British Comedy Guide
Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt. Arthur Linden (Arthur Askey). Copyright: Gainsborough Pictures 1928 Limited
Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt

Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt

  • 1940 film

Farce based on the hit Victorian play Charley's Aunt, starring Arthur Askey as an Oxford scholar. Also features Richard Murdoch, Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt, J.H. Roberts, Felix Aylmer and more.

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Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt. Image shows from L to R: Stinker Burton (Richard Murdoch), Arthur Linden (Arthur Askey), Albert Brown (Graham Moffatt). Copyright: Gainsborough Pictures 1928 Limited

Key details

Genre
Film
Released
1940
Stars
Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch, Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt, J.H. Roberts, Felix Aylmer, Wally Patch, Phyllis Calvert and more
Writers
Brandon Thomas, J.O.C. Orton, Marriott Edgar and Ralph Smart
Director
Walter Forde
Producers
Edward Black and Maurice Ostrer
Company

Threatened with being sent down (expelled) from their college at Oxford after the latest in a series of high-spirited hi-jinks and miscellaneous delinquency, friends Arthur, Stinker and Albert hit upon a seemingly ingenious ruse.

The Dean is a keen Egyptologist and desperate to secure funding for his own dig in the middle-Eastern desert; meanwhile, Albert's aunt is very wealthy and affords him a generous allowance.

Whilst the allowance itself may not be enough to fund an archaeological expedition, the trio convince the Dean that his dear Aunt Lucy is a budding patron of Egyptology, in search of a project to fund; and if she were to be upset by the expulsion of her beloved nephew and the two best friends he grew up with, she mightn't be so keen.

Bubbling with promise - after all, they need only string the ruse out for another term until their studies are completed regardless - the boys set about making the plot come to fruition. Unfortunately the Dean is soon very keen to meet his potential benefactor, and a spot of dress-up is called for.

Additional details

UK certificate
U
Duration
76 minutes
UK release
Monday 2nd September 1940
Distributors

General Film Distributors

Production
Studio
Camera set-up
Single camera
Picture
Black and white

Website links

Recording details

  • Shepherds Bush Studios

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