Charley's Aunt (1941)

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

George Seaton (writer)
Brandon Thomas (play)

Release Date:

1 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | 1890s | Guardian | Suitor | Necktie

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Charley's American Aunt (UK)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #7438) | Australia:G

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

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."

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Clancy Street Boys (1943)

Hilarious! Jack Benny does his greatest movie work in this film!

I saw this movie about 25 years ago and have never seen it since. I've asked around about it for years, and nobody knows anything about it. Video stores don't carry it, and, of course, the young people who work in these stores have never heard ot it. It stars Jack Benny in what, I believe, is his greatest and funniest movie role. It has stood out in my mind for all these years as a truly hilarious movie, and, when I ran across it in IMDb, I wanted to be sure to add my favorable opinion to the list of comments.