"Charleys Tante" or "Charley's Aunt" is a West German film from 1956. It is based on a play by Brandon Thomas and there actually exist more films based on this material than I would have expected. This one here is among the most known, probably because the title character is played by famous German actor Heinz Rühmann. And he made this film in the 1950s and in his 50s, which was certainly his best period in terms of films he starred in. But it all (or almost all) went wrong here. Drag performances are always a challenger and I don't even think Rühmann did all that much wrong, but everything in terms of comedy, story and music (and the rare moments of drama too) did not become credible, realistic or at least entertaining. Looking at the first hour of this 90 minute movie, Rühmann did not even have that much screen time and it was all about the younger cast members and characters on many occasions. But they were either weak actors or just not good enough to make up for the bland ways in which their characters were written. Probably a mix of both. As colorful and loud as this Quest/Kampendonk collaboration may have been, it turned out at least as annoying. This is especially disappointing as the duo worked with Rühmann on other occasions and there things did not go half as wrong as here. Or maybe the base material is just too weak, also an option. After all, Rühmann did not do himself any favors by starring in this one. I do not recommend the watch.
Review of Charleys Tante
