OBSERVATION: High Tide at Noon - The Simon Breck Character - Book vs. Movie

In April 2020 I posted a review of the 1957 Rank film "High Tide at Noon".  I admitted that it wasn't totally my type of movie, and only watched it for Patrick McGoohan, who played the character of Simon Breck.

Now, many female McGoohan fans absolutely LOVE him in this film, if not for his bad-boy character, then for his youthful looks.  

It is also one of the very few times he kissed a woman on-screen (though I still argue we don't see any lip contact... but I digress...).  In fact, there is speculation that Simon actually rapes the main character, Joanna MacKenzie, played by Betta St. John.  In the interviews released on the DVD "In My Mind", McGoohan even states he "practically rapes" the girl in the film.

The first scene it could have happened during is when Joanna meets Simon in the old abandoned house.  At first she lets him kiss her, then things get more "serious" and she suddenly changes her mind.  Joanna runs away and Simon watches her go.

The other time it could have happened is when Simon visits the same house, now fixed up and Joanna's home, after her husband Alec has died.  Simon thinks he again has a chance to "win" Joanna, who hates him and tries to get him to go away.  Things start to get heated, when the scene just plain ends.

Next, we see Joanna run to her parent's house and Nils heads to the Breck household to settle things.  Simon implies he isn't looking for trouble with Nils, who goes for him anyway.  They make for the docks, get into their fishing boats, and Simon disappears into the night.  Nils shouts out to him that he'll kill him if he ever returns to the island.

So, what happened at Joanna's house after we, the audience, left?  Did Simon indeed rape her, like so many viewers think?

I decided to find out once and for all.  How?  Easy.  Look at the original book.

"High Tide at Noon" was written in 1944 by Elisabeth Ogilvie and actually based on the island of Criehaven/Ragged Island, Maine, where her family vacationed.

I readily admit I can't STAND reading non-fiction, so reading the entire story would be a chore.  Instead, I logged onto Archive.org and borrowed the book.  I did a search for "Simon" to narrow the pages down a bit.  What I discovered was a bit surprising!

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Firstly, in the film, Joanna's family name is MacKenzie .  In the book, it is Bennett.  Simon Breck's family name isn't Breck in the book, it is Bird.  His physical description is very similar to that of McGoohan himself at the time, other than the "smoky gray eyes":

"He had a thin, tanned face and flat cheeks slanting to a lean chin... his red hair was like copper with the sun on it, and he was slight and narrow hipped in his snug dungarees". 

The scene where Simon and Joanna speak for the first time by his boat is almost exactly like the book.  More time has passed since they last spoke in the book than in the film, though.  Simon also implies that he prefers girls who haven’t been around the block a few times.

The scene where Joanna meets Simon at the abandoned house is also mostly the same, BUT with some important exceptions, one being Simon's touching her breast to see if her heart is also racing.  That would be a no-no on 1957 movie screens. In the film, he instead says "so's yours... I bet...".

But one big difference is how Simon reacts to Joanna suddenly wanting him to stop making love to her.  He had been rather nice to her up to that point, just like in the film.  Simon says "you gotta learn some time", and she runs away.  But in the book, he starts to get mad.  He gives her 5 minutes to think about it and basically implies she better give in to him.  She doesn't, and runs away.  In the movie, he almost seems to find it all humorous.  In the book, he's mad as Hell.  She lead him on by being coy by his boat, agreed to meet him that night, allowed him to hold and kiss her, and then suddenly "pulls the salt water business" on him:

"I'll give you five minutes to get the hell over it, and then you'll listen to reason. I don't let anybody fool with me, lady. Sooner or later, they pay up".

In the film, we get the impression Joanna hates Simon just for the passes he has made to her.  Anything he or his family may have done to the MacKenzies seems secondary.  Simon is a sort of pest, not much else.

But in the book, it is far more complicated and intense.  Joanna's family basically owns the island, and the Birds are looked down upon as "trash".  It is part of the reason Simon takes her physical rejection of him to the point of utter hatred.  She has become "uppity", as he says in the film.  Did she lead him on then reject him because she thinks she is better than anyone from the Breck (Bird) family?

Simon gets his hands (and lips) on her way more in the book, even after she spurns him.  And she hates it more as well.  He is nastier, dirtier, meaner. 

The scene at the dance, which ends in a melee, is almost exactly like the book.

But the next one, in the now fixed up house, after Alec's death, is far more "meaty" in the book.  The fact he has Alec's IOU for her house is more important.  Also more important is the Breck family's tampering of other fishermen's gear, and Simon's interactions with Nils.  

In the film, Simon is run off the island for good by Nils just after the scene with Joanna at the house.  He hasn't even had a chance to find out about Alec's IOU.  In the book, time passes before Simon leaves the island, and he isn't exactly chased by Nils, though Nils is indeed waiting at the Bird house to "settle" things with him.  In time, the family does indeed pay Alec's debt to Simon (via a lawyer).

There are other differences between the book and film, such as Joanna having a baby after Alec dies.  I didn't look much at sections not dealing with the Simon character.  So curious viewers of the film will have to read those themselves.  

But now we know... Simon did NOT rape Joanna in either the film or book "High Tide at Noon".  

... UNLESS that is exactly WHY the last scene in Joanna's house ends the way it does, and WHY Nils runs Simon off the island right away.  

Sticking to the book would have made the film even longer, and given McGoohan, a young newcomer to the Big Screen, a far meatier and more important role.  In hindsight, a real missed opportunity.  We all know he could play mean, nasty, and angry.  All the kissing and pawing may have been an issue but he managed to get through it all during those Rank years.  And the fact the character Joanna had the same name as his real life wife, Joan... well... every little bit helps!

In the end, it all comes down to the old argument:  THE BOOK or THE MOVIE!

REVIEW: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

This film is well-known as the one that triggered a comeback for both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.  It has been called "camp", and even a horror flick.  But I just watched it for the second time and have decided to type up my two-cents here.

I first saw Baby Jane many years ago on TV.  Enough time had passed for me to watch it again with fresh eyes.  

I had heard things about Davis and Crawford not getting along back in the day.  I wasn't around then, but we all know big stars, especially female ones, had (have?) a tendency to be "difficult" in so many ways.  The word "catty" comes to mind... I did a little looking around the 'net to see what I could see about their "feud".  I came to the conclusion neither of them were angels, and left it at that.

As for the film, the most obvious thing I noticed was how awful both women looked.  Now, I never thought Bette Davis was very pretty, but Joan Crawford was in her heyday.  Davis, as "Baby" Jane Hudson, looks just like what she is playing, a caricature of a young girl who is really middle aged.  Thick makeup and curls in her hair, even a child-like dress at one point, drive home what is bubbling around in her mind.  Crawford, as sister Blanche Hudson, looks just plain naturally older.  Wheelchair-bound, yet prim.  As the film progresses, she becomes more and more haggard looking, worn out, and yet strong enough to survive her sister's torture.  The makeup for both women is spot-on, though at first some people may think Davis' is clown-like.  If you think that, you don't understand her character.  (more on that later)

Another thing I noticed was that many of the supporting actors had also appeared in the TV series Perry Mason.  Davis herself had filled in for one 1963 episode when star Raymond Burr was ill.  Victor Buono, Wesley Addy, and Bert Freed were all on Perry Mason more than once.  Even Maidie Norman appeared in one episode!

Being a car gal, I was happy to see a Duesenberg, my favorite classic make.  A quick peek over at the IMCDb website taught me the car was a 1931 Duesenberg Model J 'Disappearing Top' Convertible Coupe by Murphy.  The car still exists, and was auctioned off by RM for $3,520,000 in 2015.  The other car featured in the film is a 1947 Lincoln Continental convertible.  

Bette Davis did an excellent job playing Baby Jane.  She would go on to play another nut-case in 1965's Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, and a nanny who may (or may not) be evil in The Nanny, also from 1965.  One can't help but think Davis realized her younger, svelte self of the days of box-office earning characters were long gone.  Anyone who saw her on the silver screen of the 1930s would have ever expected to see her play a character like Baby Jane.  But played it she did, and very well.  

Her loosing an Academy Award to Anne Bancroft for her role in The Miracle Worker, and then Crawford accepting the Oscar on Bancroft's behalf, is Hollywood lore.  Comments on sites like You Tube declare Davis as their personal winner of the award that year, though personally I feel Bancroft deserved her win.

Crawford played her character equally as well.  I haven't seen many of her film appearances, Mildred Pierce being the most memorable.  Interestingly, my search for period articles about Charley Chase turned up photos of Crawford, aka: Lucille LeSueur, that really surprised me.  I had no idea she was considered such a fashion plate, was a dancer, and in SILENT films!  She was even in a Lon Chany film that I had seen, The Unknown (1927).  

Her portrayal of tormented Blanche is harrowing.  The exact opposite of her past glamour roles, she makes you fear when she is afraid, hungry when she is being starved, hopeful when she has hope.  And when we learn the truth about the "accident" that crippled her, do we really feel any different about her sister Jane?  She also did a good job portraying the difficulty and pain involved with moving around without the use of legs.

Victor Buono is his usual slimy-yet-slightly-innocent self as Edwin Flagg.  He looks even larger than usual next to Davis and Marjorie Bennett, who plays his mother.  Buono would later appear in Davis' Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964).  

Maidie Norman played maid Elvira, and she made her a caring, but smart and strong woman.  I felt bad to see her bumped off!

I wasn't very impressed with Anna Lee as Mrs. Bates, or Bette Davis' daughter B. D. Merrill as Liza Bates.

I honestly don't see this as a horror movie.  That is silly.  There is one murder done with a hammer that we hardly even see.  No blood, not even an on-screen impact.  The cruel treatment of Blanche isn't "horror".  Again, there's no blood-letting.  There ARE some brutal kicks, but is that "horror"?  Certainly not to the 21st Century viewer.

And "camp"?  It all depends on how you see the Baby Jane character.  If you see her as a middle aged sicko who thinks she is still a child star, with 3 inches of horrible makeup and a desire to resurrect her old vaudeville act, then sure, I can see that opinion being possible.

But what about Sunset Boulevard?  In that story middle aged silent film legend Gloria Swanson also played a woman who thought she was still a star.  Her character, Norma Desmond, could also be classified as bonkers, she also tries to look young, and also tries to resurrect her previous successes.  But (so far) I have never heard that film referred to as "camp".

When you look at the Baby Jane character in a more realistic way, more like Norma Desmond, she is no longer campy, she is almost worthy of your pity.  Norma Desmond was more in control of her lie, and not nearly as cruel to those she needed to help her.  In comparison, Baby Jane seems too far gone, though we seem to be expected to think she and Victor Buono's Edwin have become more than "friends". 

And that's my two-cents.  Oh, and yes, my favorite line is "... but you ARE, Blanche... you ARE in that chair!".   Classic... 

REVIEW: Escape From Alcatraz (1979)

Escape From Alcatraz (1979)

This film doesn’t really require a synopsis, since the story of the actual “escape from Alcatraz” prison is well known, though the actual facts pertaining to the fate of the three escapees will probably never be known.

If you do NOT know the story behind the escape, basically all you need to know is three inmates chipped away at the old, crumbling cement around the air vents in their cells and got into the maintenance areas above the cell block. They then made papier-mâché heads, complete with hair from the barber shop, to put in their beds at night, when they were outside their cells working on supplies like rubber rafts and life rackets made from rain coats stolen from the prison. The big night came and the three men left their cells through the cell vents, went up air vents to the roof of the cell block, then down to the rocky shore and into San Francisco Bay. They were never seen again, dead or alive, (officially, anyway) and the prison was closed within the year.

The film has four men in on the escape, with one (Butts) lagging behind the others with his chipping and so on. He ends up with cold feet the night of the escape, then when he finally leaves his cell, he can’t get up to the roof vent by himself.  This character appears to be based on Allen West.

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I have seen Alcatraz MANY times through the years. I recently watched it yet again, with slightly older eyes, and never realized how little dialogue it has. Which helps explain why I always liked it, despite not being a big Eastwood fan. I AM a fan of more subtle films, where little needs to be done to express things like emotion or reactions. This film barely even has a sound track! What it does have almost reminds me of the quieter scenes of “2001 Space Odyssey”.

There are some interesting shots, but the movie usually doesn’t dwell too long on one shot or scene, unless it contains a needed plot-point or information. Time goes by for the inmates, but viewers may not catch that fact.

I don’t like ultra-violent movies, and when I was a kid was scared of the finger-chopping scene. Now I realize the film is gritty without needing to be too violent, is anti-prison without being preachy, and deals with race but doesn't pander. It also doesn’t feel like the facts have been tossed out the window, like with “Bird Man of Alcatraz”, where supposedly the main character was no where near as pleasant as in the film.

Eastwood does a great job as Frank Morris. Quiet and brilliant, always thinking, yet perfectly able to take care of himself in a fight. His female fans will like the shots of him after arriving at the prison, and in the shower. I like the fact he did so many of his own stunts as well.

Larry Hankin as Butts is perfect as well, a bit dopy but likable. Though the Anglin Brothers seemed slightly miscast. Comments in IMDb state Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau were cast due to their physical abilities, which they did seem to have, especially during the escape. The Doc and Litmus characters are well cast, though I am still on the shelf about Paul Benjamin as English. The English character has plenty of "status", yet he doesn't act like a tough guy, so how exactly did he achieve such status? Through his number of years on “the rock”? He is also a quiet and seemingly smart inmate, in charge of the library. But is his “racism” toward whites real? Is Morris an exception of sorts?

Oh, and the character of Wolf is disturbing but nothing like we would see if the film were made today.

Other than English and Morris, the character with the most dialogue is the real bad guy, The Warden, played by Patrick McGoohan. He almost seems to not be wearing much makeup in this one. He is very plain, very subdued, yet very cold and business-like. He has a caged parakeet and a small fish aquarium in his office, which make him seem almost human until you think of those pets as more jailed inmates for him to control. He shows no feelings whatsoever for his inmates (though he does seem rather pleasant when he asks Morris about his accordion). One wonders if the wheels are always turning in his head, just like in Morris’s.

McGoohan did long, word-heavy scenes well (like when he meets Morris in his office) but also scenes which require little dialogue at all (like the ending). Though the warden shows very little emotion on his face, a tiny change of the eyes can tell a lot.

As a side note, I was wondering why McGoohan actually seemed short in this film. Usually he had to look down on his fellow actors, so I had to look up Clint Eastwood’s height. Eastwood is supposed to be about 6’ 4”, which explains things, as McGoohan was (by his own admission in a “Danger Man” episode) 6’ 2 ½”.

One also has to wonder if Eastwood got along with McGoohan, given the Irish-Englishman’s tendency to be difficult to work with due to his desire for perfection (and alcohol at this time).

IN CLOSING: If you don't need lots of useless violence and dialogue, even soundtrack music, this is a movie you may like. It almost feels like a “modern” silent film. Or at least minimalist. If you MUST have lots of yammering and explosions and padding, you may not enjoy it. But it looks good, has good acting, and as a plus is based on fact.

 Morris has arrived by boat to "The Rock"...

... and gets processed...

Morris getting his first look at Wolf... and Litmus is about to acquire his pasta 

Meeting the warden... 

... who spells out what life at Alcatraz is like

Doc meets Morris while painting outside 

English... top of the hill... 

Wolf goes after Morris... they both end up in solitary

Butts meets "Al Capone", aka: Litmus

The warden inspects Doc's paintings and makes a discovery... He seems to like it, but has Doc's painting privileges revoked 

Doc requests a hatchet so he can "work on a table"...

The warden confronts Morris about the "accident" in the shop 

 The Anglin brothers arrive

Soldering, prison-style 

Chipping away at the corroded Alcatraz cement 

The chrysanthemum is "against regulations, Morris... you know it..." 

"... you any good?"  There's plenty of time to learn accordion in prison... 

English stops Wolf from attacking Morris again 

Above the cells, planning the escape 

They're out!  Preparing the rafts and life vests 

The escape is discovered!

The warden ponders a chrysanthemum found on Angel Island the next day... "they drowned" he concludes... but did they?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4769236/Dummy-heads-used-Alcatraz-breakout-3D-scanned.html

https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/genius-two-brothers-and-fake-heads

https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Fake-heads-used-in-daring-Alcatraz-escape-13393255.php

REVIEW: The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958)

The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958)

The film opens in a basement full of “betting gentlemen” watching Sir Paul Deverill (Keith Michell) struggle with a greased pig.  He is supposed to be marrying Vanessa Ruddock (Clare Austin), though he doesn’t love her.  As he rides home in a coach with her father, he promises him they will marry regardless.  Meanwhile, two gypsies, Belle (Melina Mercouri) and Jess (Patrick McGoohan) are making their way on foot in the same direction as Deverill.

Belle enters the Deverill kitchen to try and “sell her wares”, and gets kicked out, stealing some cooked chicken in the process.  She brings the food to Jess, who is building a fire, and she states she is not a gypsy, since her father was a “gentleman”.  Meanwhile Deverill has a hot bath, a luxury to the gypsies. 

Aunt Lady Caroline Ayrton (Helen Haye) visits Paul and his sister Sarah (June Laverick), who Caroline says will get her fortune, not Paul, who will squander it away.  Caroline is in love with a medical student, John Patterson (Lyndon Brook). 

The band of gypsies hold a sort of fair, full of locals, and Deverill holds a boxing match.  He promises to pay the winner “a purse”, but after the match, he discovers his pocket has been picked.  Blame is put on Belle, who the crowd turns on.  She seeks safety in Deverill’s arms, and returns his purse.  She flirts with him, and he proceeds to give her freedom… and the money.  Deverill will get another purse for the winning boxer.

Next we meet Sarah’s intended, as well as Deverill’s. 

One rainy night, Deverill’s coach is passing Bess and Jess’s camp, and she runs up to the road and finagles herself into the coach.  She tells him sister Sarah that she isn’t a real gypsy, because her father was a gentleman.  She is offered a roof over her head for the night.  This ends up being a night in Deverill’s bedroom.

Belle ends up living at the house, Sarah doesn’t like it, Belle steals the second purse of money intended for the boxer, Deverill is called on to decide which woman to keep, Belle or Vanessa, he chooses Belle, etc etc etc.   Belle and Deverill get married.  Sarah tells her there is no money, just debts.  Belle gets mad.  But she sticks around, determined to be something more than poor.

Time passes, and it appears most of the valuables in the Deverill house have been sold to pay creditors.  Most of the staff is gone.  Jess manages to become Deverill’s “man”, taking care of horses, etc.  He lives over the stable.  Belle occasionally flirts with him, but also hits him like she hits the last remaining maid.  He makes it clear Belle can’t treat him that way, and also if he ends up having to run, he will run alone. 

Aunt Caroline passes away, and the family lawyer comes to the house.  He explains the terms of her will.  Sister Sarah will get her fortune if she marries before she turns 21.  Belle and Jess start working on making sure she can’t get married in time, scheming with the lawyer. 

Jess locks Sarah inside a “folly” on the estate, what looks like an Oriental tower of sorts, surrounded by water.   She often met her boyfriend John there.  So when John arrives looking for her, he goes to see if she is there.  Jess pretends he is living in the folly, and John leaves. 

Sarah ends up escaping the folly, and makes it to London.  Belle, Jess, and Deverill head there as well.  Belle and Jess meet up with the lawyer and Jess suggests having Sarah committed to an insane asylum.  She is found, then kidnapped and brought to the asylum.  Bess gets a drunken Deverill to sign the proper paperwork to keep his sister locked away.

Sarah’s friend Mrs. Haggard (Flora Robson) finds out, and tries to free her.  She succeeds in convincing the corrupt head of the hospital to let her go instead of being exposed to the public.

Deverill suddenly sobers up enough to go to his lawyer’s office.  He discovers what has been going on behind his back, and suddenly grows a spine. 

The movie ends with Sarah and Mrs. Haggard in a coach speeding away from the asylum, followed by Jess and Belle on another coach.  Deverill is on horseback racing toward them from the opposite direction.  They meet on a stone-arch bridge over a swift waterway.  Jess and Belle fall into the water.  Deverill jumps in after Belle, as Jess swims toward the shore.

Belle yells out for Jess, as Deverill keeps her above water.  Deverill has saved Belle’s life, but she only wants Jess.  Jess keeps swimming and gets onto the shore.  He looks back, but sees no one.  Deverill decides to drown Belle and himself.

This movie can be found online with some digging.  It appears to have been released on DVD in a few countries (such as Region 0/Spain)

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This film is somewhat notorious for McGoohan fans (female ones, anyway) thanks to that beard and the smooching scenes.  To what extent his infamous no-kissing policy actually extended, we may never know.  But his Rank roles did require kissing women, no more so than in this story.  Though, you never really see lips touching lips!

I had already formed an opinion of this movie thanks to female fans' comments regarding his kissing scenes (positive), McGoohan's own opinion of his Rank films (negative), and even one newspaper editorial from years ago where a woman was rather upset at his non-Secret Agent-like character (scoundrel). I found a copy of the film posted online and gave it a view...

The whole film actually has a decent "look" to it. Even a less-than-stellar online copy had good color, though McGoohan's eyes didn't look at all blue, so a good copy from a good print probably would look amazing. But there are plenty of outdoor scenes, elaborate sets, and colorful costumes.  It doesn’t look cheap.

But the plot looses your interest after a while, and the ending is rather trite.

The two lead characters, Belle and Sir Paul Deverill, are, well... CADS. It is very hard to be sympathetic to either of them. They both ask for what they get.

I found Melina Mercouri rather annoying.  I probably shouldn’t fault her, but her character instead.  She sure was fiery!  But she just seemed to be pushing the sexy-thing too much. Her whole performance was a bit over the top. Her outfits made the most of her teeny waist and were cut to make the most of the upper-half of her.  Let’s just say she was no Dagmar (look her up…).

Keith Michell as Sir Paul Deverill also annoyed me.  But, again, his character is a spoiled jerk you have no sympathy for, either.  I found myself wondering if I, the viewer, was supposed to hate him for dumping nice Sarah Deverill for slutty Belle, or feel for him because he is being duped.  His death in the end is no great loss…

The "nice" characters are pretty run-of-the-mill, though Flora Robson is a bit of a stand-out as Mrs. Haggard.  June Laverick likewise was OK as Sarah Deverill, if a bit too mousy. 

As for McGoohan's character, Jess, one minute he seems nice, then nasty, then a bit of both, then also a cad.  But how can you hate a character that sits and gently pets a white ferret?  It doesn’t really matter, because he looks darn sexy in his beard.  And I am generally no fan of beards! 

I didn’t find his infamous “love scenes” with Mercouri as steamy as fans always suggest.  I still didn’t see any lip-on-lip contact, he still seems distracted (by food or a purse of money), and the scenes still fade out just in time.  There also didn’t seem to be any sort of connection between the two actors, unlike his kiss at the end of “Nor the Moon by Night”. 

But all that smooching aside (and there is a lot implied in this film), McGoohan’s best scene, acting wise, may actually be the one where Jess pretends to live in the folly.  He’s a totally different character, and actually gets some dialog to say.

Now, if you like horses, there are a lot of them in this one.  I couldn’t quite tell which actors were actually doing their own high-speed riding, some of it side-saddle, but there is one thing I just have to ask:  HOW does McGoohan get onto his horse like that??

Watch it if you must, but have a good reason to, like I did...

REVIEW: Charley's Aunt (1941)

Charley's Aunt (1941)

Charley's Aunt began life in 1892 as a British stage play, and has been performed in one form or another basically ever since. At least eleven film versions have been produced around the world. So, given the long-term popularity of this one, I won't bother going into the plot here.

The long and short of it is Oxford University undergraduate Lord Fancourt Babberley is conned into wearing a dress and impersonating fellow student Charley Wykeham's aunt, Donna Lucia d'Alvadorez, a rich widow from Brazil, in order to act as chaperone for two girlfriends. Things get more and more complicated from there, with two different fathers competing for the fake aunt and her money, etc.

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Anyone who has ever listened to a good quantity of Jack Benny's radio shows knows he once played Charley's Aunt. There were many gags regarding the costume itself. But it took me until this year to acquire and watch the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives DVD (2018).

The first few scenes almost made me not watch the rest of it. Jack trying to sound English was, well… sad. Sure enough, after doing a little reading about the original play, I found out that those very scenes were in fact different than the original story, and thankfully things picked up a bit once Jack Benny put on the dress… and that fake accent seemed to fall by the wayside as well!

Most of the casting is good, though Benny does seem a bit out of place at times, as does James Ellison, who also doesn’t pull off being English.  But Benny does an admiral job as Aunt Donna Lucia, especially with the sight gags.  I’m not used to seeing Jack MOVE so much!  I certainly don’t associate him with slapstick. Laird Cregar is convincing as Ellison’s father, but was actually under 30, younger than the man he was playing the father of!  The three female leads (Kay Francis, Anne Baxter, Arleen Whelan) look stunning in their costumes.

If you pay attention, you can almost imagine which scenes could be the beginning and end of on-stage acts, just by the amount of time spent on one set.

Get past the beginning, and you end up with a fun little movie with some good sight gags.

If you would like to watch Charley's Aunt on DVD, the UPC is 024543586173 (20th Century Fox)