Travels with My Aunt (1972)

Please don't spend money on this.

Memorable, crazy movie

Great Film overall

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is one of those filmed novels--like "The Prince of Tides", "The Object of My Affection", or "THe Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"--which readers of the book will find disappointing. I'm guessing, however, that most people who discover it now will not have read the book. And as a stand-alone film, how could you not like it? Maggie Smith is hilarious; and now that she IS the age of the character she was playing at the time, it makes her broad performance even more amazing. (There are hints of this character in the role she played 29 years later in "Gosford Park".)The real gift for first-time viewers will be discovering Alec McCowen's wonderful acting as the stiff, stodgy nephew. He's one of those actors you see once, and then immediately you'll want to find out what else he's done. Lou Gossett Jr, and Cindy WIlliams are also enjoyable in early career roles. This film was made in an era where greats like George Cukor were getting in a few last licks out of lengthy, distinguished career. (William Wyler and Joseph L. Mankiewicz were also showing they still had greatness in them during this period.) The film's score deserves mention, as it teleported me back to 1972, where I could imagine myself seeing this in a theatre wearing bell-bottoms and sporting a shag haircut (like WIlliams' in the movie). The theme song, "Serenade of Love", should have been nominated for an Oscar.So again, if I'd read the book--which I now plan to do--I might feel differently; but compared to much of today's dreck, this is a whole lot of fun. From the moment that portrait winked at me at the beginning, I enjoyed it.

This is a pretty odd movie that mixes drama with adventurous elements and yet somehow works.The movie is definitely entertaining to watch, with a good cast, some fine comedy moments and a good solid adventurous story. Nothing too big or fancy, just a decent enjoyable movie quality movie to kill some time with.The movie has a perfectly adventurous way of storytelling, meaning that lots of places around the world are being visited in short amount of time and many different characters come and go.The movie obviously had some great production values, since the movie is set all around the globe, from Paris to Istanbul and everything around it and between. The movie is also looking with some lively, deliberately over-the-top looking sets and costumes (both nominated for an Oscar with the costumes even eventually winning.). But what else was to expect from a George Cukor movie. The man who is known for director cheerful and good musical mostly in the '50's and '60's including "My Fair Lady" but also comedies, like "Born Yesterday" and well known serious drama classics as well, such as "Gaslight", "The Philadelphia Story" and for some part, before he was booted from the set, also "Gone with the Wind".He mixed all those previous styles he had worked with before in this movie. The end result is a quite unique and one of a kind movie, that works fine on the adventurous level, as well as the comical and dramatic one.The movie is well cast with Maggie Smith in an absolutely splendid role. A role that even got her an Oscar nomination. She also had some great chemistry with Alec McCowen, who is obviously the least known actor of the main cast. His role even got him a Golden Globe nomination. Abolutely great and humorously entertaining was Louis Gossett Jr. in his role. He not only shows that he is a great actor but also how well he can handle the comedy genre. His character provides the movie with the most and biggest laughs. Too bad that his career has derailed so badly the last couple of decades, ever since his Oscar winning role for "An Officer and a Gentleman", from 1982.But no, when you look at this movie you'll realize that it also is far from a perfect one. The story gets a bit too odd at times and the storytelling is just off. The movie also too quickly ends some potentially interesting or amusing plot lines and the different adventurous/comedy and drama elements don't always go together well.Nevertheless it was a movie I mostly enjoyed watching and I wouldn't mind viewing it again.A good entertaining movie, that definitely deserves to be seen.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

But what it lacks is a solidly convincing performance from MAGGIE SMITH. Instead we get an over-the-top, absurd characterization of an eccentric elderly woman with money and romance on her mind as she tries to convince her stuffy nephew to change his straight-laced ways.It's astonishingly overdone by Smith, so theatrical it makes Auntie Mame look like a demure housewife by comparison.What moves here is the scenery, handsomely photographed in vivid Technicolor all over European locales--and sumptuous looking costumes, colorful, vivid, always in character. But someone should have told MAGGIE SMITH to tone it down several octaves. George Cukor has allowed her to perform as though she were spoofing every eccentric lady she ever played--and then some.ALEC McCOWEN is subdued and very good as the bewitched and bewildered nephew who gradually comes to admire his aunt for her style. But the ending, where he and LOU GOSSETT, JR. toss a coin in the air, leaves everything very unresolved.Summing up: Fluffy material that could have been so much better. But when has Hollywood ever done right by Graham Greene--with a couple of rare exceptions.On the credit side: The twist at the end is clever until you stop to think about how it really doesn't make that much sense. Still, it's clever enough and it works.

Graham Greene's novels can be so subtle as to tend toward the obscure. It's no wonder, then, that "Travels" translated to film tends to meander a bit. Greene himself admitted that he wasn't really sure where Henry and Aunt Augusta were going to land next.The travels here are of two types -- physical, across Europe, and temporal, as Augusta reminisces. One breaks up the other, while still advancing the plot, such as it is, although at times it seems to disappear.The chief enjoyments here are the travels of the physical kind -- the varied scenery, the sumptuous architectures, the brilliant photography, the geographically-appropriate costumes.The acting isn't bad, either. One can but wish they'd had more to work with.