The Jack Benny Program, Vol. 1 (1950)

"JACK BENNY PROGRAM" (1952) Featuring Bing Crosby, George Burns, & Bob Hope. (26 MIN-B&W) "JACK BENNY PROGRAM" (1953) Featuring Julie London & All his special friends. (26 MIN-B&W) "Jack Benny Hour" (11-3-65) Featuring Elke Summer, Walt Disney, & Beach Boys. (55 MIN-B&W) Product Description

the clown king and violin virtuoso strikes again!

For those of you unfamiliar with Jack Benny, one of the late, great kings of comedy at his best, I reccomend these episodes as your introduction to his style of humor. For starters, Benny was one of the masters of the pregnant pause. He could arouse eruptions of laughter without saying a word. All he had to do was look off to the side, at the unseen person, during an outrageous situation and one glance said a thousand words! What's more, the running gag on all of his episodes was that the very frugal (to be diplomatic) Jack Benny was one of the greatest living violinists--if only in his mind. This talent was showcased in many ways on the program (or, in as many ways that were possible!). Whether he was playing duets with Liberace or serenading his audience in between interludes on the program, the squaks and out-of-key little songs that he produced from his instrument became an expected edition to his broad and tight-lipped style of comedy. (In reality, Benny was a brilliant, classically trained musician who was anything but cheap. Talk about playing against character!)

The episodes on this tape feature a brilliant dance number with Jack Benny, George Burns and Bob Hope, dancing in a tribute to the broad comedy/music routines of Vaudeville, Dale Whitney and friends and the Beach Boys. We also are introduced to Jack Benny's butler, "Rochester" (Eddie "Rochester"--a great comedian). In later years, this depiction of the devoted African-American manservant was viewed as a very racist and stereotypical representation of the relationship between Caucasians and African-Americans in the 1940s and 1950s. Yet, in my eyes, Rochester (oftentimes) stole the show because he really didn't take any guff from Jack Benny or anyone else. I think that you will really enjoy this program. Though, the humor might seem dated to younger people, it's worth a look and it grows on you, over time. May 31, 2007

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