Where's Charley?

Ray Bolger gets to re-create his most famous stage role, right down to the audience-participation gimmick in "Once In Love With Amy." The George Abbott-Frank Loesser stage hit was a little ramshackle to begin with, and there's plenty to complain about in this adaptation, if you're ornery: It's stagy, with too-elaborate choreography. (The opening number, with the stylized dance steps played against the natural setting, looks terribly stilted.) Bolger, great as he is, isn't remotely convincing as an Oxford undergrad -- twice the right age, and with an accent that goes in and out. Some good songs from the stage version are missing, notably "Lovelier Than Ever." David Butler directs with his usual dull competence.

But there's Bolger's eccentric dancing, not only wonderful itself but a valuable historical link to a theatrical style that was old by the time Bolger appropriated it (think Montgomery and Stone, and all their imitators). There's a fun, unpretentious "dream ballet" set in Brazil, sort of like MGM's "The Pirate" as reimagined with a Warners-cartoon sensibility. The old "Charley's Aunt" plot still plays, the Technicolor is pretty, the production is handsome. And one mystery: How does someone as pretty, charming, unaffected, talented, and spirited as Allyn McLerie not get to be a movie star?

Can someone please explain to me why this delightful film has never been released on DVD or VHS? Does it have something to do with securing the rights? Just curious to see if anyone knows the answer. This is one of Bolger's best films, and also a rare starring role for Allyn McLerie. So sad that she never quite made it to stardom. Other than this film, I've seen her in "Calamity Jane" and "Desert Song". Although relegated to supporting roles in both, she was wonderful. I especially enjoy her Katie Brown in the latter. Like one of the other commenters, I have always wondered why she never really became a "star". Please, whomever is keeping this film from being released, let the public once again enjoy this wonderful film.

Ray Bolger had a huge Broadway hit with "Where's Charley?" that ran from October 1948 to September 1950. Bolger even starred in a brief 1951 revival. This 1952 film version also boasts original cast members Allyn Ann McLerie as Amy and Horace Cooper as old Spettigue.

Despite a rough start in the opening Oxford scenes, the film kicks into gear when Bolger hideously yet hilariously masquerades as his aunt (whom he has never met) to maintain the social propriety that requires the presence of a chaperone among the mixed-sex young set gathered at an Oxford reunion.

The wealthy "aunt" then becomes the romantic target of two "old boys" back for their reunion. But all hell breaks loose when the real aunt shows up and pretends to be an old friend of the aunt's dead husband. Amid all these plot contrivances are peppered several musical numbers.

Bolger wonderfully recreates "Once in Love with Amy," a number that brought down the house on a nightly basis. The "aunt" is the perfect vehicle for his eccentric dancing style that seems even more bizarre while he's in drag. A major surprise is the excellent performance by Allyn Ann McLerie as Amy. Mostly remembered now for her crotchety character performances on TV, here she sings and dances up a storm in the Brazilian dream sequence. She's quite wonderful.

Cast also includes Mary Germaine and Robert Shackleton as Kitty and Jack, Margaretta Scott as the real aunt, and Howard Marion-Crawford as old Chesney.

Film closes with a massive production number, "At the Red Rose Cotillion," and a reprise of the opening number.

Still awaiting a DVD release. If you get a chance, watch this one for Ray Bolger and Allyn Ann McLerie.

Ray Bolger's career in movies has a passing resemblance to another performer who did not quite fit in, but who achieved stardom through a back door of sorts: Robert Preston. If one looks at the credits of both men most of their films are quite forgettable, but their musical work lifts them. Yet Bolger, although recognized for his abilities as an eccentric dancer, only hit the target on film twice: as the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz" and as Charley Wykeman in "Where's Charlie". The first one was a lucky fluke, as he was hired in the Hollywood studio system at it's height. But after appearing in that classic, Bolger was wasted in movies (one can make an exception with his appearance in "The Harvey Girls" but it is still pale in comparison). He had a habit of returning to Broadway, appearing in Roger & Hart's "By Jupiter" in the early 1940s. Then he returned to Broadway in the late 1940s. And he got his greatest Broadway success there as Charley Wykeman in "Where's Charlie". A musical version of the farce, "Charlie's Aunt", he played the hero who dresses up as his wealthy aunt from Brazil (where the nuts come from). The highpoint of the musical was when he sang "Once In Love With Amy", and got the audience to join in the singing. Bolger's performance and enthusiasm made Broadway history. With his established reputation in Hollywood musicals he was able to get the lead in the Hollywood version. So as a result of this we are able to still enjoy that rarity - an actual Broadway star's performance on celluloid in the role he made famous. It is identical to Preston's return to Hollywood as "Professor Harold Hill" in "The Music Man". But the latter film really began a second half to Preston's career. He would spend most of his later years on Broadway, not in Hollywood, and only pick and choose those films that he wanted to do, culminating with "Victor/Victoria". That did not happen with Bolger. His next musical, "April in Paris" was with Doris Day, but was not very good. He never starred in another Hollywood film. He played "Barnaby" in Walt Disney's "Babes in Toyland, but most critics did not care for that film either. Bolger's stardom was never in doubt, but his days of growth in his movie roles were over. Not quite like Preston, who seemed to have a better presence for some reason. Still, "Where's Charley?" is in that select group with "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and "Call Me Madame!" wherein we are able to see what the Broadway audiences saw. For that alone we should be grateful.

I was only seven years old when my parents took us kids to see Where's Charley? I have never forgotten it or the song Once In Love With Amy which Ray Bolger sang. I was madly in love with Amy myself after we left the movie. I still remember the opening words, Once In Love With Amy and the melody they were sung to. I'd love to see this on DVD too. Why can't Hollywood get all these old movies out to DVD anyway? They are leaving gold buried in the vaults. What I mostly remember about the movie was the dancing Ray Bolger performed, although I don't remember Amy dancing or not, but I assume she did too. Too bad the IMDb contains no pictures of the actress who played Amy, Allyn Ann McLerie. I'd love to see what she looks like now, or then, so maybe I could understand why I fell in love with her when I was only seven.