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Hollywood "Short Subjects" of Robert Benchley

NEWS! At last, this collection is available on DVD (release date, February 21, 2006.)

Robert Benchley & The Knights of the Algonquin reviewed by Gordon Ernst, Director, Robert Benchley Society and author of Robert Benchley: An Annotated Bibliography -- This collection contains the following Benchley shorts:
The Witness The Trouble with Husbands The Man's Angle
Crime Control The Sex Life of the Polyp The Treasurer's Report
With the exception of the last two, these titles are from Benchley's later work at Paramount. The picture quality of the shorts is generally good, although some of them were transferred from re-issue prints, and so lack the original titles. The two shorts from 1928 are interesting for their historical significance (and for preserving two of Benchley's best known routines), but the print for The Treasurer's Report has specks of lint in it which obscure the picture for at least half of its 10 minute running time. The video also contains the shorts Traffic Control and Humorous Flights by Donald Ogden Stewart; and Mr. W's Little Game by Alexander Woollcott.

Almost as welcome as a shaker full of martinis, The Complete Thin Man Collection represents an eagerly awaited DVD milestone for fans of the fizzy MGM movie series. The best film in the series came first: The Thin Man (1934), W.S. Van Dyke's marvelous adaptation of a Dashiell Hammet novel. The movie gods were in a generous mood when they paired William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the upper-class sophisticates whose sleuthing escapades somehow joined the classic form of the whodunit with the giddyup of screwball comedy.

Contains six films on seven DVDs: The Thin Man, After The Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, Song of the Thin Man, and The Thin Man Goes Home

Extras:

  • Alias Nick & Nora bonus documentary disc includes "William Powell: A True Gentleman" and "Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To"
  • Trailer gallery
  • Robert Benchley comedy short: How to Be a Detective
  • Robert Benchley comedy short: Why Daddy?
  • Classic cartoons: The Early Bird and the Worm, The Bookworm, Screwball Squirrel, The Goose Goes South, Slap Happy Lion
  • Radio show with Powell and Loy
  • Leo Is on the Air radio promo
  • Musical short: Love on Tap
  • Vintage short: The Tell-Tale Heart
  • Passing Parade short: A Really Important Person
  • "Darling, I Loathe You: The Thin Man" TV series episode starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk
    • Contains seven films on five DVDs: A Night at The Opera, A Day at The Races, A Night in Casablanca, Room Service, At the Circus, Go West, The Big Store

    Extras:
  • Commentary by Leonard Maltin on A Night at the Opera
  • Commentary by "The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia" Author Glenn Mitchell on A Day at the Races
  • All-New Documentaries "Remarks On Marx," "On Your Marx, Get Set, Go!"
  • The Hy Gardner Show (1/1/61) excerpt featuring Groucho Marx
  • Vintage Shorts:
  • "Fitzpatrick Traveltalk's Los Angeles: Wonder City Of The World"
  • "Sunday Night At The Trocadero"
  • Robert Benchley's Academy Award-Winning "How To Sleep"
  • "Pete Smith Specialty Quicker 'N A Wink"
  • "Flicker Memories"
  • Joe McDoakes's "So You Think You're A Nervous Wreck"
  • "Fitzpatrick Traveltalk Cavalcade Of San Francisco"
  • Robert Benchley's "A Night At The Movies"
  • MGM Cartoons: "Gallopin' Gals," "Mama's New Hat," "Jitterbug Follies," "Old Smokey," "Officer Pooch," and "The Milky Way"
  • Looney Tunes Cartoons: "The Daffy Doc" and "Acrobatty Bunny"
  • Our Gang Comedy Shorts: "Party Fever" and "Dog Daze"
  • Audio-Only: Musical Outtake A Message From The Man In The Moon (performed by Allan Jones), "Where There's Music," and an MGM Radio Promos "Leo Is On The Air"
  • Theatrical Trailers
    • Re-creating the role she originated in Philip Barry's wickedly witty Broadway play, Katharine Hepburn stars as the spoiled and snobby socialite Tracy Lord in this sparkling 1940 screen adaptation of The Philadelphia Story, one of the great romantic comedies from the golden age of MGM studios.

    DVD Features Disk 1:
  • Digitally Remastered Movie with Commentary by Film Historian Jeannine Basinger
  • George Cukor Movie Trailer Gallery
    DVD Features Disk 2:
  • Two Insightful Documentaries About the Star and Director: Katharine Hepburn: All About Me - A Self-Portrait and The Men Who Made the Movies: George Cukor
  • Robert Benchley Short "That Inferior Feeling"
  • Cartoon The Homeless Flea
  • Audio-Only Bonus: Two Radio Adaptations Featuring the Movie's Three Stars.
    • Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, in a world of marital confusion. Presuming his wife to be dead, Grant remarries--on the same day that his bedraggled spouse (that's Dunne) returns.

    DVD Features:
  • All new digital transfer
  • Radio production starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne
  • Robert Benchley's short subject "Home Movies"
  • Theatrical Trailer

    • Complete Listing of Benchley's "Short Subjects"

    EC* Title Year Studio Directing by Writing by Acting by Notes
    F1 Boogie Woogie 1945 Paramount Noel Madison Ray E. Spencer Robert Benchley, Roland Dupree, Darryl Hickman, Frank Cook, Jerry James, John Kelly, Frank Faylen, Carmella Bergstrom, Barbara Matthews, Ann Shoemaker Color
    F2 Courtship of the Newt, The 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F3 Crime Control 1941 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
    ---
    F4 Dark Magic 1939 M-G-M Roy Rowland
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley, John Scarne
    ---
    F5 Day of Rest 1939 M-G-M Basil Wrangell
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley
    ---
    F6 Evening Alone, An 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo Robert Benchley
    ---
    F7 Forgotten Man, The 1941 Paramount Leslie M. Roush
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
    ---
    F8 Furnace Trouble 1929 Fox James Parrott Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F9 Hollywood Victory Caravan 1945 Paramount William Russell
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley et al.
    ---
    F10 Home Early1939 M-G-M Roy Rowland
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley
    ---
    F11 Home Movies 1940 M-G-M Basil Wrangell
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley et al.
    ---
    F12 Hour for Lunch, An1938 M-G-MRoy Rowland Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo Robert Benchley
    ---
    F13 How to be a Detective 1936 M-G-M Felix E. Feist Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo Robert Benchley
    ---
    F14 How to Behave 1936 M-G-M Arthur Ripley Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F15 How to Break 90 at Croquet 1935 RKO Leigh Jason Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F16 How to Eat 1939 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F17 How to Figure Income Tax 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F18 How to Raise a Baby 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ricardo Cezon, Paul Clark, Robbie and Rolly Jones
    ---
    F19 How to Read 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F20 How to Sleep 1935 M-G-M Nick Grinde Robert Benchley Robert Benchley Academy Award Winner
    F21 How to Start the Day 1937 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo Robert Benchley
    ---
    F22 How to Sub-Let 1939 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F23 How to Take a Vacation 1941 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
    ---
    F24 How to Train a Dog 1936 M-G-M Arthur Ripley Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F25 How to Vote 1936 M-G-M Felix E. Feist Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F26 How to Watch Football 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Joyce Compton, John Butler, Eddie Acuff, Diane Cock
    ---
    F27 I'm a Civilian Here Myself 1945 U.S. Navy Harry Joe Brown
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley
    ---
    F28 Important Business 1944 M-G-M Will Jason Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee, Connie Gilchirst
    ---
    F29 Keeping In Shape 1942 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F30 Lesson Number One 1929 Fox James Parrott Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F31 Man's Angle, The 1942 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
    ---
    F32 Mental Poise 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, John Butler
    ---
    F33 Music Made Simple 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F34 My Tomato 1943 M-G-M Will Jason Paul Girard Smith Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee, Monty Collins
    ---
    F35 Night at the Movies, A 1937 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo Robert Benchley, Gwen Lee, Hal K. Dawson, Frank Sheridan, Jack Baxley, Ricardo Cezon Nominated for Academy Award
    F36 No News Is Good News 1943 M-G-M Will Jason Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Lon Poff
    ---
    F37 Nothing But Nerves 1942 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F38 Opening Day 1938 M-G-M Roy Rowland Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Harlan Briggs, John Butler
    ---
    F39 Romance of Digestion, The 1937 M-G-M Felix E. Feist Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F40 See Your Doctor 1939 M-G-M Basil Wrangell Robert Benchley, Harry Parke Robert Benchley, Hobart Cavanaugh, Monty Woolley, Helen MacKeller, Claire DuBrey
    ---
    F41 Sex Life of the Polyp, The 1928 Fox Thomas Chalmers Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    National Film Registry, Library of Congress - 2007
    F42 Spellbinder, The 1929 Fox Thomas Chalmers
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley
    ---
    F43 Stewed, Fried and Boiled 1929 Fox James Parrott Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Sylvia Field, Virginia Sale, Edward Brady
    ---
    F44 That Inferior Feeling 1940 M-G-M Basil Wrangell Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Mary Lee, John Butler, Jack Mulhall
    ---
    F45 Treasurer's Report, The 1928 Fox Thomas Chalmers Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    F46 Trouble with Husbands, The 1940 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
    ---
    F47 Waiting for Baby 1941 Paramount Leslie M. Roush
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley
    ---
    F48 Why Daddy? 1944 M-G-M Will Jason Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee, Fred Brady (Quiz Show Emcee), Richard Hall (Bobby)
    ---
    F49 Witness, The 1942 Paramount Leslie M. Roush Robert Benchley Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
    ---
    F50 Your Technocracy and Mine 1933 Universal
    ---
    		 Robert Benchley Robert Benchley
    ---
    NOTE. "EC" is a reference to the code assigned each film in Robert Benchley, an Annotated Bibliography, by Gordon E. Ernst, Jr.

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