Movies:
Travels with My Aunt
- Rating:
- Genre: Comedy
- Movie Type: Domestic Comedy
- Themes: Eccentric Families, Fish Out of Water
- Director: George Cukor
- Main Cast: Olive Behrendt, Nora Norman, Maggie Smith, Alec McCowen, Louis Gossett, Jr., Robert Stephens, Cindy Williams
- Release Year: 1972
- Country: UK
- Run Time: 109 minutes
- MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In the lively comedy/adventure Travels with My Aunt, adapted from Graham Green's book, Henry (Alec McCowan), a timid, bookish accountant whose life seems to have died stillborn, discovers how to live with gusto thanks to the rough ministrations of his thoroughly eccentric aunt Augusta (Maggie Smith). Aunt Augusta bursts into Henry's life during the funeral for his mother, Augusta's sister. She whisks him to her apartment for a general cheering up, and he is thoroughly bemused by her bohemian ways and her much-younger black Caribbean boyfriend. In the next few hours, she manages to pry him from his dusty life and involve him in a series of incredible adventures involving old love affairs, espionage, kidnappings, and more money than he has ever dreamt of. Before the story ends, Henry has properly gotten into the spirit of his madcap aunt's adventuring. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie GuideReview
Not outré enough to be a cult film, Travels With My Aunt nevertheless is one of those movies that tends to divide its audience into those who love it and those who hate it. Those in the former group find many elements to praise. The screenplay, from Graham Greene's book, is clever and witty and features an array of original comic characters. Directors George Cukor and Gil Parondo have ensured that it has a marvelous look, with excellent contributions in the art direction, costume, and cinematography department. Maggie Smith's performance is delightfully over-the-top, a tour de force that matches the material perfectly. Detractors counter that the underlying message of the story is trite and unoriginal and that the screenplay, for all its cleverness, does not address that failing. Cukor and Parondo's pacing and tone are off, with some scenes that call for manic energy instead just lying there and others that call for a gentle touch being treated as zany comedy. And Smith's performance strikes many as going too far, to the point that it becomes alienating and annoying. Most can agree, however, that Alec McCowen gives a finely detailed, understated performance, Louis Gossett Jr. is hysterical, and Cindy Williams is surprisingly funny. Aunt ultimately doesn't work on all levels, but it's an interesting cinematic journey nonetheless. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie GuideCast
- Maggie Smith - Aunt Augusta
- Alec McCowen - Henry
- Louis Gossett, Jr. - Wordsworth
- Robert Stephens - Visconti
- Cindy Williams - Tooley
- Olive Behrendt - Madame in Messagero
- Nora Norman - Stripper
Robert Flemyng - Crowder; Charlie Bravo - Policeman; Daniel Emilfork - Hakim; Javier Escriva - Dancer in Messagero; Raymond Gerome - Mario; William Layton - Art Expert; Corinne Marchand - Louise; Aldo Sambrell - Hakim's Assistant; José Luis Lopez Vasquez - Dambreuse; John Hamill - Crowder's Man; Julio Pena - Mons. Alexandre; David Swift - Detective; Valerie White - Madame Dambreuse; Antonio Pica - Elegant Man; Bernard Holley - Bobby
