Charleys Tante

Heinz Ruehmann had several decades of comedy experience to draw on by the time he appeared in this mid-1950s filming of the famous stage play, and it shows, for he is masterly here both as the urbane diplomat Otto and his drag alter-ego 'Auntie Lottie', who arrives at his brother's roof garden party just in time to act as a chaperon to the two attractive young Swedish girls who are on the point of leaving. Paul Hoerbiger is excellent as an aged Lothario chasing 'Auntie Lottie' around the roof, while the REAL auntie - played by Ruehmann's real-life wife, the astonishingly beautiful Herta Feiler - turns up to add to the mayhem, and smells a rat when she recognizes 'Auntie Lottie's dress as her own. Ruehmann's wonderfully camp mambo number is undoubtedly the highlight, but there's plenty of period charm on offer too.

Brandon Thomas classic comedy gets the average German 50's cinema treatment here: mediocre production values and uninspired direction of a routinist without any guts. But we may be glad that Heinz Rühmann was given the opportunity to play the aunt as it he and both Paul Hörbiger and Hans Leibelt who make the film worth watching: when they are on the scene there is something to laugh about. Any other moment the film is dreary and makes the viewer long for a next scene with the three mentioned gentlemen.

Hans Quest did not really know what to do with the material to make the whole thing into a fast-paced comedy that will not let the viewer have time to think about what he is seeing; and that is what "Charley's Aunt" needs. Dull supporting cast (very disappointing Hertha Feiler and Ruth Stephan, but were their parts written well enough?). Hans Olden has a repeated one-liner that must have been very funny on paper, but neither he nor Quest knew how to make the repeated joke work.

But enjoy Heinz Rühmann as the aunt, and surely when he does the "Amazonas-Mambo". (5/10)