मेरी चाची के साथ यात्रा

With all the talent connected to this film, it's amazing that it isn't better. Katharine Hepburn was the original choice for the lead, but some kind of contract dispute stopped her from doing it. Maggie Smith took over the role and won an Academy Award nomination. Even so, many critics complained at the time that she over-acted, but I feel she's the life and breath of what fun there is in the movie.

Maggie Smith is questionably cast as a wacky British eccentric, enlisting the aid of her uptight "nephew" (the terrific Alec McGowen) to help her out of a complicated blackmail scheme. Lumbering comedy-drama adapted from a Graham Greene novel is heavily padded with pinched, salty wit and lots of gossipy chit-cat and theatrical flair. It can't compensate for a lack of substance in the story, nor that Smith is too smart of an actress to be completely convincing as this merry madcap. George Cukor directed, with a heavy hand. Lou Gossett and Cindy Williams are both fine in support, but the movie is a featherweight farce undercut by faded-memory pathos. More heart and humor would have sufficed. ** from ****

Anthony Powell died recently, so I decided to watch a movie for which he won an Academy Award for designing the costumes. George Cukor's "Travels with My Aunt" is no masterpiece but enjoyable enough, with Maggie Smith as a fun-loving woman who takes her nephew across Europe. There's a number of high jinks along the way. It looks like a movie that they had fun making. It's not any sort of great movie, but I liked it.

In addition to Alec McCowen as the nephew, the supporting cast includes Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) and Cindy Williams (American Graffiti).

Dull stuffy bachelor meets flamboyant eccentric aunt, who seeks to show him the world's pleasures. Sound familiar? While based on a Graham Greene novel, "Travels with My Aunt" plays on screen like a subdued version of "Auntie Mame." Unlike the rowdy broadness of the Patrick Dennis play and the Rosalind Russell film, George Cukor's adaptation of the Greene work tries to be high-toned and literary, while simultaneously striving to seem madcap and funny. Unfortunately, the film succeeds more in its pretentiousness than it does in its comedy.

Alec McCowen is fine as Henry Pulling, the bank clerk who fusses with dahlias in his spare time and fumes prissily when cannabis is mixed with the ashes of his mother. Henry is a prime candidate for an Auntie Mame, although he's a bit beyond his formative years. Henry's out-of-character dalliance aboard the Orient Express with Cindy Williams, as a young drifter on her way to Katmandu, should have been cut. The tryst adds nothing to the plot and only confuses perceptions about Henry. Maggie Smith, at times stunningly garbed in luscious gowns by Anthony Powell, plays Aunt Augusta for all she's worth, and Maggie is certainly worth a great deal. Although the actress is clearly too old to play the younger Augusta and too young, even with the age makeup, to play the elder woman, Smith is always fascinating to watch. Despite her mannerisms, which at times overwhelm the characterization, Smith is generally convincing and should have taken a shot at playing Mame Dennis in either the comedy or the musical version of "Auntie Mame."

Although "Travels with My Aunt" was beautifully filmed by Douglas Slocombe against scenic splendor that stretches from Istanbul to Venice to Spain, the pace is often sluggish, and the plot preposterous. The proceedings are propelled by Augusta's need to raise the ransom money to rescue a former lover, whose minor appendages are being sent to her one by one as a warning. However, coincidences abound, plot holes deepen, and threads are left hanging all over. Without McCowen and Smith, the film would be little more than a stylish, if soporific, travelogue.

I was disappointed in this as so much is just great.

Cindy Williams is terrific as a hippy-dippy train passenger. Alec McCowan is wonderful as the bewildered strait-laced nephew who gradually allows himself to cut loose from his narrowly defined life. It was great to hear and see a much different Lou Gossett, with outrageous robes and an odd African accent that works in this. The location shooting was beautifully done, particularly in Paris.

Maggie Smith's performance (and I am a fan of Maggie's) was just too loud, too dramatic, just way too over the top, so that when her sad side emerged, it came across as equally phony. Her makeup as a very much older woman is flawless and when she played her younger self, it was a much more controlled performance.

I think Maggie could have used better direction here. A great story that at some time needs to be filmed again. Alec Mc Cowan's performance makes it highly watchable. He gets is just right.

I gave it a 7 out of 10.