#99 Auntie Mame

Auntie Mame is the 1958 film adaptation of a play based on a novel all of which share a title. It begins in the late 1920's and covers several decades in the lives of Mame Dennis (an eccentric socialite) and her nephew Patrick of whom she has become guardian. I love the film for a variety of reasons. Foremost is that I adore Rosalind Russell, she so funny, smart, talented, and down to earth. she brings Mame to life in such a way that you can't help but wish that she was your aunt. I love the scene where she goes on a fox hunt and ends up passing the other riders, the hounds, and even the fox itself before crashing and ending up holding and comforting the poor fox. Any friend of foxes is obviously a good person. I also love Mame's famous mantra "Love is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" so fun, so true. However I must warn to be wary if you decide to go out and see Auntie Mame, because they made it into a musical and made the musical into its own film titled simply Mame. Mame features a well past her prime Lucille Ball in the main role attempting to belt out show tunes despite a terrible smokers voice and a face on which either the years or the cosmetic procedures have taken a toll. The one redeeming factor of Mame is that it features Bea Arthur offering the classic line "I have an astronomical discovery for you. The man in the moon is a bitch" trust me it makes sense in context.