And now ladies and gentlemen, we bring you that solemn sphinx of the prairie, that man among men where men are men, JACK BENNY!
Thats right, the Ballyhoo goes back to Benny. This time Zach is joined by an old hand on the YBR trail, Mr. Brandon Rose (Filmmaker, ‘When She Showed Up’), to chat about the second installment in the Benny/Sandrich trilogy, the 1940 film ‘Buck Benny Rides Again’.
Saddle up as the two dive further into the world of Jack Benny in cinema, breakdown the wide variety of cast members from Jack’s show and beyond, discuss the madcap craziness courtesy of Morrow and Beloin’s script, revel in how the films premiere and reception are groundbreaking and carry on lasting effects to this day, reckon with the problematic material of comedy past, and give all the praise and discussion so over due to the films two biggest stars: Eddie “Rochester” Anderson and Theresa Harris.
As you can imagine, there are plenty of laughs on the trail like finding out about the creepiest party game of the 40s, Lil Hitch’s reactions to the film, find a way to re-tool the Wizard of Oz, find out who the Thanos of the Benny-verse is, and for Benny fans everywhere: we find out what really happened to the gas man.
All this and Carmichael the Polar Bear too? You better believe it with a picture like BUCK BENNY RIDES AGAIN.
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To watch Brandons film, ‘When She Showed Up’
To get Kathy Fuller-Seeley’s amazing tome, Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy
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