Jack Benny Part 2

[samking73]

hardly watch television anymore ive fallen for Old Time Radio and with programs like Benny,s is wasnt hard. this is an actual radio recording that someone recorded with a tv camera, thats why the scripts. Jacks thing was to be a cheap scape but in reality was a very generous man. Jack makes todays comedians look bad.

[Steelback70]

... and Virgil Reimer, world's best soundman.

[TheTeenSleuth]

I always loved Jack Benny. Dennis Day was a favorite of mine as well!

[captainamerica1967us]

Yeah, but its only a Gillette, and I'm out of blades. Hilarious.

[TheTeenSleuth]

@captainamerica1967us yep, that was my favorite line ever! It was hilarious!

[tejastiger61]

Thanks for posting this GEM ...... Well done thank a million !

[captainamerica1967us]

I wonder if the stars thought about the soldiers, the ones who were watching and cheering, and were off to war and maybe not coming home.

[samking73]

@captainamerica1967us

a lot more than todays actors im sure.

[blkchk]

I can't believe this is up here...rare! I am listening to all the Jack Benny radio shows and it's amazing to see a recorded show.

[blkchk]

Anderson was wildly popular and his character was more than a butler. He and Jack shared adventures, pajamas, clothes. I encourage anyone to listen to these shows. The quality of the writing and performance was amazing. And Jack Benny and Rochester were ahead of their time.

[blkchk]

Great stuff. I have been listening to all Jack Benny's radio shows...in order. You can see the evolution of Eddie Anderson's character and the relationship with Jack Benny. It was really remarkable. I listened to the 1st broadcast with Anderson and heard Jack Benny talk about it on another interview. It was supposed to be a walk-on part but Anderson was " so good" that he was invited back again until he finally became a regular member although he didn't get billing for a few years.

[loriv9362]

I love Jack Benny and the gang. Mary's poems are a hoot. I love the letters she gets from "mamma". This was a classic ensemble cast.

[laybackrockguy]

Jack Benny is my role model and my idol. Even Conan O'Brien is influence by Jack Benny!

[gaelicviking]

Oh yeah - also any thoughts on Bob Crosby?

[ilgraham]

No contest, Harris is God

[gaelicviking]

I'm not wanting to start a board war, I'm just curious: is Kenny Baker or Dennis Day more popular among contemporary Jack Benny Show fans? I really don't have a preference since they're both great singers and performers, and they both basically play the same kind of character, but just from a couple comments made earlier about Dennis Day I'm curious.

[monkfan72]

@gaelicviking Dennis Day all the way. Probably because I heard him first on a collection of Old Time Radio Shows I had checked ot from the library. Fortunately, Internet Archives has pretty much every radio show available, including the solo Phil Harris, Dennis Day and Rochester shows. (Not so many Rochester- probably because he didn't make as many as the others.

[kyokogodai]

My favorite Jack Benny skit was when he was walking through Central Park, and a mugger jumped out and said, "You're money or you're life!" I won't go into it any more, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't ever heard it. One of the best ever, Jack Benny!

[jimmbo13]

Im thinking!!!

[kyokogodai]

@jimmbo13 .....LOL! Exactly!

[sayward12]

To all comedians, remember the challenge Groucho told on the Dick Cavett Show in the early 1970s, "Be clean and be funny, that's hard to do."

It's a challenge because anyone can tell dirty jokes.

[Astraldragon1]

sayward12 , you are 100% right. I saw that interview Groucho did on the Dick Cavett show on youtube and he was correct. when he said that about it being a challenge for a comedian to be "Clean and funny" and hard to do.. it's to easy to tell dirty jokes.....I like all the comedians like Jack Benny, Bob Hope and many others. They were the best in the business. I'm all so a fan of Bill Cosby.

[seanpdineen]

im disabled I regularly regal social worker experts, with "Where am I supposed to go today boss?"

[KaelWolfcry]

Yanno, I wasn't really laughing at this at all, just kinda smiling plainly...and then Rochester showed up and I definitely began to laugh.

A 28 year-old discovering Jack Benny for the first time...who'd a thunk?

[Xmchord]

A 17 year old doing the same thing.

[siddaviscomedy]

I'm a working stand up comic. This stuff is brilliant! If the rest of us could adapt this kind of natural timing....the "F" word would work it's way to extinction.

[mistereveready]

eh plenty of people just like shock value. humans are sticklers for taboo. jokes with fuck in them can be quite funny, but require more than the word to do so. sadly many people are like animals and easily appeased. jingle something shiny in front and they giggle like babies. "oooooo he said shit. ha ha ha. he's so crazy. so talented." bleh.

[BTLemming]

Amen, brudder. I write stand up but don't have the nerve yet to perform it. Jack Benny is my comedy hero, and I always respected that he refused to work blue even when TV started to allow it. A true class act.

[elderlyoungster]

@siddaviscomedy

Unfortunately, comedy has "evolved" from this to what we have now.

[marconiusrex24]

@siddaviscomedy

Robin Williams had this kind of sans "F" word comic timing....back before he became "oversaturated" ;-)

[SpeedyTase]

At 00:24, you could easily tell that Rochester did not like saying "color boy".

[kyokogodai]

I noticed that, too. He sure did appreciate the applause, which was well deserved. Rochester was wonderful!

[Hevynly1]

I love Jack Benny! I've been listening to OTR for a few years (I'm 28) and prefer it over the bulk of today's television. JB and crew are always good for a laugh... or several! It's great to see them "live" in this clip. Thanks for the upload!

[TheTeenSleuth]

@Hevynly1 I listen to the OTR as well! I love listening to the comedies at 7 in the morning while getting ready for school. And then it comes on again at 7 at night so if I missed anything I can hear it again.

[Hevynly1]

@TheTeenSleuth Awesome! OTR still plays on the radio for you? Or is it an online station? I like the Live365 stations. They're pretty good.

I dig your Nancy Drew reference, too! :)

[TheTeenSleuth]

@Hevynly1 My dad broadcasts it on our very own radio station in our basement. I listen to the western stories, the FBI Files, The Whistler, The Shadow.

But my favorites are the comedies such as The George Burns and Gracie Allen Program and The Great Guildersleeve.

But Jack Benny will always be my favorite. I would take radio programs over TV shows any day!

And by the Nancy Drew reference, do you mean my name? TheTeenSleuth? If so, thanks! :-D

[Hevynly1]

@TheTeenSleuth That is so cool!! I agree, radio shows are better than anything on television.

And yes, your name. :) I was always a big fan of those books growing up! And the 70s television show! Those episodes are great!

[TheTeenSleuth]

@Hevynly1 sweet! I have both seasons of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew 19070's show on DVD. I even collect the Hardy Boys books!

[JustADoof]

speaking of Texaco... XXXIX forever

[pegcage]

I remember the Jack Benny radio program. I am old. Still great entertainment. Do a search for OTR (old time radio) They have 600 + of Jack Benny's radio shows! BTW, you may not know, but Dennis Day could imitate ANYBODY!

[ClassicFilmFan]

Oh yes, you're right! I once listened to a show, and a few minutes after a new character was introduced [Jack Benny&the cast played their version of 'treasure of the sierra madre'] I realised; 'wait..that's Dennis Day playing the mexican bandit!'

But they were all so funny!

I'm only 18, and Dutch - but I love listening to the Jack Benny radio show. It's so much better than the comedyshows they broadcast nowadays.

[codykins16]

I like it it nice to finely put faces to the voices

[gaelicviking]

It's also interesting to see how they are able to act it out in a lifelike fashion despite reading from scripts - their acting is so good it still seems like they're improvising it even though they're actually reading from scripts.

[Padiwan2]

How do I get a copy of this [both parts]?

[Padiwan2]

They shoulda added Phil Harris conducting songs with the orchestra and the skits and Dennis Day singing a song. In spite of that, I love this clip as well.

[calvinnme2]

Phil Harris and his entire orchestra joined the military right after Pearl Harbor, so they were unavailable at this time. Dennis Day didn't go into the service until 1944, so I'm not sure where he was.

[brewcityjr]

I have every Jack Benny Radio program from 1933 to 1955...and this is the first time I put a face to Phil Harris and Mary Livingston (and ya know..she's kinda cute..)

[ClassicFilmFan]

I saw Jack Beny&his crew for the first time watching a video on the youtube called "How Jack Benny found Mary Livingston". It's very cool to see them performing after hearing several radio shows :)

[navywrslr]

As a kid I never appreciated Jack Benny,but as I got older,I realized how great he was. His comedy,and his radio show are still funny,and he never cursed. His cast seemed to have a great time,and seeing him doing this for the troops of WW2,just is awesome. The one thing that really strikes me is that its been over 60 years,and we have troops far from home in harms way,things never change,wish we had a jack Benny now to bring smiles to this generation of heros.

[ACcountryFan]

the last line you said made me think of society today. today, sadly, those who want to entertain the troops are vilified and labeled "hawks", "war mongers", "jingoistic", or GASP... "patriotic". Bob Hope is a perfect example...much loved by the vast military audiences of the '30s, '40s, and '50s and into the '60s but then something weird happened...

[ACcountryFan]

The generational shift happened...those who protested the war and almost everything else their "parent's generation" appreciated. Bob was routinely dismissed by the youth and his efforts were never really appreciated, I think, by those caught up in war protesting. I think they viewed him wrongfully and ever since the Vietnam era onward he always had this polarizing effect on people...war protesters vilified him while those who supported the military praised his USO shows.

[ACcountryFan]

Anyway...Bob continued on with the USO shows and other patriotic programs into the 1980's and early 1990's but there was always a large group of people who didn't appreciate the programs...and that's why I think there's hardly any pro-military entertainment on mainstream TV or any other programming in that same vein because everyone in television is too worried about offending the anti-war people. Anti-war people it's been said looked at Bob Hope with contempt!?!?! How insane is that!

[scifiradioguy]

That sometihng weird was a generational shift. Bob Hope got older, the troops got younger.

[ACcountryFan]

which is true...but soldiers of any age should at least show support of those entertaining in the USO programs.

[scotpens]

Classic comedy, but from today's perspective, one can't help being aware of the stereotypes: that blacks can never resist a crap game, and that they all carry razors -- and not for shaving! That doesn't make it any less funny, though.

[Arlenbr]

Great observation! It helps to remind us that these people lived in a different generation and need to be given some slack on things that we consider not to meet today's standards. And you're also right about it being funny. Long live Jack Benny AND Rochester!

[WaltDisneyLegacy]

The man who played Rochester was a very talented comedian and actor. He was hysterical. Plus; I don't see how anyone could complain when Rochester made Jack Benny look like the fool most of the time. Rochester was just VERY talented!!!

[bronxperson1966]

Benny, with his writers, helped Rochester to be that way as it was part of Benny's style of self-deprecating humor that his character was always under attack by the world. Rochester was about first black to be able to snap on a white person in public, and was also the first black person to be a regular on a radio show, beginning in 1937. Jack Benny loved, respected, supported and protected Eddie "Rochester" Anderson very much in real life.

[hysangearring]

@bronxperson1966 Exactly! They were very close friends.

[TheTeenSleuth]

@bronxperson1966 yep, he sure did. I remember reading about a time where Benny went to a hotel to stay and they wouldn't let Eddie stay there because he was "colored" and so Benny refused to stay there. This is one of my favorite programs. One reason is because of their friendship.

[ACcountryFan]

I, too, long for the day when people will in fact cut comedians and others from this era some slack instead of foisting 2009 opinions onto comical masterpieces not intended to be harmless.

This is why I prefer those with some sort of knowledge of the time period or some kind of appreciation for Jack Benny to be the judge/critic of his material...not someone who has no knowledge of him or what his show and others on the air at the same time were like.

[Arlenbr]

Have you noticed--everyone seems so relaxed and enjoying what they're doing. And it's very hard not to keep smiling throughout the entire act. This is just part of why these people are still fun to watch and listen to. Leno and Letterman could learn a lot by watching how these shows were done.

[archontic]

The show is good. But the moment Rochester joins, he and Jack Benny become Gods amongst comedy.

[sliverstag51]

As a comedian, Jack Benny is AT THE TOP! Rochester is the GREATEST!

[hurricanejbb]

Eddie Anderson's Rochester is one of the best characters in comedy history. Thanks for posting this.

[Flowbee79]

Mary was a pleasant-looking lady. I guess is a show full of men, the one appealing woman becomes the eye candy to some extent. I respect how those soldiers gave some nice whoops when she came on the scene.

[Flowbee79]

Mary Livingstone (born Sadie Marks, in Seattle, raised in Vancouver), was a distant cousin of the Marx Brothers. Jack met her at her parent's home when he accompanied Zeppo (Herbert) Marx on a trip to her house for some Jewish holiday. I mean all due respect, I just can't remember which one exactly. She was 11 years younger, and had much stage fright, cutting her radio/television career somewhat short.

[luckyshow]

Who is the woman?

[HobokenDave]

Mary Livingston.  Jacks wife in real life.

[jimmbo13]

Rochester can sometimes be funnier than Benny, if thats possible.

[frankftw]

That was the secret of Jack Benny's success. He let the other cast members get the biggest laughs.

[gaelicviking]

So it really ended up being more of an "ensemble" show than one based around a big star, the way, say, Milton Berle was.

[gaelicviking]

That's because Rochester gets all the lines where he gets to knock Benny down verbally - something nearly unheard of back in that day. Rochester breaks the stereotype of a subservient black worker that was common at the time. Normally in the media black people weren't allowed to insult "the man" the way Rochester does, because they were still considered a "servant" race of sorts. I may be wrong, and would gladly welcome correction, but that's my impression of the era.

[monkfan72]

@gaelicviking I believe that you are correct. Actually, Rochester and Phil Harris have pretty much the same chararceristics on the JB show. And in fact, in some way each of the cast 'get thier own' back on Benny. LOL. They just do it in different ways.

[gaelicviking]

@monkfan72 Right, and even that was on purpose. Jack Benny's intention was basically to play a character with so many quirks that he would become a comedic figure just by having everyone make fun of him, perverse as that sounds. It's even funnier when you consider that the character Jack Benny plays on his own show is completely different from how he was in real life - even to the point where waiters he generously tipped couldn't believe it was actually him.

[blkchk]

@gaelicviking You are correct. Jack Benny got alot of flack for Rochester's character. For example, in one sketch, they are practicing boxing and Jack tricks Rochester and hits him. Rochester turns around, tricks Jack Benny and KNOCKS him down. People in the south wrote letters complaining about that but Jack Benny said it was funnier that way. People today don't realize how much ahead of their time Benny and Anderson were.

[DAVIDINTEL]

I love Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson! Great comedians!!

[saxophoney]

I just love Jack Benny. This is a great historical insite into how a live radio show was done, and Benny was the king of comedy. Thanks!!

[midmitvguy]

How do I get a copy of this. I am a big fan of Jack Benny

[krledu]

I know its been a while since you posted but I was wondering if you found this clip yet. If not got to Jack benny (dot) com. (All one word) It is a Jack Benny Fan club and its a wonderful resource for JB fans. I think the clip is under video library.