Norman Evans As Auntie Doleful (1937)

No titles. Norman Evans as Auntie Doleful. Pathe Studio, London. Comedian Ronald Frankau sits at a cocktail bar and introduces Norman Evans. He takes a cocktail shaker and jiggles it furiously. C/U of shaker; dissolve into M/S of Evans, sitting at grand piano and dressed in evening dress. Evans introduces Auntie Doleful, who is visiting a sick friend with the intention of cheering them up. He bows and we dissolve to Evans dressed as Auntie Doleful, standing at foot of bed. ’She’ then begins conversation full of doom and gloom, full of references to death and illness. (It’s very funny! - SL.) She leaves with the words “Always try to keep a smile on your face, and then if you ’appen to pop off suddenly, you’ll make a nicer corpse“. Item is concluded by Ronald Frankau. He remarks on the illusions “the screen can give“. He claims that while he may look like a “puffy middle-aged gent with debauched eyes“, he is actually “a most attractive young man with no knowledge of life or love“. This