La zia di Carlo

This perennial chestnut by Brandon Thomas has been wowing audiences ever since it opened in London in 1882. Charley's Aunt has had numerous stage revivals and more screen versions than most people can remember. When Jack Benny took it on in 1941, nearly 60 years after the London opening, the movie turned into one of his biggest hits. Now, nearly 65 years since the movie opened, it remains one of the funniest, most good-natured and most antic farce comedies around.

Benny plays Babbs Babberley -- Lord Fancourt Babberley -- an aging student at Oxford in the year 1890. His two friends, Jack Chesney (James Ellison) and Charley Wyckham (Richard Hayden), are keen to marry, respectively, Kitty Verdun (Arleen Whelan) and Amy Spettigue (Anne Baxter). The girls are beautiful and sweet, and as shallow as tea saucers. But old skinflint Stephen Spettigue (Edmund Gwen), Kitty's ward and Amy's uncle, will have none of it. He will lose his income from Kitty's fortune when she marries. Then there is Jack's father, Sir Francis Chesney (Laird Cregar), who has inherited a title which has more debts attached than income. When the girls come to call on the two boys in their rooms at Oxford, it is essential that they have a chaperone. For reasons too complicated to explain, the chaperone, who was to be Charley's aunt, Donna Lucia (Kay Francis) from Brazil, has been delayed (but will shortly show up incognito). The boys blackmail their good friend Babbs to dress up as Donna Lucia and be the required chaperone. Ah, but then old Spettigue learns of Donna Lucia's wealth and decides to do some wooing of his own. Even Sir Francis, reluctantly conceding that an advantageous marriage would help the Chesney exchequer, decides to pursue Donna Lucia. And poor Babbs, now got up in a Victorian gown with corset, wig and fan, must fend them all off...over tea, in the garden, at dinner, by a garden pool, while trying to secretly smoke a cigar, while furtively trying to shave.

Will Jack win Kitty? Will Charley win Amy? Will old Spettigue receive a comeuppance? Most importantly, perhaps, will Babbs wind up marrying Sir Francis or the real Donna Lucia?

Benny plays Babbs with gusto and great timing, and spends most of his time in a dress. It's definitely a Jack Benny movie, but the play itself is so inherently ridiculous and funny, and so good-natured about every bit of stuffy Victorian manners and proper Victorian behavior, that it still works now as great light entertainment...just as the movie worked originally in 1941 and the play has worked for 125 years. I saw a regional production of Charley's Aunt some years ago; it really is a fast and funny farce, and depends heavily on the skill of the actor playing Charley's aunt. The movie, like the play, is funny and silly, and it does no harm.

In addition to Jack Benny, two actors stand out for me. Edmund Gwen as Spettigue provides a classic lesson in how to play farce; utterly serious with the kind of timing that comes from experience. For those who know of Gwen primarily as an avuncular and kindly old Santa Claus, his Spettigue should be a welcome relief. And then there is Laird Cregar, an immensely gifted actor. Cregar was only 25 when he played Jack Chesney's father. The actor who played his son was 31. Cregar was a big man -- 6'3" and 300 pounds -- who disliked the idea of being type-cast as a bad-guy; he longed to be a lead actor. He went on an unsupervised crash diet, quickly shed 100 pounds and shortly after, at 28, died of a heart attack. He made his first movie in 1940 and was dead four years later. He could be so vivid and accomplished on screen that critics still speculate on what he might have accomplished. The movies he was in may not all have been first-rate, but he tended to focus attention whenever he appeared. Two movies which were as good as his talent, in my opinion, are Heaven Can Wait (1943) and I Wake Up Screaming (1941). The Lodger (1944) also stands up well, as I remember it. And although Blood and Sand (1940) is something of a melodramatic stew-pot, Cregar stands out.

And perhaps one of these days the Frank Loesser estate, which I understand owns the rights, will release the 1952 movie Where's Charley?. The problem seems to be that the film, just as the stage production, is generally recognized as Ray Bolger's Where's Charley?, not Frank Loesser's Where's Charley?. Where's Charley was Frank Loesser's first Broadway show, produced in 1948. It featured career-defining performances for Ray Bolger as Charley Wyckham (who plays his own aunt) and Allyn Ann McLerie as Amy. There are some fine Loesser songs, including Once in Love with Amy and My Darling, My Darling. The movie may have its faults but it should be made available.

During his life Jack Benny often joked about the poor quality of many of his films, but "Charley's Aunt" doesn't deserve such criticism. This "drag" comedy never drags!

Benny's humor, perhaps a bit subdued for today's audiences, nevertheless shines in "Charley's Aunt." It doesn't hurt that he's in drag for a good part of the movie...A man in a dress can always be counted on for a few laughs!

But the basic story is amusing in itself, with Benny (broadly!) impersonating a maiden aunt and chaperoning for his buddies and their girlfriends. Naturally, there are a couple of older gentlemen who take a fancy to the "aunt" adding more complications to the story.

"Charle's Aunt" is rarely shown on television, but worth a look if you happen to stumble upon it.

Lousy copy on CD from ebay that wouldn't play all the way through but from what I could see it looked funny. I've seen the 1930 version starring Charlie Ruggles so I already knew the story.

Jack Benny masquerades as Charley's aunt and gets involved in several scrapes while a student at Oxford. Good cast with Jack Benny in one of his best roles. Kay Francis as the real aunt. James Ellison and Richard Haydn as the school friends, Anne Baxter and Arleen Whelan as the girls. Laird Cregar and Edmund Gwenn vie for Benny's hand. Reginald Owen is a professor.

Best scene (I could see) had Cregar teasing Benny with a bottle of champagne and spilling it on a table. Benny (in old lady clothes) leaps onto the table to lick up the booze.....

Oh well.....

I loved the movie, but like the subscribee above, I haven't seen it in 20 years or so. It's not available on video in any country and I've checked every specialty video line--- no-one has it. The good news is that I'm told someone saw a copy on ebay this week. It's not there now, but if there's one out there, there must be more. Check ebay through October. It's Jack's film best after "To Be or Not to Be" in my opinion and better than "Horn" or "George Washington Slept

Here" (3rd place?) Anyway, If I find one, I'll cheer

A couple reviewers have commented that this film is not available, though it is now available on DVD. Unfortunately, some of Jack Benny's other films (such as THE MEANEST MAN IN THE WORLD) are not.

Jack Benny plays perhaps the oldest college student ever filmed. At 47 years of age, casting this comedian seemed like an awfully big stretch. Through a series of mistakes, Benny pretends to be a rich widow in order to avoid being kicked out of college. Unfortunately, this ruse snowballs when two men fall for "her" and the real lady widow appears on the scene!

CHARLEY'S AUNT is a film that is based on a play produced in 1892 and has been filmed on several occasions. This is the second American sound version and it is quite polished and clever (with an excellent supporting cast)--though the film also shows a bit of its age. While funny, it also seemed rather old fashioned and familiar--perhaps too familiar--with much similarity to many other films involving a man dressing up as a lady. Perhaps in 1941 it was a hit, but today it just seemed very reminiscent of too many other films, such as SOME LIKE IT HOT and TOOTSIE--both of which are better films. One of the main reasons is not just the script but Benny seemed miscast due to his age AND he just didn't look or sound like a lady. Dustin Hoffman and Jack Lemmon definitely seemed more suited for their parts.

Still, despite these shortcomings, it's a pleasant time-passer and a film that is hard to hate.