Arthur, Beatrice

Mame

The 1974 film version of Mame stars legendary Lucille Ball and is based on the 1966 hit Broadway musical, not the 1958 movie. When 10-year-old Patrick Dennis's father dies, he is sent to live with his eccentric Auntie Mame. Mame may know nothing about being a parent, but she's got love and spontaneity in spades, and Patrick blooms in the time spent with her. Though Miss Ball seems sadly miscast when Mame begins (she's too old and can't sing), by the time the movie reaches the famous foxhunt scene when Mame accidentally wins the hunt, and in turn the heart of gallant Beauregard Burnside, you start to believe Lucy is Mame.

Reprising her Broadway role (for which she won a Tony), Bea Arthur plays Mame's boozy pal Vera Charles. Songs include the now-classic "We Need a Little Christmas" and "Bosom Buddies" plus "Loving You," sung by Robert Preston's Beau and written for this movie. --Dana Van Nest

Lucille Ball plays Auntie mame loving life and living it to the hilt with her nephew and assorted eccentrics in tow. Robert Preston Beatrice Arthur and Jerry Herman's smashing Broadway score add pizazz. Year: 1974 Director: Gene Saks Starring: Lucille Ball. Robert Preston Bea ArthurRunning Time: 131 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: PG UPC: 085391134145 Manufacturer No: 113414

The Sid Caesar Collection - The Fan Favorites - 50th Anniversary Edition

When we worked together," reminisces Sid Caesar, "it was magic, and you don't question magic." So just enjoy this essential three-disc collection of vintage sketches from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. To work on these programs was to attend "the Harvard of Comedy," and this "great amalgamation of talents," which included Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, Howard Morris, Nanette Fabray, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, and Neil and Danny Simon, were at the head of their class. "We did everything," Caesar notes at one point, and the proof is on these discs: domestic sketches ("Life Begins at 7:45"), game show parodies ("Break Your Brains"), spoofs of foreign films ("U-Bet-U"), opera ("Gallipacci"), and classical music (and a pantomime of "the 1812 Overture"). It is a testament to the knowledge, technique, and taste of those who created the show that these 50-year-old sketches hold up as well as they do. This was the golden age of live television, when anything could happen, and the cast would have to go with it. In "Gallipacci," Caesar's make-up pencil breaks when his character, a heartbroken clown, is applying make-up to his face. Without missing a beat, Caesar rises to the potentially disastrous occasion with one of the most inspired ad-libs in television history.

In between the sketches, the cast members and writers, a virtual Who's Who of comedy, affectionately recall working with each other, and creating these classic sketches. Each DVD includes bonus sketches. Caesar also provides illuminating commentary on selected sketches. More than a television time capsule that vividly re-creates a bygone era, this priceless collection is also a master class for aspiring comedy writers and performers. It is not a coincidence that one of Caesar's signature characters was called "the Professor." --Donald Liebenson

One of the greatest comedians ever, Sid Caesar has been making America laugh since the 1950s, when he ruled airwaves with his Emmy® Award-winning Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. Now, for the first time ever, 20 of his fans' all-time favorite sketche

Jerry Herman's Broadway at Hollywood Bowl

This 1993 tribute to Jerry Herman collects numbers from the songwriter's Broadway shows, performed by a wide variety of stars, many with strong ties to Herman. You've got Carol Channing, of course (the original and forever Dolly), Leslie Uggams (Jerry's Girls), George Hearn (La Cage aux Folles), Bea Arthur (with her trademark "Man in the Moon" from Mame), Lee Roy Reams and Karen Morrow (An Evening with Jerry Herman), Florence Lacey (The Grand Tour), Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), Davis Gaines, Michael Feinstein, and Rita Moreno, all backed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Don Pippin (Herman's longtime musical director) before a live audience at the Hollywood Bowl. Pippin leads the orchestra in instrumental medleys of waltzes and marches, Liza Minnelli, Paul and Linda McCartney, and Angela Lansbury offered prerecorded greetings, and humorous moments are provided by Luft's grouchy "Put It Back On" response to the dance team's "Take It All Off" (the producers make it up to her later by giving her Mack & Mabel's great ballad "Time Heals Everything"). There's also Reams's impressions of Channing, Pearl Bailey, and Louis Armstrong performing "Hello, Dolly"; and Arthur, who explains that Mame was not named after her character simply because nothing would rhyme with "Vera"--though "Sondheim could have done it." The guest of honor laughs right along with the crowd, and then takes the stage himself for the finale--for Jerry Herman fans, this concert is the best of times indeed. --David Horiuchi

This gala star-studded musical tribute to Jerry Herman the legendary Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning composer/lyricist of the Broadway hits Hello Dolly! Mame and La Cage aux Folles was filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl! System Requirements:Running Time 113 Mins.Format: DVD AUDIO Genre: MUSIC DVD/CONCERTS Rating: NR UPC: 014381319125 Manufacturer No: ID3191WLDVD

The Best of Sid Caesar

Sid Caesar's Emmy winning "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" have made America laugh for over 50 years. Now the bst sketches from these programs are assembled onto one DVD packed with priceless bonuses. System Requirements:Running Time 75 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 767685980439 Manufacturer No: NVG-9804

Lovers and Other Strangers

First comes love then comes marriage then come loads of laughs in this highly amusing (Time) comedy about a romantic coming-together that s about to fall apart! With a delightful cast (Los Angeles Times) including Diane Keaton in her film debut Lovers and Other Strangers is hilarious [with] funny sad touching and moving moments (The Hollywood Reporter)!As Mike and Susan prepare to walk down the aisle the groom gets a case of cold feet. But turning to friends and family for support could send the couple running for matrimonial cover! Susan s father is fooling around with her mother s best friend; Mike s brother is divorcing his high-school sweetheart and his parents are living a loveless lie. The rocky road to happily-ever-after has never been so uproarious as in this vividly real genuinely funny movie (Leonard Maltin).System Requirements: Running Time 104 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R UPC: 027616908292 Manufacturer No: 1006668

The Sid Caesar Collection - The Buried Treasures - 50th Anniversary Edition

The DVD releases of SCTV, Kids in the Hall, and In Living Color, made 2004 a banner year for sketch-comedy aficionados. But this three-disc collection of vintage sketches from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour is essential for those with an appreciation for the grand masters. We come to praise Caesar, not to bury him. This was the golden age of live television, and these were the shows to which comedy writers aspired. Caesar's dream team included (though not at the same time) Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Selma Diamond, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, and Neil and Danny Simon. The Sid Caesar Collection is a treasure trove of sketches, representative of the "knowledge, technique, and taste" of the show's creators: domestic sketches ("Nan Hires a Maid," "The White Rug"), spoofs ("Bullet Over Broadway," "German U Boat 749"), and pantomime ("Grieg Piano Concerto," "Pantomime Cocktail Party").

One reason why these sketches, some more than 50 years old, hold up so well, is Caesar's credo that "People are more interesting than things." The best sketches are universal, human comedy. In "Nan Hires a Maid," the writers meticulously establish wife Nanette Fabray's frustration with husband Sid's sloppiness, so when Sid comes home from work, we anxiously await to see him carelessly discard his clothes around the room, and for dutiful Nanette to explode, which she does "just so." Anything could happen on live television. Check out the "Bus Station" sketch, in which commuter Sid can be glimpsed wearing sandals he did not have time to change from a previous gladiator sketch. Other memorable sketches include "Toy Band" (which echoes the intricate teamwork of the Your Show of Shows classic, "The Clock") and "Bullets Over Broadway," which may have inspired the Boss Hijack sketches in the Caesar homage, My Favorite Year. In between the sketches, cast members and writers affectionately recall working with each other, and creating this classic comedy. Each DVD includes bonus sketches. Caesar also provides illuminating commentary on selected sketches. --Donald Liebenson

A comic genius who's had America laughing since the 1950s, Sid Caesar was the star and guiding force behind the Emmy® Award-winning Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour.

Now, 19 of Sid's legendary sketches have been unearthed from the vault, and can be s

Broadway's Lost Treasures II

The follow-up to the original Broadway's Lost Treasures delivers more of the same--historic performances of great moments in American musical theater televised on the Tony Awards--but is a step up in terms of sheer entertainment value. The first volume included only performances before 1987, and while they had bigger stars (Yul Brynner, Robert Preston), some of them were lip-synced and considerably less polished than their feature-film equivalents. Broadway's Lost Treasures II features newer performances that are almost indistinguishable from an actual show, including scenes from splashy, high-energy revivals such as Anything Goes (Patti LuPone and company performing the title tune) and Guys and Dolls (the fabulous "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat"), and new shows such as Grand Hotel (Michael Jeter and Brent Barrett in a gloriously exuberant "Take a Glass Together"), Les Miserables ("One Day More"), La Cage aux Folles (George Hearn solo and with a chorus line in drag in "I Am What I Am"), and Jelly's Last Jam (Gregory Hines tapping "That's How You Jazz"). There are classic performances too, including Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur's 1987 reunion of "Bosom Buddies" (Mame), Richard Kiley's "The Impossible Dream" (Man of La Mancha), Jerry Orbach's "All I Care About" (Chicago), and (in the DVD's bonus content) Katharine Hepburn in a 15-minute part-dramatic, part-musical scene from Coco. Fans were disappointed when performances from Dreamgirls and A Chorus Line were pulled from the first program due to rights issues, and those still aren't included here, but one can always hope they might appear in a future volume. --David Horiuchi

The annual Tony Award® broadcast provides the only filmed record of Broadway's best for audiences to experience as if they were front-row-center on opening night. This second compilation of great musical moments from the Tonys® features another dazzling array of stars and performances. Hosts Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Jerry Orbach introduce these 18 one-of-a-kind performances and share their personal Broadway and Tony® memories.
"Praise be to the theatre gods. . . for what was `lost' is found." —Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the first Broadway's Lost Treasures.

THE LEADS
Patti LuPone, Anything Goes
Angela Lansbury, Beatrice Arthur, Mame
Robert Morse, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Jane Lapotaire, Piaf
Richard Kiley, Man of La Mancha

ALL SINGING, ALL DANCING
Nell Carter, cast, Ain't Misbehavin'
Michael Jeter, Brent Barrett, Grand Hotel
Gregory Hines, Jelly's Last Jam
Walter Bobbie, Nathan Lane, Guys and Dolls

REVIVALS AND RECORD BREAKERS
George Hearn, cast, La Cage aux Folles
Cast, Les Misérables
Shirley Verrett, cast, Carousel
Jerry Orbach, Chicago

BONUS PERFORMANCES
Katharine Hepburn, Coco
Robert Lindsay, Me and My Girl
Tom Bosley, Fiorello!
Kathi Moss, cast, Nine
Bill Hutton, cast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

BONUS EXTRAS
Five additional performances not seen on the PBS broadcast
Historical information about the original Broadway productions
PLAYBILL cover art

Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Hollywood Bowl

This 1993 tribute to Jerry Herman collects numbers from the songwriter's Broadway shows, performed by a wide variety of stars, many with strong ties to Herman. You've got Carol Channing, of course (the original and forever Dolly), Leslie Uggams (Jerry's Girls), George Hearn (La Cage aux Folles), Bea Arthur (with her trademark "Man in the Moon" from Mame), Lee Roy Reams and Karen Morrow (An Evening with Jerry Herman), Florence Lacey (The Grand Tour), Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), Davis Gaines, Michael Feinstein, and Rita Moreno, all backed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Don Pippin (Herman's longtime musical director) before a live audience at the Hollywood Bowl. Pippin leads the orchestra in instrumental medleys of waltzes and marches, Liza Minnelli, Paul and Linda McCartney, and Angela Lansbury offered prerecorded greetings, and humorous moments are provided by Luft's grouchy "Put It Back On" response to the dance team's "Take It All Off" (the producers make it up to her later by giving her Mack & Mabel's great ballad "Time Heals Everything"). There's also Reams's impressions of Channing, Pearl Bailey, and Louis Armstrong performing "Hello, Dolly"; and Arthur, who explains that Mame was not named after her character simply because nothing would rhyme with "Vera"--though "Sondheim could have done it." The guest of honor laughs right along with the crowd, and then takes the stage himself for the finale--for Jerry Herman fans, this concert is the best of times indeed. --David Horiuchi

The program:

1. Introduction--Liza Minnelli
2. Overture--L.A. Philharmonic
3. Welcome--Carol Channing
4. It's Today (from Mame)--Leslie Uggams
5. Movies Were Movies (Mack & Mabel)--George Hearn
6. It Only Takes a Moment (Hello, Dolly)--Florence Lacey
7. Put On Your Sunday Clothes/Before the Parade Passes By (Hello, Dolly)--Lee Roy Reams
8. The Waltzes--L.A. Philharmonic
9. Wherever He Ain't (Mack & Mabel)--Lorna Luft, Leslie Uggams, Florence Lacey
10. Song on the Sand (La Cage aux Folles)--Davis Gaines
11. Take It All Off (Jerry's Girls)--Lorna Luft and the Girls
12. We Need a Little Christmas (Mame)--Karen Morrow
13. If He Walked Into My Life (Mame)--Leslie Uggams
14. Greetings--Paul and Linda McCartney
15. Hello Dolly (Hello, Dolly)--Lee Roy Reams, Leslie Uggams, Lorna Luft, International Dollies, Carol Channing
16. The Marches--L.A. Philharmonic
17. The Man in the Moon (Mame)--Bea Arthur
18. Bosom Buddies (Mame)--Leslie Uggams, Rita Moreno
19. Time Heals Everything (Mack & Mabel)--Lorna Luft
20. Greetings--Angela Lansbury
21. Mame (Mame)--L.A. Philharmonic
22. I Won't Send Roses (Mack & Mabel)--Michael Feinstein
23. I Don't Want to Know (Dear World)--Karen Morrow
24. Tap Your Troubles Away (Mack & Mabel)--Rita Moreno
25. Kiss Her Now (Dear World)--Leslie Uggams, Florence Lacey
26. La Cage aux Folles (La Cage aux Folles)--Lee Roy Reams
27. I Am What I Am (La Cage aux Folles)--George Hearn
28. The Best of Times (La Cage aux Folles)--Jerry Herman, the entire cast, and fireworks

Sid Caesar Collection - 3 Volume Gift Boxed Set

So Jackie Chan doesn't use stunt men? Big deal. In the 1950s, Sid Caesar and a peerless ensemble of character actors, including Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, and later, Nanette Fabray, dared something even more risky and dangerous: making an audience of millions laugh each week, 39 weeks a year, for 90 minutes without benefit of cue cards, teleprompters, or laugh track. It was the golden age of live television, and Your Show of Shows was the gold standard of sketch-variety series. This is the show to which all comedy writers aspired, and Caesar assembled an unprecedented dream team that included (though not at the same time) Neil Simon and his brother Danny, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Woody Allen, and Selma Diamond. The Sid Caesar Collection is a treasure trove of 18 vintage sketches from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. The exquisite pantomime The Clock, The German General, the movie parody From Here to Obscurity, and the uproarious This Is Your Story (with Howard Morris in his shining quarter-hour as Uncle Goofy) were previously featured in the 1973 compilation film Ten from Your Show of Shows. The rest have been virtually unseen since their original broadcasts. Husband-wife relations have come a long way since The Fur Coat, and The Haircuts, a goof on rock & roll, was perhaps square even then, but they are all still wonderfully and humanly crazy after all these years. Linking these sketches are newly filmed interviews with Caesar, Reiner, Morris, Simon, Gelbart, Allen, and Fabray, who recall the chaos of mounting a weekly live broadcast and the inspiration for these classic sketches. --Donald Liebenson

Enemies of Laughter