Best of Jack Benny
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.25 You Save: $7.73 (77%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.70 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Best of Jack Benny
Movie Review: Slightly-Deceptive Labeling, But All-In-All, A Great Collection
Summary: 4 Stars
The packaging suggests that you get 39 episodes of "The Jack Benny Program".
Actually, you get just 32. You also get a poor-quality kinescope of a special Jack did for NBC in 1965, shortly after his weekly series ended, some other shows Jack made guest appearances on, and some shorts where Jack appears only fleetingly.
The slightly-deceptive labeling and the poor-quality kine of Jack's 1965 special are the only reasons I am not giving this collection a five-star rating.
But other than that, this is something fans of Jack Benny and classic television comedy should own. The 32 "Jack Benny Program" episodes in this set are for the most part kinescopes of live shows (or later, videotaped shows) that weren't part of the rerun package of filmed episodes that appeared on CBS-TV's daytime schedule in the 1964/65 season and subsequently syndicated to local stations.
One big "plus" is that most of these 32 shows have the original commercials (mainly for Lucky Strike cigarettes, but there's one 1963 show sponsored by Benny's longtime radio sponsor Jell-O, and some Eastern Airlines spots in his 1965 NBC special). Seeing the Lucky Strike spots show how huge cigarette manufacturers were as TV sponsors until such advertising was outlawed in early 1971 (but resist any temptation to go to your local convenience store and ask for a carton of Luckies!).
Benny, on radio, was among the first to "blend" the "middle" commercial into the show's entertainment content. There are a number of examples of that in quite a few of these episodes.
The "Hawaii Trip" episode on disc 1 is historically significant: I believe it's the only time Marilyn Monroe made a guest appearance on a TV comedy or dramatic program.
(I have also heard an "urban legend" that Jack came close in 1961 to signing Clark Gable for a guest shot, but Gable fell ill and passed away before he could film his episode)
This is an inexpensively-priced way to sample one of the funniest TV comedy shows of all time, a series whose humor has stood the test of time.
Movie Review: Mostly from The Jack Benny Show
Summary: 4 Stars
Here is a compilation of shows either starring or featuring Jack Benny, covering many years, 1940s to 1960s.
This package cannot boast of exceptional audio-video quality, but the price for content is excellent.
Benny's regular TV series was interesting - a combination of variety show and sitcom. Jack would casually walk to centerstage and sound very relaxed and extemporaneous. Usually, he'd get interrupted by Don Wilson, who had to discuss some facet of production or express his discontent with Benny's quirks.
Benny's counterpart in the "sketch" section was the inimitable Rochester Van Jones, who could switch from straight man to second banana in a heartbeat. Of course, we have some bits with tired ethnic references, so typical of the period. Rochester plays Jack's Butler, though his role seems nebulous, and this might be found very curious by the younger students of Television history.
Further stereotypes are explored with women's performances, though if one watches with understanding of this pre-femimist time, he/she can enjoy a good deal of intelligent dialogue, especially with the TV debuts of Marilyn Monroe and Sheree North!. (The funniest episode involves the robbery of Jack's Maxwell. The Beverly Hills Law Enforcement community is cleverly sent up in a long sketch. Another excellent entry has Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Stewart trying to avoid Jack Benny at a concert. Another fun one involves a "Jam Session" with pals like Fred MacMurray and Kirk Douglas, playing saxophone and banjo).
There's some stale stuff, too - a 1965 Special with the Beach Boys doing a bad version of "California Girls", then lines with Bob Hope and JB, both dressed as "surfer boys", or whatever.
"Well!". "Now cut that out!" "Y'see...". Hey, Jack was okay.
[Shows contain continuous, ridiculous cigarette promos, sometimes by an obnoxious singing group. A depressing factor].
Movie Review: I have a question
Summary: 4 Stars
I wanted to know if anyone out there has had problems with their DVD's of this product. I actually bought one from Wal-Mart, and over half of the tracks on each of the four DVD's do not work. I was especially disappointed because I am a huge Burns and Allen fan, and I wanted to see George Burns interacting with his best friend, Jack Benny. To my disappointment, that was among the tracks that would not play, as well as George Burns famous vaudeville act, "Goldie, Fields, and Glide , which he often performed with friends like Jack Benny. This also would not play. However, it was awesome to see Fred Allen and Eddie Cantor in the first track.
I do not wish to buy another copy of this DVD if I am going to run into the same problems. If others could leave their comments to this question, whether or not it would be worth it to buy a new copy from Amazon, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
Movie Review: In-Show Advertising Doesn't Hurt Program
Summary: 4 Stars
There is less minutes of advertising in each episode than most current "CBS" shows. Like several other variety shows, there is usually about 4 minutes of actual commercials and 1 minute of "sponsor plugs", which are plugs for the sponsor inserted into the comedy.
As for the comedy itself, it's wonderful. Jack Benny was warm and funny, and never afraid to mock himself. He was such a good actor that some people really believed he was as stingy as his character. In real life Jack was quite generous. While some of the jokes need some context, many of them still work today.
The guests are great too. This show is unusual in that it's sorta of a "variety-sitcom" hybrid, combining episode-long sketckes with other segments.
The only real problem with the DVD is the rather worn kinescope prints, which could use with some cleaning up.
Movie Review: Classic, if Scratchy, Television
Summary: 3 Stars
Jack Benny, America's greatest radio comedian, dipped his toes into the television waters in 1949 for his new bosses at CBS. He must have liked the medium because he stayed until 1965. While never the top television comic, his legendary status as both a performer and a human being helped CBS to gain stature as the top network in TV's early days.
Unlike his friend Lucille Ball, his television shows were only sporadically recorded and not always in the best quality. They tend to be similar to the "Honeymooners' Lost Episodes" kinoscope recordings in video quality. The shows that did have a better look remain under copy write to NBC by way of MCA, ironic for a CBS show, eh? So what we are left with in this collection are unrestored kinoscope to vhs quality recordings whose rights were allowed to lapse because the rights holders figured they were unsaleable. If you get the idea they don't look like a lovingly retouched HD-DVD set of "Heroes", then you are on the right track.
The set has two major redeeming qualities. The first is value. At 5 to 8 bucks depending on where you shop its hard to argue the price on a 4 DVD box set. The second is the show. Jack Benny was a master of comic timing whose much ballyhooed cheapness and vanity were a wink wink, nudge nudge disguise for one of the best loved men in the country. Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, while playing the somewhat demeaning role of valet, was a virtual costar for much of the shows run. His amazing voice, at once gravelly and expressive, and tremendous chemistry with Benny made him the best second banana in early television. Rotund announcer Don Wilson appeared in most every show, while other Benny radio vets like Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day and Mel Blanc made sporadic visits to the show. With a stripped down cast that no longer included Phil Harris and only occasionally Mary and Dennis, Jack began to feature a plethora of guest stars. Because of his friendship with many Hollywood stars, big names from Bob Hope to Jimmy Stewart to Humphrey Bogart were seen on the Jack Benny shows across the years.
While not as strong as his radio shows and despite the video quality, getting sixteen plus hours of Jack Benny is definitely a bargain at this price. See the inspiration for all the great comedians from Cosby to Seinfeld in quite often watchable grainy black and white, its the most fun you will ever have courting eye strain.