Charley's Aunt (1941)

In 1890, two students at Oxford force their rascally friend and fellow student to pose as an aunt from Brazil--where the nuts come from.

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

George Seaton, Brandon Thomas (play)

Stars:

Jack Benny, Kay Francis, James Ellison

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Benny	...	Babbs Babberley
Kay Francis	...	Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez
James Ellison	...	Jack Chesney
Anne Baxter	...	Amy Spettigue
Edmund Gwenn	...	Stephen Spettigue
Laird Cregar	...	Sir Francis Chesney
Reginald Owen	...	Redcliff
Arleen Whelan	...	Kitty Verdun
Richard Haydn	...	Charley Wyckham
Ernest Cossart	...	Brasset
Morton Lowry	...	Harley Stafford
Will Stanton	...	Messenger
Lionel Pape	...	Hilary Babberly
C. Montague Shaw	...	Elderly Professor
Maurice Cass	...	Octogenarian Professor

Storyline

Charley Wyckham and Jack Chesney pressure fellow student Fancourt Babberly to pose as Charley's Brazilian Aunt Donna Lucia. Their purpose is to have a chaperone for their amorous visits with Amy and Kitty, niece and ward of crusty Stephen Spettigue. Complications begin when Fancourt, in drag, becomes the love object of old Spettigue and Sir Francis Chesney.

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Plot Keywords:

oxford | 1890s | guardian | old man | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

THE GREATEST COMEDIAN OF OUR TIME...in Brandon Thomas' Immortal Comedy!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Tia de Carlitos

Filming Locations:

Stage 4, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Somewhat a landmark film for 20th Century-Fox, as it was the first film they offered the exhibitors under the recently-established terms of the consent decree, conditions that no longer allowed a film studio or company to force the exhibitors to book a large block of films from the same company in order to get any film from that company in a production season. They could still require the exhibitor to make bookings in blocks of five, and "Charley's Aunt" was the first of the five offered. The other four could have been turkeys, but they had to be booked in order to get "Charley's Aunt."

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Quotes

[first lines]
Student: Good afternoon, Mr. Redcliff.

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Connections

Version of Grande Teatro Tupi: A Tia de Carlitos (1951)

User Reviews

Great Jack Benny

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.....