Publisher: CinemaSerf May 1, 2026
"Mama Rose" (Rosalind Russell) is a bit of a musical snob. She is determined that her two daughters are going to succeed her on the stage, but she draws the line at the bawdier elements of Burlesque. Her elder daughter "June" (Ann Jillian) duly obliges proving a Vaudeville success and then marrying. Younger daughter "Louise" (Natalie Wood) is much more of a free spirit and she is also less fussy about how she gets her name in lights, and so naturally her path leads to some consternation from her mother and with "Herbie" (Karl Malden) who seems omipresent as a support for a "Rose" who steadfastly refuses to marry him. Now Ethel Merman she isn't, but I thought Russell played her role with a human conviction that exposed her maternal side both vulnerably and determinedly and I'm not sure the powerfully-voiced Merman could have done that so well. When it came to belting out the songs, Russell seems to have wisely taken a back seat and left Lisa Kirk to do the work, but that worked well enough for a slew of other performers who knew their own limitations and so Kirk combines well with Wood, Jillian and even Malden in delivering some of Stephen Sondheim's best lyrics set to Jule Styne at his own best with the score. Along the way, we get a glimpse of just how competitive and fickle the world of showbiz could be and of how hand-to-mouth the existance of it's players was as they aspired for the ever elusive mink coat. It's in the blood, blood is red - and so are these prickly roses.