This long forgotten British comedy MY OLD DUCHESS has recently been released as a DVD under its original title of OH WHAT A DUCHESS! and can now be seen by the public for the first time in 85 years. It was directed by Lupino Lane (1892-1959), whose real name was Henry Lupino, and Ida Lupino's father Stanley was his first cousin. (The Lupinos were a well known British theatrical and music hall family and there were plenty of them, lupino-ing all over the place in the old days. They all tended to live in Camberwell, then a favourite area of London for music hall entertainers to live cheaply, with several music hall theatres within walking distance back then. All of that is completely forgotten today.) The film is a marvellous filmed record of the spirit of traditional British music hall, or vaudeville, comedy. It even includes a music hall comedy sketch written by the legendary Fred Karno (1866-1941). Karno founded and ran the famous Karno Company of comic theatrical players. Three young members of his troupe were Charlie Chaplin, his brother Sydney Chaplin, and Stan Laurel. When the Karno Company crossed the Atlantic for an American tour, the Chaplins and Laurel remained behind in America, thus making film history. George Lacy plays the lead in this film, which is the only film in which he ever acted. He was Britain's most famous female impersonator, and he spent most of his life (he died aged 85) playing 'pantomine dames' on stage. The only survivals of music hall theatre today in Britain are seasonal, namely the Christmas pantomimes. A few days ago I saw the panto of Cinderella, a hilarious experience. It features two pantomime dames (men dressed as outrageous women). Hayley Mills played the Fairy Godmother, and who could be more perfect for that, considering that she is a real fairy and she looks perfectly natural with a magic wand in her hand (despite the fact that for comic effect at one point she accidentally breaks it). In his film Lacy plays a young man (which is what he was) who is continually throughout the story called upon to impersonate an elderly duchess, which he does with wonderful comic effect. The film is full of the usual corny jokes of British music hall, many of them hilariously silly, and is played as affectionate broad farce. It is written as a film and is not just a filmed stage show, although it has sections where the leading characters, who are a theatrical troupe, are seen onstage in comic scenes. Anyone who likes good old-fashioned broad-stroke humour mixed with slapstick and over-the-top farce should find this very funny, as I did. The central performance by George Lacy is a priceless historical record of a type of comic acting which barely survives today. The music hall shows were what entertained the mass public in Britain before television came in. And they left their legacy in the slapstick of Laurel and Hardy and indeed all the comedy of the silent era of American films. Many of the famous older comedians of British television also cut their teeth in music hall comedy. But if you want to see something very close to the real thing, try this.
