From the murky depths of British Cinema cometh information which some may
prefer forgotten - especially if they follow it up and view the material
("the horror"  "the horror")
  I think forgotten British Comedian Arthur Askey made a film version of
CHARLEY'S AUNT sometime in the late 30s or early 40s titled CHARLEY'S BIG
HEARTED AUNT (after Askey's vaudeville logo "Big Hearted Arthur Askey" //
"Cheerful Charlie Chester")
  Perhaps some plunging into the Crazy Gang archives or Flanagan and Allen
may produce some information.
  An 80s film PRIVATES ON PARADE (get the Pythonesque nudge) featured Dennis
Quilley as a gay officer who dressed in drag. I believe he impersonated Carmen
Miranda in the film.
 Also British comedian Dick Emery made a move in the 70s "OOOh you are Awful"
after his character Mandy he impersonated in the BBC 60s Dick Emery Show,
Furthermore, the Old Mother Riley series with Arthur Lucan and Kitty Mc
Shane may provide further leads. Lucan was an aged actor who played Old Mother
Riley always wanting to marry off his daughter Kitty. Each film ended with
the wedding ceremony (in real-life Lucan was married to McShane). Theories
of cross-dressing disavowing the "dirty old man" charge may ne interesting
in this context. After Lucan died (sometime in the 50s) McShane ended her
career playing Old Mother Riley in vaudeville. One film is available in the
U.S. - OLD MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE (a.k.a. MY SON THE VAMPIRE) where
Lucan plays opposite a highly debilitated Bela Lugosi obviously suffering
from drug addiction if the stills are any indication.
  What about other cultures? Perhaps Brigitte Lin Chia-Hsia as "Invinceable
Asia" in SWORDSMAN 2 and 3 (Hong Kong)may qualify? She plays a man who
accepts castration to become powerful and turns into a woman as a result.
But it is noticeably Brigitte Lin. Note her other mild "cross-dressing"
performances in DRAGON INN (1992) and PEKING OPERA BLUES (1986). However,
as Julian Stringer correctly pointed out in a FILM QUARTERLY article on the
last film, it is really essential to view these traits according to the
relevant cultural and historical associations and not just adopt them into
Western modes of understanding.
  Finally, I saw Jack Benny in drag with George Burns in a televised
performance from the London Palladium many years ago. It was probably never
recorded. He played Gracie Allen. This was before Gracie's death.
  Tony Williams
P.S. Alistair Sim plays the headmistress and her "bookie" brother in the first
St. Trinians movie
 
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