Oh, Those Traveling Props!

[JoeySanJoaquin]

I think Sextette was completed a couple years earlier than its release date (March 1978 according to wikipedia) but considering Mame was filmed in 1973, 3 years might be about right.

In the 6 or so years between Myra Breckenridge and Sextette, Mae must have had a slight stroke.  She actually looks and moves around pretty good in Myra and is the only reason to see that atrocity.  Though top billed, Mae does not appear in the first 25 minutes of the film and then her scenes have nothing to do with the plot, such as it is.  "Myra" is probably the worst movie ever released by a major studio (Fox).  It is unbelievably bad.

 

The plot of Sextette had Mae as a femme fatale movie star (what else?) who's set to marry husband #6, but her ex-husbands keep showing up.  If the husbands had been cast with actors within THIRTY years of Mae's age, she might not have been subject to the ridicule she got.  Husband #6 was played by Timothy Dalton, over 50 years younger than Mae.  We are never subjected to a shot of the couple actually kissing, but Dalton deserved some kind of an award for convincingly looking adoringly and longingly at Mae as if she were in her prime.  

Sextette is a musical but rather than an original score, the songs were all familiar, old "After Your Gone"and new "Love Will Keep Us Together" which Dalton sings to Mae changing the lyrics from "Young and beautiful, someday your looks will be gone" to "your looks will never be gone".  There is one original song "Marlo", the name of Mae's character, sung by a chorus over the closing credits with these lyrics "Marlo! The female answer to Apollo!".  Oh, Mae don't drag in your childhood pals...

 

In one of the most cruelly accurate reviews of Mae in Sextette, Rex Reed wrote "it's as if they smeared mascara on an old sheep and taught it to walk on its hind legs".   Mae moves like a weighty barge being pushed around by tugboats. 

Thanks for the witticisms -- actually laughed out loud!

 

(I've never seen either but now I'd like to! Unfortunately, due to the extinction of readily available video stores and the like -- and the strong doubt that either of these titles are available via Netflix -- it may be awhile before I find a way to view these "gems"!)

[Neil]

Here's Mae doing one of her two "Myra Breckenridge" songs "Hard to Handle".

I interspersed a couple of scenes from the movie in between choruses.  Yes, that's a young Tom Selleck as the object of Mae's affections.

I love the intro "that international RECORDING star Leticia Van Allen AND THE VAN ALLEN DANCERS"--who did this choreography?? They gyrate around like "Elmer" hopped of his box and dropped down their backs. 

 

[Freddie2]

The more I think about it, the more I'm not wild about Mae's later years. She seemed very self-serving. In hindsight, she comes across as a one-trick pony. Her "interview" with Dick Cavett consisted of Dick feeding Mae straight lines and her reciting the tired, bawdy old punchlines. I do agree that she's the best part of Breckenridge, but that ain't saying much.

 

Also, why the hell did she always dress like a Madame from the 1890s?

[Neil]

And here, submitted for your approval is a number from "Sextette".....And yes, the whole movie really was THIS bad.  

The novelty of watching 84 year old Mae strut her stuff wears thin pretty quickly.   But compare this to the "Myra" clip and you'll see how much she aged in the 6 or so years between the films. 

There's one witty line that might slip by you.

Mae: What do you do?

I'm a pole-vaulter.

Mae: Oo-ah, aren't we all?

 

[Mot Morenzi]

Thanks for the witticisms -- actually laughed out loud!

 

(I've never seen either but now I'd like to! Unfortunately, due to the extinction of readily available video stores and the like -- and the strong doubt that either of these titles are available via Netflix -- it may be awhile before I find a way to view these "gems"!)

The original "Sextette" DVD is OOP, but Mill Creek re-released it a few years ago as part of their "Dangerous Babes" 12 movie collection. It's dirt cheap for a bunch of "cult" classics. How exactly anyone could brand an aged Mae as dangerous is beyond me, unless there's a danger in dying from laughter.

[leenorman]

Here's Mae doing one of her two "Myra Breckenridge" songs "Hard to Handle".

I interspersed a couple of scenes from the movie in between choruses.  Yes, that's a young Tom Selleck as the object of Mae's affections.

I love the intro "that international RECORDING star Leticia Van Allen AND THE VAN ALLEN DANCERS"--who did this choreography?? They gyrate around like "Elmer" hopped of his box and dropped down their backs. 

 

 

OLD one ain't BAD EITHER!!!!

[Neil]

You notice that Mae starts out almost every sentence with "Oo-ah"?

And here, submitted for your approval is a number from "Sextette".....And yes, the whole movie really was THIS bad.  

The novelty of watching 84 year old Mae strut her stuff wears thin pretty quickly.   But compare this to the "Myra" clip and you'll see how much she aged in the 6 or so years between the films. 

There's one witty line that might slip by you.

Mae: What do you do?

I'm a pole-vaulter.

Mae: Oo-ah, aren't we all?

 

[Freddie2]

It's like that "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love" number if they wanted to remake it to show as a form of government torture.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

You notice that Mae starts out almost every sentence with "Oo-ah"?

I'd pay good money to find out what was going through that doll's mind when she was "serenading" him about "becoming 21"!

 

Well if I'd walked into that buff factory I'd start everything with oo-ah too -- after drooling uncontrollably, of course.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

The original "Sextette" DVD is OOP, but Mill Creek re-released it a few years ago as part of their "Dangerous Babes" 12 movie collection. It's dirt cheap for a bunch of "cult" classics. How exactly anyone could brand an aged Mae as dangerous is beyond me, unless there's a danger in dying from laughter.

Thanks! I'll put it on my Christmas list!

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Here's Mae doing one of her two "Myra Breckenridge" songs "Hard to Handle".

I interspersed a couple of scenes from the movie in between choruses.  Yes, that's a young Tom Selleck as the object of Mae's affections.

I love the intro "that international RECORDING star Leticia Van Allen AND THE VAN ALLEN DANCERS"--who did this choreography?? They gyrate around like "Elmer" hopped of his box and dropped down their backs. 

 

"Forget the six feet. Let's talk about the 7 inches!"

 

How "Sextette" ever got made after this ... wonder is mind-boggling! As with many tomes written about the "making of" certain films that turned out for various reasons to be debacles of one kind or another, I'd love to read one about the making of this or the other one/preferably both. It would be a fascinating read!   

[Neil]

"Sextette" had been in the works for some time.   If you look at the video attached, she looks pretty good in the wardrobe tests done for the film.  Something health-wise happened to her between this and the actual filming.   Had it been made 10 or even 5 years earlier, Mae may have had more of a chance.  Mae West had experienced a resurgence in popularity in the early 70s, nostalgia for the 30s, along with the Marx Brothers and WC Fields, all rebels before their times. 

 

Poor Mae was trying her best.  The story most often circulated is that Mae couldn't remember her lines and they were fed to her through an earpiece.  If you look at the clip I posted, watch how she hesitates before she says "The pleasure is all mine".   Evidently (the story goes) the frequency was crossed with flight information and Mae started spouting something about a flight landing.  The director disputes this story but says he was shooting during the day and rewriting at night so the earpiece was necessary as Mae had no time to learn the new dialogue.  The frequency-crossing story is highly unlikely but, as those sorts of stories are, has been repeated in print often enough it has become to be accepted as fact.  (sort of like "Lucy wrote the contract that required Vance to remain 20 pounds overweight").  

 

[HarryCarter]

It looks like Carol's wearing a shirt that came from Lucy's wardrobe.

 

[Luvsbway]

So this begs the question. Did Lucy pull this out for Carol to wear for this episode or was Carol the recipient of a Lucy closet clean out?

[HarryCarter]

I'm curious too. Carol was pregnant at the time.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Actually in this scenario I think either possibility is viable...but hey good catch either way!

[Mot Morenzi]

Interesting how differently the color photographed. On Lucy it looks quite pink yet it appears very purple on Carol. I'm guessing the film footage -purple- is likely the more accurate.

[Brock]

It must have stayed with Lucy. I THINK (!) this shirt is now in the Rapaport collection.

[Freddie2]

A certain piece of the nightclub set from Lady Be Good would be reused for MGM's first all-technicolor musical (the name escapes me at the moment).

 

 

 

[HarryCarter]

This prop travelled all the way to eBay. This is one of the grooviest things I've ever seen! Lucy's postcard to Lillian Appleby from "Lucy Gets in Pictures" written in Lucy's own hand! There was a discussion here a while back wondering if Desi accidentally said "Lillian Appleby" instead of "Carolyn." This shows that she was always supposed to be Lillian in this episode. 

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/-/391678032281?roken=2cYsiK

[Freddie2]

!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mot Morenzi]

This prop travelled all the way to eBay. This is one of the grooviest things I've ever seen! Lucy's postcard to Lillian Appleby from "Lucy Gets in Pictures" written in Lucy's own hand! There was a discussion here a while back wondering if Desi accidentally said "Lillian Appleby" instead of "Carolyn." This shows that she was always supposed to be Lillian in this episode. 

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/-/391678032281?roken=2cYsiK

WOW!!!!! What a find! I envy whoever gets ahold of this.

 

I'm amazed at the attention to detail; that Lucy actually wrote a note to the character. I'm wondering if Lillian came about because she misremembered the name and it's simply what she wrote down. Also, how neat to finally know the character's address after all these years.

[Luvsbway]

WOW!!!!! What a find! I envy whoever gets ahold of this.

 

I'm amazed at the attention to detail; that Lucy actually wrote a note to the character. I'm wondering if Lillian came about because she misremembered the name and it's simply what she wrote down. Also, how neat to finally know the character's address after all these years.

I thought the detail on this was interesting too. Too bad we won't have this on blu ray to inspect as it's being waved around. Don't know if you can see any writing on it in the episode.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

$3,500? Not a true "collector" so I can't determine whether this is considered a "bargain", a "steal" or a ripoff or somewhere in-between.... Thoughts?

[Brock]

I'd love to know the provenance of this!