La zia di Carlo

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.

This is the type of classic movie that should be released on DVD as soon as possible! Fans of turn-of-the-century style English Farce will want to add it to their collection. Jack Benny is superb as is the rest of the cast of this black and white classic that must be seen to be appreciated. 20th Century Fox, PLEASE add this movie to your collection of classic films.

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.....

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.

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