Piccadilly Jim

This thrice-filmed nugget of vintage silliness by the creator of Jeeves and Wooster first appeared in 1917. The title character is a British ex-newsman and reforming playboy who finds himself pretending to be an imposter impersonating himself. This is to win the affections of a girl he's enamored with. To further impress her, he agrees to kidnap her obnoxious stepbrother. The ensuing contretemps is complicated by other schemes by various other characters, in the usual Wodehouse manner. Narrator Martin Jarvis, winner of a Theatre World Award for playing Jeeves on the New York stage, dives vigorously into these turgid waters and swims fervently to the shore with considerable skill and imagination. His comic voicings and almost-musical rhythms are particularly effective. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine