A delicious black comedy, "My Favorite Aunt" stars Phil Brown as a small-time hood on the lam after a shooting at a crooked poker game. He finds refuge at the home of his pal's Aunt, who had invited the guy o stay with her, but fate intervenes as his pal is shot to death when the run a police roadblock. So Brown impersonates his pal to use Mary's place as a hideout, as she's never met the adult, grown-up nephew, only corresponded with him by mail over the years.
Marjorie Fielding is wonderful as the independent minded old aunt, and an underrated British director Lance Comfort, directs skilfully, planting just enough clues to put the audience one step ahead of our hapless antihero. The way the story resolves itself is a lot of fun and manages to keep one guessing. Having an unfamiliar player in the lead role (as opposed to the usual practice of overcasting, notably putting Cary Grant as the bumbling fool in the similar "Arsenic and Old Lace") works wonders.
Marjorie Fielding is wonderful as the independent minded old aunt, and an underrated British director Lance Comfort, directs skilfully, planting just enough clues to put the audience one step ahead of our hapless antihero. The way the story resolves itself is a lot of fun and manages to keep one guessing. Having an unfamiliar player in the lead role (as opposed to the usual practice of overcasting, notably putting Cary Grant as the bumbling fool in the similar "Arsenic and Old Lace") works wonders.