame when she sings alone it is her voice. She could not sing in anyone else's key so they recorded other singers depending on who she was singing with. She also had stunt doubles for all of the physical comedy.
You're full of BS. You acknowledge she did her own singing when she sang alone, but that was a lot. She had lots of solos and it's clearly her voice. The only times she was singing with others, she was singing along with an entire chorus of singers, so you wouldn't be able to distinguish her one way or the other. As for using stunt doubles, in the scene on roller skates, tell me where they came up with a stunt double that had her face.
I was there. My father was the director and my mother was her costar. I WAS ON THE SET AND AT THE RECORDING SESSIONS! Think twice before you say people are full of BS
You didn't explain how your father put Lucille Ball's face on the stunt double doing the roller skating. As for the singing, you didn't say anything different than I did: "When she sings alone it is her voice."
I am not going to try to explain the film industry to you. Or film making or editing. Since obviously you want to believe what you want to believe. The movie was a huge mistake it was too late in her carrier for her to play the role. Ten years earlier it could have been a great movie. Watch the movie "Auntie Mame" which the musical play was based on some time. It is a far superior film. Dezi was right she shouldn't have made the movie.
I'm not asking you to explain the film industry, I'm asking you to explain your comment. You said Lucy is lying here, and go on to say she did none of her stunts, and talk about her voice not being heard when there is a chorus of singers backing her up. (So?) It's perfectly clear when she sing's solo, it's her voice, and you don't deny that. And it's clear she's skating in that scene. So what is the lie? Just because Bea Arthur is your mother doesn't give you license to say just any ol' thing.
His name was Desi, not Dezi. I've seen the film AUNTIE MAME and didn't like it near as much as as this film, which I've seen numerous times. I've heard all the nasty criticisms: Lucy's voice and dancing, the film's direction, Bea Arthur "looked like a football player in drag" etc. It's often been said that critics are just bitter showbiz wannabes, so I don't really care what they think. What matters to me is whether I enjoy something. If you prefer AUNTIE MAME, fine. To each his own.
Oh, and by the way, SHE'S the one who wanted to have her voice dubbed (as had been done in most of her musicals in the past), but Warner's insisted she do her own singing because they believed 1970s audiences were too sophisticated for dubbing.
It's from her smoking. Unfortunately she was a heavy smoker her whole life and by this time it had affected her voice. In fact in the original episodes of "I Love Lucy" many times she and Desi would light up, and those scenes were cut out when the show went into re-runs. In fact, the original sponser of the show was the Philip Morris cigarette company!
It was not JUST the smoking. She also damaged her voice by playing Lucy Ricardo. That was not her natural speaking voice. She spent all those years in rehearsals and on film speaking at an unnaturally high pitch, all while projecting to a studio audience, which took a huge toll on her vocal chords. Also, according to Keith Andes and Lucie Arnaz, she did not follow proper voice projection techniques when singing (like in Wildcat). Her voice dropped noticeably after Wildcat and again after Mame.
BROADWAY singer LISA KIRK had done most of the singing for Roz Russell in the movie version of GYPSY. She could have done some of the singing for Lucy because she matched Roz's husky voice very well ~ but, Lucy talk-sang her way through MAME fairly well and I think that by 1974 audiences were getting too sophisticated to accept "dubbing" anyway. Thanks for posting this - fun to see.
JohnnyGNV, your comment is right on the mark. Lucy actually WANTED to have her voice dubbed in MAME (as had been done in most of her previous films in which she sang), but Warner Bros refused for the very reason you cite: their belief that 1974 audiences were too sophisticated to accept dubbing. A friend of mine, who was very close to Lucy, said that during the filming of MAME, she'd hide out in her dressing room on days she had to be in the recording studio because she dreaded it so much.
I wish that in her career after I Love Lucy, we'd gotten a chance to see and hear Lucy just be herself more often, not just in the occasional movie, talk show, or game show appearance. She was a very charismatic and intelligent-speaking actor. Did she do a lecture circuit like Bette Davis, etc.? She wasted too much of the 1960s, and her 50s years, being ditzy in her 2nd show The Lucy Show.
Yes, in the late '70s she gave a series of seminars at USC and elsewhere (mostly to theater arts students) on comedy, acting and the television industry, topics on which she knew more than just about anyone. She essentially became a part time professor. An abbreviated version of what she did for students was presented on a late '70s talk show once.
I know everyone has their say on Lucille Ball being Mame. I LOVE that movie so much and I LOVE that she sang the whole soundtrack! Honestly its one of my favourite soundtracks. See she gets on stage and says I can't sing and yet she did that whole movie! Hollywood lost something they will never have again, when Lucille Ball died.
Bea Arthur and Angela Landsbury were in "Mame" On broadway together. If you search youtube you can find them performing "Bosom Buddies" at the Tony awards. They performed it a few different years.
He broadcasted an ENTIRE 90 minute show from the National Theater in Westwood for the premiere of LOST HORIZON with more stars coming through the lobby stopping to talk to him than you can shake a stick at. He did the same for MAME when it premiered at the CINERAMA DOME in Hollywood.
does ny one know where i can get more of this interview?? someone had the whole thing on here. Lucille shared this interview with Gary Morton (he poured water all over her feet-it was hilarious!) and her daughter Lucie & I think her son & Bob Hope.
She did the right thing. She was defending someone who didn't deserve to be criticized. Besides, if someone says they can't sing but did it anyway, I'd go see the movie just to hear how it turned out. LOL! I love Lucy!
I loved lucy in mame! Also these youtubers "punchyplayers" have a few videos with spot on lucy imitation from this era
ohmystars17 2 months ago
I know Lucille was not the BEST singer, but she was actually rather good on Mame, I enjoyed watching her and Beatrice Arthur too ^_^ What a duo!!
ivetenum1fan 2 months ago
Does she take a swig of whiskey right in the middle of the interview ? Ahh...It was such a diffferent time.....
JoshuaTaylor 3 months ago
Another mistake with LUCY on this picture is that nobody was allowed to be funnier or prettier than her. Principals, supporting cast, bit players, even extras were cast so as not to overshadow Lucy.
ScrapNfight 5 months ago
This interview did not help in the publicity for MAME. She could have talked about a dozen other things surrounding the film rather than, "I can't sing, I can't dance, come pay money to see me do both".
ScrapNfight 5 months ago
@ScrapNfight Lol, I would watch her butcher a song, and dance terribly any day!
lapetiteombre 3 months ago
Actually, Lucy bought the film rights for the movie and put up 5 million of her own money for the picture.
uofjim 5 months ago
Even her little laugh in the beginning makes me smile =)
fionacaps 5 months ago
I'm confused. Why is everyone saying Lucille's voice was dubbed. She just said that it wasn't and she was upset that her awful voice was attributed to the Lisa lady. Now I love her voice and her performance, but obviously she thought it totally ridiculous that people thought her voice was dubbed. So what's the dealio folks?
dawnrood88 6 months ago
Lisa Kirk, a great Broadway musical performer, dubbed most of Rosalind Russell's singing in Gypsy.
KokoPuffs52 7 months ago
She seemed like someone who I'd loved to sit and talk with. Straight up honesty and real talk!!!
TheLanard 8 months ago
Angela Lansbury didn't get the part that could've win her an Oscar and lead to better film roles. Lucille Ball did get the part, the film turned out to be a huge disappointment and instead of advance Ball's film career it ended it, since it became the last film in her career. The film version became a lose-lose situation to everybody involved, including public. Lansbury should've gotten the part and Ball was better off Mame.
picturefan2009 8 months ago
@picturefan2009 True but Angela Lansbury still had (and still has) great roles after turning this role down, but I would have prefered Angela Lansbury by far!
DanDaSimmer 7 months ago
@DanDaSimmer Angela Lansbury never turned it down. She wanted to reprise her star-making role very much, but the studio thought that she wasn't big enough of movie star to carry a film (although she played leading roles in film before), but it got brutal reviews and bombed anyway.
picturefan2009 7 months ago
@picturefan2009 From what I've heard she turned it down to be with her sick son?!
DanDaSimmer 7 months ago
@DanDaSimmer No, that's incorrect. Lansbury wanted it very badly and was terribly disappointed when she didn't get a chance to reprice her role after the studio chose Ball.
picturefan2009 7 months ago
Lucy clearly had a few tickets on herself... Bea Arthur said the movie was a big embarrasment for her... and Jerry Herman really doesn't like it at all. He was dissapointed. Lucy has no idea.... you DO need a good singing voice to pull off Jerry Herman's songs!!!! What is she talking about!!??!?
TONYFROMWESTSIDE 8 months ago
It's really sad that her performance in Mame was the straw that broke the back of her career... She never recovered from it...she was hard to work with, she ran Madeline Khan (potential Agnes) out of the first cold read, came to her first dance rehearsal in a leg brace, and to make herself appear younger she required so much gauze on the camera that the background blurred on every closeup of her..The movie was an EPIC fail.. :-( I love the OLD Lucy.
4piglite 1 year ago
well, if you can't sing and you can't dance...her words...then why she did do a musical?
livuali 1 year ago
Smoking took a heavy toll on her voice over the years, 'cartridge'. In fact, Betty White once recalled that she phoned Lucy's house, and a deep voice answered: "Hello?"/"Oh, Gary {her husband}, this is Betty. Is Lucy home?"/"This IS Lucy!".
fromthesidelines 1 year ago 6
lucy is great but she was really bad as mame. I wish they would remake this movie
ajgroelant 1 year ago
@ajgroelant She was amazing in Mame. It was best with her, not the other 1. the oher 1 was great but you cnt beat Luciller Ball
SanDiegoRox1234 11 months ago
Her voice used to be SO high pitched! Omigosh what happened?!
cartridgeboxers 1 year ago 2
Oh my god, look how young Merv Griffin looks here. And she's right, she can't sing, at least not well enough to be in a role where a lot of singing is required.
SpazChat 1 year ago
At least she knew that her singing and dancing wasn't up to par. I still adore her
S7ilver 1 year ago
This movie was a travesty. I love Lucy, but not as Mame. Angela Lansbury should have gotten the movie.
I think this is Lucy's revenge against her for getting the role of the mother in Manchurian Candidate.
jdenitto 1 year ago
Lucy was amazing in "Mame". Sure, her voice wasn't up to par, but her performance was exceptional.
chilvari 1 year ago
I loved her in Mame, because she was like a 'real' aunt. She wasn't perfect and that's what I loved about her version of Mane. I loved Angela Lansbury's 'Mame' too, but they are very different performers and Lucy was a genuine comedienne...whech is what the film needed.
Njae2000 9 months ago 6
I loved Lucille Ball and think she was one of the most gifted comediennes of American film and tv. Having said that, however, her 1974 version of "Mame"
was a trainwreck from start to finish. Luckily we have hundreds of hours of her wonderful tv shows and OTHER movies in which we can enjoy her real talents.
petclark1 1 year ago
" I can't sing, I can't dance. Come pay money to see me do both".
ScrapNfight 1 year ago
what a crock! that film was terrible! Lucy could not sing and she could no dance. she was about 30 years too old for that part
TracyAndersonFoxhunt 1 year ago
@TracyAndersonFoxhunt , LOL! So says someone who "loves" Miley Cyrus. No doubt Mame had its flaws, but a fan of Miley Cyrus is in no position to criticize. That takes away all your credibility.
vieetverite 1 year ago
Niech żyje Lucille Ball !!!
Carl5Z 1 year ago
Regarding the remarks about Lucy ruining her voice, it was not her "straining" it to sound young, nor was it "yelling." It was the combination of smoking Phillip Morris cigarettes and drinking. She did strain her voice during WILDCAT on Broadway in 1960. But as for her runining her voice in I LOVE LUCY, any experienced actor knows how to "project". Second, there were sensitive microphones to pick up the voices of the four principles, and the others didn't ruin their voices.
RayPointer 1 year ago
@RayPointer , actually, no, there were NOT sensitive microphones back in those days. That was part of the problem: she had to project her voice without the microphones, while at the same time speaking in an unnaturally high pitch. And it is FACT (per voice experts) that speaking continuously in an unnatural pitch damages the vocal chords. As for the projection, there is proper projection and improper projection. Re: the smoking, she advertised Philip Morris, but smoked Chesterfields.
Beejjjjjj 1 year ago
@Beejjjjjj She smoked the sponsor's product in the commercials. Regardless she smoked. As for the "projection" of the voice, one would wonder with all of the "coaches" she had that she was not advised about things that would harm her voice. Sound recording was not that primative in the 1950s, and Glen Glenn was one of the leaders in the industry. The mikes picked up the actors very well. And Lucy did not "scream" all the time. I've seen all of the shows. Please no more silly debates.
RayPointer 1 year ago
@RayPointer , she put Chesterfield in Philip Morris cigarette boxes. She didn't smoke Philip Morris. And I've heard directly from production staff of the show that they did NOT have mikes that allowed their voices to reach the back of the studio audience, so they had to project their voices. Among the advice she got early on was that her voice was too high and she should go out on the freeway and scream at the top of her lungs to deepen it, which she did.
Beejjjjjj 1 year ago
Then to play Lucy, she was always trying to get her voice higher again, so she spoke in a high pitch. Keith Andes said in Wildcat, she did NOT have proper training on projecting her voice and she did particular damage to it from her singing in that show. According to him, nobody trained her or told her what she was doing was wrong. As for silly debates, it's only silly if you're making assertions you can't back up.
Beejjjjjj 1 year ago
@Beejjjjjj Yes, there were body mics in use in the theater at the beginning of the 60's. They weren't even close to what EVERYBODY wears now ( sometimes less is better but the sound boards are very good too) but they used them.
mmbr01rrf 2 months ago
Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't so much the drinking and smoking that destroyed Lucy's voice as it was the SCREAMING. Watch THE LUCY SHOW. It's screaming dialogue. They scream at each other in that show. That's watch destroyed her voice.
ScrapNfight 1 year ago
@ScrapNfight , to be fair, though, they did those shows in front of a studio audience, and she felt she needed to talk (scream?) that way to reach the folks in the back rows. A lot of shows shot in front of a studio audience are performed this way, e.g., Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mothers-in-Law. I wouldn't so much call it screaming as talking extremely loudly. Whatever, it's really bad for the vocal chords.
Beejjjjjj 1 year ago
@Beejjjjjj True with the live studio audience, but Lucy was doing bad things to her voice way back in I LOVE LUCY. Not just screaming, but the crying sounds and other strange loud sounds she would make to be funny. With THE LUCY SHOW there was screaming dialogue more so than in any of those other shows you mentioned. Lucy needed a "heavy" like Ricky Ricardo or Mr. Mooney to even out her overbearingness. You look at those shows today, she's mean to everyone.
ScrapNfight 1 year ago
@ScrapNfight , on I LOVE LUCY she was speaking in an unnaturally high pitch all the time to make herself sound younger. Speaking in an unnatural pitch also causes vocal chord damage. As for shows like LAVERNE & SHIRLEY and MOTHERS-IN-LAW, yes, they were screaming their dialogue just as much in those shows. Penny Marshall's voice did get somewhat deeper. Lucy was in vitually every scene of her shows doing this, and also rehearsed non-stop, never giving her voice a rest.
Beejjjjjj 1 year ago
@ScrapNfight , In Lucy's case, you might notice that at the beginning of a season, just after her months-long hiatus from the show, her voice would be rested and sound somewhat natural. But by the middle of the season it would sound hoarse. So those months of "screaming" through rehearsals and tapings clearly took a toll. But over time, rested or not, there was cummulative deterioration. Her voice didn't change much after "Here's Lucy" when she was no longer on the set every day hollering.
Beejjjjjj 1 year ago
@ScrapNfight What "screaming"? Projecting for an audience is not "screaming."
RayPointer 1 year ago
@RayPointer Have you watched any of those shows? It's a combination of "projecting" and screaming. I love lucy, but she was hard on her vocal cords. Really hard.
ScrapNfight 1 year ago
I guess all that smoking ruined her singing voice. I remember watching Reruns of Here's Lucy when I was a child, I can remember her broken leg.
Sheri451 1 year ago
The film version of MAME was a goner before it was released because of the outrage of casting Lucy and not Lansbury. Broadway is worse when it comes to box office casting, and in this case MAME was actually written for Merman and then offered to Mary Martin. Both were too old and would have been grossly miscast. Lucy wasn't that bad and the film is very faithful to the stage version, contrary to some people's distorted memories.
pudgeuncle 1 year ago
@pudgeuncle Lansbury might have been better suited in the acting department, but her singing voice wasn't that much better than Lucy's. It's easy to think someone who was great on stage would translate the same on film, but that is rarely the case. Just look at the film version of THE PRODUCERS where the actors where no longer fresh in there roles once the film was made. MAME needed someone who had never performed it before.
ScrapNfight 1 year ago
@ScrapNfight I would be the last person to defend the singing on Broadway since so many actors have sung on stage that the studios would normally dub. Katharine Hepburn, Shelley WInters, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall, and a long list of others are not exactly singers.
pudgeuncle 1 year ago
@pudgeuncle Just because Lansbury was great on stage doesn't mean it would have translated the same on the screen. It would have been around the same time as BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS and we all saw how dull that was.
ScrapNfight 1 year ago
@pudgeuncle It was first offered to the Rosalind Russel who originalted the role on stage and repeated it in the film. She turned it down stating that someone else should have a chance at it. But in reality, she turned it down due to health issues that were start for her at that point in time.
RayPointer 1 year ago
I thought Lucy's Mame was a cute movie. It's not as bad as the critics said it was.
DA90027 1 year ago
Bull shit bull shit More bull shit!!!
amakeupman1 1 year ago
I think Mame could still be saved- edit out the tedious, over-done musical numbers epeciaaly the interminable dance parts,, dub, or autotune lucy's voice- edit edit edit- and you might get a watchable movie out of it
hexum7 1 year ago
Poor Lucy never knew when to quit. Even then she was way too old for Mame !
steveinchelsea 1 year ago
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stjester 1 year ago
Miss Ball was disappointed and upset with WB because she felt that the studio spent too much time pushing "The Exorcist" . But truthfully WB was only following the unexplainable frenzy that surrounded the ground breaking horror flick. Unfortunately MAME got lost in the shuffle.
dextersmith2000 1 year ago
Merv Griffin was such a suck up! The version of "Mame" starring Lucille Ball is considered one of the worst movies of all time.
cynthiacher 1 year ago
@cynthiacher True, but no one would know that BEFORE the film was released. Often times studios think they have a big hit on their hands. Such was the case here. They did a lot of promos and TV specials leading up to the film suggesting it was going to be big, yet people stayed away. Since both good and bad films become hits it is more likely people were just tired of the big musical format that dominated movies in the 50's in early 60's and stayed away from ALL musicals around this time.
MalubaySyecado 1 year ago
She was a very heavy smoker. that changed her voice.
XSIERR 1 year ago 2
Also, her co-star in WILDCAT, Keith Andes, said she destroyed her voice in that show by not using proper singing techniques. Search "What's My Line? Lucille Ball" (the one where she's wearing a big black fur collar). This is from 1961 right in the middle of the run of WILDCAT. Her voice is seriously hoarse here, obviously from vocal strain.
vidayverdad2 1 year ago
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vidayverdad2 1 year ago
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In her movies in the 30s, 40s and 50s, she was PERFORMING, not as Lucille Ball but as a character. Besides, in the 30s she was still young and her voice THEN was high. Around the time she met Desi in 1940 she started doing those screaming exercises in the car to deepen her voice. By the 50s it WAS deeper. Search "What's My Line" (w/ guest Lucille Ball, Deborah Kerr) 3/3" and, starting at 4:35 you can hear the real deeper-voice Lucille Ball in 1954, that does NOT sound like Lucy Ricardo.
vidayverdad2 1 year ago
After WILDCAT, she returned to weekly TV where she played to the back seats of her studio audience by yelling lines. This, plus the screaming exercises early on, the fake high pitch for Lucy Ricardo, the poor singing technique in WILDCAT, and having to talk constantly as star, director & studio head, all wreaked havoc on her voice. Certainly smoking had a big role, too, and most likely was responsible for the polyps she later developed (which cause raspiness), but it wasn't JUST the smoking.
vidayverdad2 1 year ago
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vidayverdad2 1 year ago
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vidayverdad2 1 year ago
That wasn't her normal tone, it was more baritone. She pushed it even higher for the "Lucy" character. Not to mention having to project her voice each week to a studio audience (as the mics then weren't as sophisticated as they are now). By the 60's she was having trouble pushing her voice to that higher octave. Probably after years and years of damage from using that artificial tone. I've also read that she developed polyps and had to have an operation (though I don't know how true that is).
ithl123 1 year ago
and of course, the smoking didn't help.
Either way, she manage to not only have a career, but stay on top of her profession for over five decades. Very few people who can say that. :)
ithl123 1 year ago
Lucy's story about the voice dubbing is a bit fishy- It sounds like the producers hired someone to dub her voice, and Lucy put the kibosh on it, Otherwise, why would Lisa Kirk even have been mentioned? Lucy a great comedian, but not right for the role of a rich sophisticated freespirit Too bad we can't go back in time and persuade Lucy and Hello Dolly Streisand in to switch roles
hexum7 2 years ago
The real story is Lucy WANTED her voice dubbed in MAME, as had been done in most of her early musicals, but Warners balked, saying 1970s audiences were too sophisticated for that. Perhaps Lucy suggested Lisa Kirk dub her voice, but it didn't happen.
vidayverdad2 2 years ago
Love her
atrayu90602 2 years ago 5
Unfortuately for Lucy, Mame was a huge flop
delidude1999 2 years ago
I love Lucy and loved this movie when it came out, but I wish like HELL they'd let Landsbury do the movie. Not so much as I wish they'd given "Gypsy" to Merman, but there you are.
Cramnella 2 years ago
Lansbury might have been a better Mame, but she too didn't have a very good singing voice. It was just average too. Better than Lucy, but not the best choice. The best person I ever saw do Mame was SHANI WALLIS of Oliver! fame. She was fantastic and unlike Angela Lansbury or Lucy , Shani Wallis is a REAL singer. Why I think Lucy is a good Mame is she is a beauty in it, even at the age she was. She looked great.
Classicsatdusk 2 years ago
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HarryCarlyle 1 year ago
oh my goodness. I have never read a comment on youtube that I have agreed with so much. SO TRUE.
Sondheimgirl 2 years ago
@Cramnella Ethel Merman did not get GYPSY because she could not act. She was allowed to recreate her Tony winning role in Call Me Madam and it was a major flop because of her over the top, phony acting. On stage you can get away with being a "personality" but the screen magnfies the acting lmitations. Any big Broadway musical star of the heydey of Broadway always had limited acting skills, otherwise MGM would have scooped them up.
pudgeuncle 1 year ago
I like the movie. One of my faves. With her and Bea Arthur
misscutie30240 2 years ago 3
"Mame" it's better than "Hello, Dolly!" for me. Isn't boring!
MartaGabri 2 years ago
Yes, I've heard that this film was not received well - but I've seen it many times and it follows the "show" script very closely - and I thought Lucille Ball was great!
blevideo 2 years ago 4
I agree! I saw this movie in its original Radio City release. The audience was cheering for the movie - and Lucy - at the end. Ball is brilliant throughout the picture but I think she tops herself as she sits between the Upsons watching Gloria in home movies. Watch her reactions. A wonderful actor, Lucy.
showtunestarpower 2 years ago 2
Mame is a fantastic film everytime I see it, it makes me laugh funny, funny funny.
bletchley1965 2 years ago 4
Unfortunately, it was spectacular flop.
007InMiami 2 years ago 2
lon live lucy. we loved her in australia, her shows were ALWAYS on!
kangaroosbraun 2 years ago 2
very honest person i am very happy 2 c this clip
toofargone68 2 years ago
When Lucy says, she can't sing, I admire her honesty.
Leo7787 2 years ago 7
ya in du barry was a lady she lip sync one song
Vanillaface95 2 years ago
I really enjoyed this clip...especially since it was on tv before any critics saw a preview...truly one of the greatest flops ever produced ...I love Mame for its sheer over the top badness. Lucy was also the executive producer so she had no one to blame but herself...all the critics agreed that it played to none of Lucy's strengths and should have been made 8 yrs before it was - with Angela Lansbury. Truly an ego driven project. A real shame that Lucy ended her movie career w/such a dud
zaborwi 2 years ago 3
RIP Lucille
kellie77381 2 years ago 3
Hah...an absolute "Ball" making it...
-Henry
myhairiswaving 2 years ago
Lucy!! I love Lucy is one of my favorite shows!!
Ilovegoldengirls2313 2 years ago
Why is her voice so raspy and deep? is it from age or smoking?
xXxShawn8xXx 2 years ago
It's partly from smoking, but mainly from bad vocal projection technique (including singing) and from playing Lucy Ricardo.
rachelazw 2 years ago
Well there's a glimpse of the future voice of our Fran Drescher,lol.
arvedsin 2 years ago 2
Check out the Youtube clip of with this title: "What's My Line" (w/ guest Lucille Ball, Deborah Kerr) 3/3 Starting at 4:38 in that clip, you can hear Lucille Ball's natural speaking voice back in the "I Love Lucy" days when she WASN'T playing Lucy Ricardo. It's much deeper than on her show. And by continuing to do that "Lucy" voice, she would drive her voice even deeper.
vidayverdad2 2 years ago
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omg she is hideous, Lucile ball is BUTT UGLY
vtecivicsib18 2 years ago
And just as I suspected, you go around Youtube posting these sophomoric flame messages. Obviously, you're seriously starving for attention. It's too bad you lead such a sad life with nothing more useful to offer. You might consider getting counseling before it's too late.
vieetverite 2 years ago 8
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omg like you vieetverite SHUT THAT DAMN MOUTH YOU DUMB BITCH
vtecivicsib18 2 years ago
Why are so angry? You obviously don't spend much time reading or you would have a better choice of vocabulary. You're quite pitiful....I'm sure your parents are quite proud of you...
dougalina123 2 years ago 3
omg like you??
SwanofHollywood 2 years ago
3 things
1: You have NO life because you go around posting these mad messages.
2: You are just plain STUPID because your vocabulary is atrocious and fucking plain BAD
3: Get off youtube. Lucy was always beautiful in PERSONALITY! You'll notice that as you get older you'll get unactractive too unless you get work done. Lucy's skin was to fair to get a face lift. Look up her pictures from her 20's. Go ahead you worthless piece of life.
lucy3142 2 years ago 3
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shut the hell up. number 1 omg your a fukking fruit man. I HOPE your not in NC because i might just start looking for you
vtecivicsib18 2 years ago
umm, im not a fruit bcuz im a GIRL.
I live in Florida dumbass.
and dnt call me MAN. nd u dnt intimidarte me. U think ur so cool. But If u WERE cool, you would stop threatening people and posting these evil messages!
lucy3142 2 years ago 15
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☻/
/▌
/ \
This is bob, Copy and paste him, and soon he will take over Youtube
angrygunsmith 2 years ago
i LOVE this version and i thought Lucy was FABULOUS! perhaps cause i saw this first. had i seen Angela Lansberry version, who knows. like i
was very disappointed with the Johnny Depp version of Sweeny Todd but LOVED the Broadway version with Angela...um, wait, i forgot my point. OH, yea, that whole thing about "expectations" can cause u not to enjoy something.
Brentstarga 2 years ago 2
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oh God, MAME was terrible
asherhawke 3 years ago
I love Lucy, but her voice is so low--so deep
redheadeddude 3 years ago 3
smoking...she sounded way cuter in the 50's on "i love lucy"
TaylorAmelia 3 years ago 5
That "I Love Lucy" voice wasn't her voice. She pushed her more baritone voice to it's upper register for the "Lucy" voice. That's actually what damaged her vocal chords, decades of using it (improperly) for that characterization.
ithl123 3 years ago
I had heard that, but i didn't know if it was true.
Spellcaster94 2 years ago
Check out the Youtube clip of with this title: "What's My Line" (w/ guest Lucille Ball, Deborah Kerr) 3/3 Starting at 4:38 in that clip, you can hear Lucille Ball's natural speaking voice back in the "I Love Lucy" days when she WASN'T playing Lucy Ricardo. It's much deeper than on her show. And by continuing to do that "Lucy" voice, she would drive her voice even deeper.
vidayverdad2 2 years ago
You're correct that the artificially high-pitched Lucy Ricardo voice damaged her vocal chords. Also years of voice projection to a studio audience (compounded by the high pitch); it's common for stage performers to have vocal chord damage & her shows were done in that style. Also, acting, directing, producing and running a company simultaneously meant she probably talked non-stop, which is also damaging. Add to all that, improper voice projection when she sang in WILDCAT ... and the smoking.
Beejjjjjj 2 years ago
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Angela Landsbury should've yelled "RAPE"
Theoz69 3 years ago
I was very entertained by Lucy's Mame. Lucille Ball is and always will be one of our national treasures.
lizziesecondstreet 3 years ago 17
I love Lucy as much as anyone, but her Mame was one of the great all-time Hollywood flops.
johnsax1445 3 years ago
no one shouldnt post bad comments about the great Lucille Ball with respect no bad comments if one dont like the actress then simply dont watch or leave hurtful comments
altarosa1fan 3 years ago 2
Why are these other people being so rude and mean to Lucille, she is so amazing?!
intothewoods4 3 years ago 6
Bea Arthur didn't want to do it with Lucy as the star, but did it as a favor to someone. Lucy was ok, but not Roselyn Russell or Angela Lansbury by any stretch of the imagination.
blattman13 3 years ago
Bea was married to the director, Gene Saks (who also directed the stage production). Bea was a professional, but I think you can tell her alliances lie with Ms Lansbury, who was and still is one of her closest friends.
BroadwayGuy25 3 years ago
She couldn't sing; she never could. "Mame" is remembered as one of the most endearingly bad movies of all time because Ball was miscast. Ex-husband Desi Arnaz warned her not to do it. He was right.
nuness20 3 years ago
Yes, a simple case of miscast.
RozRuss 3 years ago
Listen to her heavy breathing (weazing) and her tone is changed (comparied to ealier years). Stupid cigerettes.
ubuntubular 3 years ago
People constantly blame the cigarettes on the damage to her voice. Yes, they took a toll, but it was more than that. That voice from "the earlier years" you refer to is probably the main reason her voice got damaged later. For the Lucy Ricardo voice, she spoke in an unnaturally high pitch. The NIH says that is a major cause of vocal chord damage. She also used bad singing technique in Wildcat and elsewhere according to colleagues. Her voice dropped noticeably after Wildcat and again after Mame.
Beejjjjjj 3 years ago 2
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She is lying. In Mame when she sings alone it is her voice. She could not sing in anyone else's key so they recorded other singers depending on who she was singing with. She also had stunt doubles for all of the physical comedy.
dandolion 3 years ago
You're full of BS. You acknowledge she did her own singing when she sang alone, but that was a lot. She had lots of solos and it's clearly her voice. The only times she was singing with others, she was singing along with an entire chorus of singers, so you wouldn't be able to distinguish her one way or the other. As for using stunt doubles, in the scene on roller skates, tell me where they came up with a stunt double that had her face.
rachelazw 3 years ago
I was there. My father was the director and my mother was her costar. I WAS ON THE SET AND AT THE RECORDING SESSIONS! Think twice before you say people are full of BS
dandolion 3 years ago
You didn't explain how your father put Lucille Ball's face on the stunt double doing the roller skating. As for the singing, you didn't say anything different than I did: "When she sings alone it is her voice."
rachelazw 3 years ago 4
I am not going to try to explain the film industry to you. Or film making or editing. Since obviously you want to believe what you want to believe. The movie was a huge mistake it was too late in her carrier for her to play the role. Ten years earlier it could have been a great movie. Watch the movie "Auntie Mame" which the musical play was based on some time. It is a far superior film. Dezi was right she shouldn't have made the movie.
dandolion 3 years ago
I'm not asking you to explain the film industry, I'm asking you to explain your comment. You said Lucy is lying here, and go on to say she did none of her stunts, and talk about her voice not being heard when there is a chorus of singers backing her up. (So?) It's perfectly clear when she sing's solo, it's her voice, and you don't deny that. And it's clear she's skating in that scene. So what is the lie? Just because Bea Arthur is your mother doesn't give you license to say just any ol' thing.
rachelazw 3 years ago 7
His name was Desi, not Dezi. I've seen the film AUNTIE MAME and didn't like it near as much as as this film, which I've seen numerous times. I've heard all the nasty criticisms: Lucy's voice and dancing, the film's direction, Bea Arthur "looked like a football player in drag" etc. It's often been said that critics are just bitter showbiz wannabes, so I don't really care what they think. What matters to me is whether I enjoy something. If you prefer AUNTIE MAME, fine. To each his own.
Beejjjjjj 3 years ago 2
little trivia - can't remember which episode it was but the credits once read Dezi not Desi after an episode of I Love Lucy, pretty funny!
Actor555 2 years ago
What about "My Best Boy" or "Bosom Buddies" Those are DUETS with no chorus.
dandolion 3 years ago
Oh, and by the way, SHE'S the one who wanted to have her voice dubbed (as had been done in most of her musicals in the past), but Warner's insisted she do her own singing because they believed 1970s audiences were too sophisticated for dubbing.
rachelazw 3 years ago 2
Don't get me wrong... I Love Lucy (No Pun Intended) But you have to admit she does sound rather "Manish".
Stagerage 3 years ago
It's from her smoking. Unfortunately she was a heavy smoker her whole life and by this time it had affected her voice. In fact in the original episodes of "I Love Lucy" many times she and Desi would light up, and those scenes were cut out when the show went into re-runs. In fact, the original sponser of the show was the Philip Morris cigarette company!
moviejoe79 3 years ago
It was not JUST the smoking. She also damaged her voice by playing Lucy Ricardo. That was not her natural speaking voice. She spent all those years in rehearsals and on film speaking at an unnaturally high pitch, all while projecting to a studio audience, which took a huge toll on her vocal chords. Also, according to Keith Andes and Lucie Arnaz, she did not follow proper voice projection techniques when singing (like in Wildcat). Her voice dropped noticeably after Wildcat and again after Mame.
Beejjjjjj 3 years ago
i need to find this movie!
yakuzafromhiroshima 3 years ago
I think Lucy's real life voice was deeper. Then her Lucy Richardo chacater. Miss you Lucy.
punisher21200 3 years ago
What I've always loved about Lucille Ball is that she was a BROAD, really ballsy!!!
StephanAOTTO1 3 years ago 2
BROADWAY singer LISA KIRK had done most of the singing for Roz Russell in the movie version of GYPSY. She could have done some of the singing for Lucy because she matched Roz's husky voice very well ~ but, Lucy talk-sang her way through MAME fairly well and I think that by 1974 audiences were getting too sophisticated to accept "dubbing" anyway. Thanks for posting this - fun to see.
JohnnyGNV 3 years ago
JohnnyGNV, your comment is right on the mark. Lucy actually WANTED to have her voice dubbed in MAME (as had been done in most of her previous films in which she sang), but Warner Bros refused for the very reason you cite: their belief that 1974 audiences were too sophisticated to accept dubbing. A friend of mine, who was very close to Lucy, said that during the filming of MAME, she'd hide out in her dressing room on days she had to be in the recording studio because she dreaded it so much.
dkri2 3 years ago
Wow, her voice changed when she got old.
Chiswick2 3 years ago
its from all the smoking it ruins your voice so badly
90srawesome 3 years ago
Seeing Lucy so excited about "Mame" makes me cry. I wish the film had been a bigger success for her. I love the film. And I love Lucy.
DeanLeonard1 3 years ago 4
I wish that in her career after I Love Lucy, we'd gotten a chance to see and hear Lucy just be herself more often, not just in the occasional movie, talk show, or game show appearance. She was a very charismatic and intelligent-speaking actor. Did she do a lecture circuit like Bette Davis, etc.? She wasted too much of the 1960s, and her 50s years, being ditzy in her 2nd show The Lucy Show.
italoman9 3 years ago 3
Yes, in the late '70s she gave a series of seminars at USC and elsewhere (mostly to theater arts students) on comedy, acting and the television industry, topics on which she knew more than just about anyone. She essentially became a part time professor. An abbreviated version of what she did for students was presented on a late '70s talk show once.
Beejjjjjj 3 years ago
Hey... I liked her second show! :(
Of course nothing can compare to the I Love Lucy show! :)
Latte877 3 years ago
lucy is the the nicest person ever. she was in great spirits until the day she died
renitayv 3 years ago 4
I know everyone has their say on Lucille Ball being Mame. I LOVE that movie so much and I LOVE that she sang the whole soundtrack! Honestly its one of my favourite soundtracks. See she gets on stage and says I can't sing and yet she did that whole movie! Hollywood lost something they will never have again, when Lucille Ball died.
kneecoal777 3 years ago 7
Angela landsbery was the best Mame their ever was.
PEOTER 3 years ago 2
Lucy's great here. She gives credit to Lisa Kirk and Onna White. She's as sharp as nails and in good spirits. Nice to see.
Dantiki2 3 years ago 7
What about Angela Lansbury? I thought that she was part of MAME....I have Bosom Buddies as a song with Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury.
ragtime1925 3 years ago 3
Bea Arthur and Angela Landsbury were in "Mame" On broadway together. If you search youtube you can find them performing "Bosom Buddies" at the Tony awards. They performed it a few different years.
dandolion 3 years ago
Ha, ha.
Watch my videos. I got her.
mearte 3 years ago
Nice to see Lucy when she seemed to be having fun. I loved her in Mame.
star0879 3 years ago 4
I'm not a big fan of MAME(the movie) but it is worth watching it for the song "Bosom Buddies" with her and Bea Arthur.
countrygirltori 3 years ago
I'm hoping that there are more clips of
interviews that Mr.Griffin did with other
well known performers and personalities
on his talk/variety tv show?
143AC 3 years ago
He broadcasted an ENTIRE 90 minute show from the National Theater in Westwood for the premiere of LOST HORIZON with more stars coming through the lobby stopping to talk to him than you can shake a stick at. He did the same for MAME when it premiered at the CINERAMA DOME in Hollywood.
CliffordCarson 3 years ago
what year was this
toons416 4 years ago
Read the description
It says: November 1973
PineValleyFan 4 years ago
does ny one know where i can get more of this interview?? someone had the whole thing on here. Lucille shared this interview with Gary Morton (he poured water all over her feet-it was hilarious!) and her daughter Lucie & I think her son & Bob Hope.
HazelEyed89 4 years ago
Keep your eyes peeled. It will be up eventually.
dkri2 4 years ago
Check the link in the description above for the full show.
dkri2 3 years ago
Way to talk down your film lucille "cant sing cant dance ball".
harry1552 4 years ago
She did the right thing. She was defending someone who didn't deserve to be criticized. Besides, if someone says they can't sing but did it anyway, I'd go see the movie just to hear how it turned out. LOL! I love Lucy!
Gosalyn87 3 years ago 3
the true queen of comedy. i adore her.
laurieheartsdcx 4 years ago 2
I <3 <3 <3 her as well!!!
Tracethat81 4 years ago
I Love Her SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Much
gelluper 4 years ago
she was so modest
cool88roleplayer 4 years ago
Lisa Kirk dubbed a chunk of Roz's singing in the film "Gypsy."
fkd1963 4 years ago
Can you post more of this?
lewytlady1 4 years ago