Charleys tant (1926)

The plot follows the young Charley Wykeham, an Oxford student hopelessly in love with Amy Spettigue, while his roommate, Jack Chesney, is in love with Amy’s friend, Kitty Verdun. When Charley’s aunt and benefactor, the mysterious Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez, fails to arrive from South America as expected, the two young men are left without a chaperone for their romantic outings. In desperation, they manage to persuade Lord Fancourt Babberley to put on a black dress, a shawl, and a gray wig and pass himself off as the Brazilian heiress. Trapped in this strange femininity, Lord Babberley never makes any attempt to adopt a feminine manner; nevertheless, his disguise never gives away the secret. Much to his amusement, he finds himself being courted both by Jack’s father—a kindly widower—and by Amy’s guardian, the irascible lawyer Stephen Spettigue. The romantic confusion grows even greater when the real Donna Lucia arrives, accompanied by a young ward who fondly remembers her one encounter with Lord Babberley. In the end, the impostor reveals his true identity, and almost all the characters have a happy ending.