I suppose like most people, I first saw Charley's Aunt, Brandon Thomas' centuries-long theatrical chestnut, back in high school. A comedic favorite to this day with colleges and high schools, the early cross-dressing farce (first produced in 1892) broke all theatrical records wherever it played, and has become a recognized worldwide classic through countless stage revivals. Filmed versions of the play exists in dozens of countries, but Charley's Aunt, director Archie Mayo's 1941 adaptation for 20th Century-Fox starring radio superstar Jack Benny in the title role, certainly remains the best known. Fox, as part of their superior Cinema Classics Collection DVD line, has released a sharp new transfer of the still-funny comedy, with some great extras for fans of the film.

Set at Oxford in 1890, Charley's Aunt stars Jack Benny as Lord Fancourt "Babbs" Babberley, an older student in his tenth year (and counting) at the venerable college. Always in trouble with the gruff dean of the college, Mr. Redcliff (Reginald Owen), Babbs' accidental ringing of the school fire bell (prompted, as always, by Babbs' nemesis, Harley Stafford, played by Morton Lowry) proves to be the last straw, with Redcliff sending Babbs down from college. As a last ditch appeal, Babbs lies and says his two friends, Jack Chesney (James Ellison) and Charley Wyckham (Richard Haydn), witnessed the incident and can vouch that it was an accident.

Jack and Charley, however, have problems of their own, namely in the guise of old man Spettigue (Edmund Gwenn). Spettigue, the guardian of niece Amy Spettigue (Anne Baxter) and his ward Kitty Verdun (Arleen Whelan), doesn't want the boys anywhere near Amy and Kitty. If they were to marry - which is precisely what Jack wants with Kitty - Spettigue would lose his yearly income as her guardian. In order for the boys to have the girls join them at the college before they're shipped off to boarding school (and thereby ruining Jack's chances at marriage), a chaperone must be obtained. Enter Charley's aunt, Donna Lucia (Kay Francis), who sends word that she's coming to visit Charley (who, importantly, has never seen his aunt). A wealthy widow by a rich Brazilian ("Where the nuts come from!"), Donna Lucia learns of Charley's attraction to Amy, and decides to go incognito to the school. She's provided with a chaperone by none other than Babbs' uncle, Donna Lucia's solicitor.

When word arrives that Charley's aunt isn't coming after all, Jack and Charley blackmail Babbs into dressing up as Charley's unseen aunt in an effort to fool Spettigue - or else they won't vouch for Babbs with Dean Redcliff. Naturally, as with all farce, complications arise from mistaken identities and intentions, with Spettigue becoming attracted to Babbs (because he wants the widow's money); Jack's father, Sir Francis Chesney (Laird Cregar), also reluctantly chasing Babbs for his/her money; and Babbs (out of drag) becoming attracted to Donna Lucia, whom he doesn't know is Charley's real aunt.

For a farce to really succeed and achieve lift-off with the audience, the plot complications have to come thick and fast, with a steady build throughout the proceedings, for the enterprise to work. Whether or not the complications themselves are believable is frequently beside the point. After all, who would ever believe that Jack Benny would fool anyone dressed as a woman (he has a hard enough time with his come-and-mostly-go English accent). And in fact, the notion that we the audience would spot Benny's subterfuge a mile off, only makes Charley's Aunt that much more delightful. The laughs come not only from the story's construction, but also from our amusement at watching characters do obviously silly things despite the reality of the situation.

Charley's Aunt starts off nicely, with some amusing moments at a slapstick cricket game featuring Benny. I particularly liked the two ultra-British spectators, played by veteran character actors Claud Allister and William Austin (when a cricket ball comes screaming at them, Allister serenely intones, "It seems to be coming this way," before he's bopped on the head). But I wasn't too sure about Benny during these early scenes. Benny, the master reactor, who could milk a laugh for minutes on end by doing nothing more than watching and listening to his radio or stage audience carefully, and then doing facial takes accordingly, always made fun of his film career, frequently citing his turn in The Horn Blows at Midnight, a notorious failure and subsequently his last theatrical lead role, as an example of a typically "stiff" performance from his "failed" movie career (although of course, his To Be or Not To Be is now considered a bona fide classic). Benny made it known that he disliked not working in front of a live audience, because he felt most of his timing came from gauging the audience's reaction in real time, sustained throughout the single performance - something you obviously can't do with a movie shot in little pieces over a period of weeks.

However, once Benny put on the Aunty costume, I was surprised at how animated and lively he came off. There's a real bravado in his performance, which he accentuates by making sure that Aunty is in no way feminine. His Charley's Aunt may have an occasional high voice, but more often than not, she's pushing around or hitting Spettigue with force, or diving in and out of scenes with abandon, belying the almost supernatural calm one usually associates with Benny's regular stand-up act. There's a lot of energy by Benny on display here (perhaps influenced by director Mayo's previous experience directing numerous two-reel slapstick comedies), and it's a most welcome surprise.

As well, veteran studio director Mayo obviously has a lot of fun with the slightly risqué humor of Benny cross-dressing as a woman. When Benny, dressed as Aunty, hugs and kisses Kitty and Amy, it's an increasingly hilarious sequence, not only because Benny really seems to enjoy laying more and more full-on kisses to those gorgeous dolls Baxter and Whelan (Benny's reaction shots thrown back to steaming mad boyfriends Ellison and Haydn are priceless), but also because it's such an incongruous sight to see Benny, dressed as an elderly woman complete with wig, inappropriately kissing these beautiful female strangers. Mayo puts in lots of sophisticated little sexual innuendos throughout the film, some rather surprising considering the film's time frame (when Sir Francis gets a good look at Aunty for the first time, realizing he's committed to seducing her for her money, his walking cane, held high, does a dejected, phallic droop that perfectly timed by Cregar), making that old chestnut Charley's Aunt seem rather contemporary at times.

The DVD:

The Video:
Charley's Aunt comes to DVD with a quite good black and white full frame transfer. Once or twice, the image looked a little too bright, but overall, it's crisp, clean, and clear.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital soundtrack can either be heard in a new English 2.0 stereo mix, or the film's original mono; except for occasional hiss, the soundtrack is remarkably clear. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French, with close-captioning available.

The Extras:
First up, there's a full-length commentary by film historian Randy Skretvedt. If you watch enough DVDs and listen to enough commentary tracks, when someone as animated and entertaining as Randy comes along, you take notice. It's great to hear someone speaking on one of these commentaries who actually sounds like they're interested in the material, and not just droning on in an academic monotone. Kudos, Randy. Next, there's a pretty funny extended trailer/short subject called Three of a Kind featuring Benny supposedly in the Fox commissary, discussing Charley's Aunt. Tyrone Power and Randolph Scott join in the fun (Ty Power is pretty funny describing his next movie - too bad he didn't do more comedies). And there's a still gallery, as well as four, 4 x 6 stills from the film, printed on post cards, and slipped into an envelope marked "Lobby Cards" (they're really just production stills, not true replicas of the film's original lobby cards).

Final Thoughts:
Swiftly paced and nicely timed in its gags and line readings, Charley's Aunt features one of Jack Benny's best film performances. The old theatrical chestnut has some surprisingly modern touches (in the form of sexual innuendoes), that only add to the fun. I highly recommend Charley's Aunt.