CHARLEY'S AUNT (1930)

Charlie Ruggles is the main reason to watch this early talkie version of a famous play, later remade with Jack Benny. Charley (Hugh Williams) and Jack (Rod McLennan) are two Oxford students who scheme during an afternoon picnic to ask two girls to marry them. The stuffy uncle and guardian of the girls (Halliwell Hobbes) has decided not to consent to any marriage since he will lose the guaranteed income he has as guardian. The chaperone at the picnic is supposed to be Charley's aunt (Doris Lloyd), a rich widow who lives in Brazil ("...where the nuts come from" becomes a comic catchphrase), but she cancels her visit so the boys get Ruggles, an older student who just happens to be trying on drag for a part in a play, to impersonate the aunt so they can go ahead with the picnic. Hobbes takes a shine to Ruggles (or, more to the point, takes a shine to her supposed fortune), as does Jack's father. In the middle of the afternoon, the real aunt shows up, with a young lady who turns out to be a long lost love of Ruggles'. Farce ensues. Ruggles, in his mid-40's, is really too old to be playing a student, but once he's in full old-lady drag, he's very funny and holds the whole movie together. Zany wordplay and slapstick abound; one of the funniest repeating gags involves Ruggles throwing objects at Hobbes' hat (which he shouldn't be wearing indoors). It's stagy in looks and acting, but the material is funny and Charlie Ruggles is wonderful. For some reason, the Jack Benny version is hard to come by, so I can't compare the two versions. [AMC--years ago when they still showed classic movies]