stuff you didn't realize about mame

50 years ago today, February 1974, Lucille Ball’s "Mame" had been showing in Radio City Music Hall for two months solid. 6,200 seats.

You might have forgotten about "Mame." But it broke records.

1] It surpassed the highest gross for the first four days of a movie to play the Music Hall — $1.2 million in 2025 dollars.

2] On Saturday, March 23, the film grossed $69,220 [$462,842], which was the most money ever made in a single day in a single theatre.

3] In its sixth week, "Mame" sold $402,444 in tickets [$2.7 million]. That's the biggest box office take in any theater in the world in the history of motion pictures.

"Mame" ended its Radio City run on May 15, 1974, after playing ten weeks. Total gross: $2,707,097. That's $18.1 million in today's dollars, at one theater.