Due to copyright issues (the widow of Frank Loesser has kept it from circulation due to the misguided belief that it was one of her husband's lesser works), Where's Charley? has not been seen by many people for decades. It is a good film and Ray Bolger's favorite, so it is a shame that it is not accessible.
I saw it screened at Cinevent 2017, and though the color on the print was beginning to fade, it was an enjoyable hour and a half.
The story is the famous stage play Charley's Aunt set at the turn of the century at Oxford where two men try to woo their sweethearts. "Better Get Out of Here" is the best staged musical number in the film and it appears in the beginning when the girls discover there is no adult chaperone and they are therefore in violation of the morals of the time. This is what causes Charley (Bolger) to impersonate his own aunt in fear that he will not get to spend enough time with Amy (Allyn Ann McLerie) to win her heart and her hand. Although it wasn't my favorite part of the movie, I was surprised to find myself humming "Once in Love With Amy" after the fact.
I saw it screened at Cinevent 2017, and though the color on the print was beginning to fade, it was an enjoyable hour and a half.
The story is the famous stage play Charley's Aunt set at the turn of the century at Oxford where two men try to woo their sweethearts. "Better Get Out of Here" is the best staged musical number in the film and it appears in the beginning when the girls discover there is no adult chaperone and they are therefore in violation of the morals of the time. This is what causes Charley (Bolger) to impersonate his own aunt in fear that he will not get to spend enough time with Amy (Allyn Ann McLerie) to win her heart and her hand. Although it wasn't my favorite part of the movie, I was surprised to find myself humming "Once in Love With Amy" after the fact.