Charley's Aunt (1941 film)

Charley's Aunt
Directed by	Archie Mayo
Produced by	William Perlberg
Written by	George Seaton Brandon Thomas (original play)
Starring	Jack Benny Kay Francis James Ellison
Music by	Alfred Newman
Cinematography	J. Peverell Marley
Edited by	Robert Bischoff
Production company	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release dates	August 1, 1941 (US)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$889,300
Box office	$2,278,200

Charley's Aunt is a 1941 American historical comedy film directed by Archie Mayo. It stars Jack Benny and Kay Francis. It was the fourth American filmed version of the 1892 stage farce of the same name by Brandon Thomas. It remained one of Benny's personal favourites among his own films.

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.

Cast

• Jack Benny as Babbs Babberly
• Kay Francis as Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez
• James Ellison as Jack Chesney
• Anne Baxter as Amy Spettigue
• Edmund Gwenn as Stephen Spettigue
• Laird Cregar as Sir Francis Chesney
• Reginald Owen as Redcliff
• Arleen Whelan as Kitty Verdun
• Richard Haydn as Charley Wyckham
• Ernest Cossart as Brasset
• Morton Lowry as Harley Stafford
• Will Stanton as Messenger
• Lionel Pape as Hilary Babberly
• C. Montague Shaw as Elderly Professor
• Maurice Cass as Octogenarian Professor
• Claud Allister as Cricket Match Spectator
• William Austin as Cricket Match Spectator
• Brandon Hurst as Coach (uncredited)

Reception

Box office

The film was the 8th most popular movie at the US box office in 1941.

It earned a profit of $772,800.

Critical

• In a review contemporary with the film's original release, a critic in The New York Times wrote "when the Benny physiognomy peered impishly from behind a lacy fan, the audience held its sides, and when in the final scene his wig vanished to leave his masculine coiffure stark naked, there was a roar of laughter that must have shaken the Roxy's rococo ceiling".
• According to TV Guide, "Jack Benny was never better (with the possible exception of his classic To Be or Not to Be) and carries the film with a top-flight performance. This was his first role of any consequence other than his previous tailor-made parts with radio jokes flying thick and fast around his well-known persona."

The film was promoted on The Jell-o Program, the name for Benny's radio show at the time. The plot of the 18 May 1941 episode sees the cast visit Jack "on-set". One gag sees Benny's contract require him to feed Darryl F. Zanuck's horse.

External links

• Charley's Aunt at IMDb