Lucille Ball was so dismayed at the harsh reaction the film received from the critics and its lackluster box office performance that she vowed never to make another film again.
Angela Lansbury recalled her time when she was playing Mame on Broadway and was visited by Lucille Ball who told her she was amazing in the part, deserved all the honors she was receiving and was a shoo-in for the film version. Lansbury was very touched by this until she noticed Ball in the wings during her performance, taking notes. It was then that she realized that she was never going to play the part in the film.
Even though she played Auntie Mame on stage, a part originally performed by Rosalind Russell, and had won a Tony award for her performance in the Broadway production in 1966, Angela Lansbury was passed over for the role of Mame. Jerry Herman went to Warner Brothers executives and begged them to reconsider, explaining the reasons why he considered Lucille Ball to be wrong for the part. Lansbury admitted in a 2009 interview with The Wall Street Journal that she never forgave Warner Bros. for passing her over.
In later years, Bea Arthur admitted that she was wrong to take part in the film as it was a "tremendous embarrassment". Although she enjoyed working with Lucille Ball, she had to concede that the older actress was "terribly miscast".
Jerry Herman worked with Lucille Ball to improve her singing, but she could barely sustain even for one sentence without becoming winded. Even simple phrases like "Open a new window" had to be pieced together from multiple takes. Audio engineers tried to use whatever methods of processing existed at the time to make her vocals sound passable.