Charley's Aunt (1941)

Set in 1890 England, two students at Oxford (James Ellison, Richard Haydn) blackmail their fellow student (Jack Benny) into impersonating Haydn's Aunt so that the "Aunt" can chaperone when the guys entertain two young ladies (Anne Baxter, Arleen Whelan).  All goes well until the real Aunt (Kay Francis) shows up! Based on the popular 1892 stage farce by Brandon Thomas (which was filmed twice before in 1915 and 1925) and directed by Archie Mayo (THE PETRIFIED FOREST). The stage play's popularity continues to this day and is revived frequently. It even served as the basis of a popular stage musical in 1948 and subsequently filmed in 1952. This film version is quite amusing for the most part but Jack Benny isn't much of a farceur (or an actor) and I couldn't help but think how Bob Hope would have killed it in the part. But the material is just about foolproof so Benny gets by. It's no TOOTSIE or SOME LIKE IT HOT but as far as cross dressing comedies go, it holds its own. With Laird Cregar, Edmund Gwenn and Reginald Owen.