Patrick Dennis, orphaned in 1928 when his father Edwin Dennis dies unexpectedly, is placed in the care of his flamboyant aunt, Mame Dennis in Manhattan. Mame is a whirlwind of color, hosting constant gatherings that welcome a revolving cast of guests and free-spirited friends, from the frequently inebriated Vera Charles to the eccentric Acacius Page, who runs a progressive school with nudist exercises, and Lindsay Woolsey, a book publisher and devoted suitor. As Mame becomes a maternal figure to Patrick, her aim is to give him a broad, unbuttoned view of life. Yet Edwin’s will entrusts the family’s finances to Dwight Babcock, a stern, conservative trustee of the Knickerbocker Bank whose job is to curb Mame’s liberal influence.
When Babcock discovers that Mame has enrolled Patrick in Acacius Page’s school, he intervenes, forcibly placing Patrick in his own alma mater boarding school and keeping Mame at a distance except during holidays and summers, a move that strains their bond.
The stock market crash of 1929 wrecks Mame’s fortune, and she tries her hand at acting with Vera Charles, only to stumble into disaster when her overacting to amplify a small role makes the scene collapse. She then takes a string of jobs that prove equally volatile. During a stint as a Macy’s salesgirl, Mame meets Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, a Southern oil magnate who longs to comfort her in distress after a large toy order for orphans goes wrong. They are soon smitten, and Beau invites Mame to his estate, where his former fiancée, Sally Cato MacDougall, attempts to remove Mame by maneuvering her onto an unmanageable horse.
Beau and Mame marry and travel the world on an extended honeymoon. Throughout this time, Mame continues to exchange letters with Patrick, who is gradually being shaped by Babcock’s influence and who periodically joins them on their journeys. After Beau dies while climbing the Matterhorn in 1937, Mame returns home a wealthy widow to find Patrick now grown, having begun to shape his own life with a dictaphone, a typewriter, and a secretary, Agnes Gooch. Patrick, Vera, and Lindsay press Mame to write her autobiography, but they also arrange for a collaborator, Brian O’Bannion, whose charming facade quickly reveals him to be a fortune hunter.
As Patrick reveals his engagement to Gloria Upson, a girl from the exclusive Connecticut enclave of Mountebank, Mame’s attitude shifts. Initially resistant, she eventually relents to keep her nephew happy. She even orchestrates a playful ruse, sending Agnes to the party in her place and letting O’Bannion think Agnes is a secret heiress. When a drunken Agnes returns, she believes she and O’Bannion watched a wedding scene and that he was keen to meet her mother, only to realize the reality of their situation.
Gloria, spoiled and bigoted, clashes with Mame’s circle, and Patrick defends his fiancée’s world, sparking a public quarrel that unsettles the Upsons. In a bold gesture, Mame dedicates her royalties to a refugee Jewish children’s home built adjacent to the Upson property at Upson Downs, prompting the Upsons to leave in a huff. Mame also confronts Babcock about his meddling in Patrick’s life, and he departs as well.
By 1946, Patrick and Pegeen Ryan are married and have a son, Michael. Mame and Michael urge Patrick’s parents to allow Mame to take the boy on a journey to India, and the film fades on Mame promising Michael a lifetime of wondrous sights ahead, as the two set off toward new adventures.
- Patrick Dennis as a child is linked with Jan Handzlik
- Edwin Dennis is linked with Morton DaCosta
- Mame Dennis is linked with [Rosalind Russell](/actor/ro salind-russell)
- Vera Charles is linked with Coral Browne
- Acacius Page is linked with Henry Brandon
- Lindsay Woolsey is linked with Joanna Barnes
- Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside is linked with Forrest Tucker
- Sally Cato MacDougall is linked with Brook Byron
- Agnes Gooch is linked with Peggy Cass
- Brian O’Bannion is linked with Morton DaCosta
- Gloria Upson is linked with Joanna Barnes
- Pegeen Ryan is linked with Pippa Scott
