Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley (September 15, 1889 - November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, a newspaper columnist and an actor.
Foreign Correspondent
as StebbinsAmerican crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover...
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The Reluctant Dragon
as Robert BenchleyHumorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a...
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The Pixar Story
as Robert Benchley (archive footage)A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and...
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I Married a Witch
as Dr. Dudley WhiteRocksford, New England, 1672. Puritan witch hunter Jonathan Wooley is cursed after burning a...
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The Major and the Minor
as Albert OsborneSusan Applegate, tired of New York after one year and twenty-five jobs, decides to return to her...
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That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time...
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China Seas
as Charlie McCalebCaptain Alan Gaskell sails the perilous waters between Hong Kong and Singapore with a secret...
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Dancing Lady
as Ward KingJanie lives to dance and will dance anywhere, even stripping in a burlesque house. Tod Newton,...
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Road to Utopia
as NarratorWhile on a ship to Skagway, Alaska, Duke and Chester find a map to a secret gold mine, which had...
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Flesh and Fantasy
as DoakesAnthology film of three tales of the supernatural. The first story is set at the Mardi Gras in...
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You'll Never Get Rich
as Martin CortlandA Broadway choreographer gets drafted and coincidentally ends up in the same army base as his...
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The Big Parade of Comedy
as Joseph Doakes in 'That Inferior Feeling' (archive footage)Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
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The Sky's the Limit
as Philip 'Phil' HarrimanFlying Tiger Fred Atwell sneaks away from his famous squadron's personal appearance tour and...
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Show-Business at War
as SelfA multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
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Song of Russia
as Hank HigginsAmerican conductor John Meredith and his manager, Hank Higgins, go to Russia shortly before the...
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Piccadilly Jim
as Bill MaconJim's father wants to marry Eugenia, but her sister Netta refuses to allow it. When Jim sees Ann...
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Janie
as John Van BruntTeenage Janie falls in love with a private from an Army base opposed by her editor father.
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See Here, Private Hargrove
as Mr. HollidayJournalist Marion Hargrove enters the Army intending to supplement his income by writing about...
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The Stork Club
as Tom P. CurtisDirector Hal Walker's 1945 musical comedy stars Betty Hutton as a hat-check girl at New York...
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Rafter Romance
as HubbellA working girl shares her apartment with an artist, taking the place in shifts.
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Showbiz Goes to War
as (archive footage)While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World...
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Headline Shooter
as Radio AnnouncerA newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.
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Live, Love and Learn
as OscarA starving, uncompromising artist and an heiress fall in love on first sight and immediately get...
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Broadway Melody of 1938
as DuffySteve Raleight wants to produce a show on Broadway. He finds a backer, Herman Whipple and a...
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Hollywood Victory Caravan
as Robert BenchleyA girl is desperate to get to Washington D.C. to be with her lonesome brother, a wounded G.I....
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Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6
as Robert Benchley (archive sound)Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young...
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Pan-Americana
as Charlie CorkerA New York magazine sends its editors to South America to find beautiful girls.
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Snafu
as Ben StevensA 14-year-old boy lies about his age and enlists in the United State Marine Corps without his...
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Duffy's Tavern
as Robert BenchleyThe staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner...
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Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O....
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Syncopation
as Doakes (scenes deleted)A young trumpeter rises through the jazz world and finds love.
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Practically Yours
as Judge Robert SimpsonIn this screwball comedy a WW2 US pilot bombs a Japanese aircraft carrier, is assumed to be...
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Take a Letter, Darling
as G.B. AtwaterA struggling painter takes a job as a secretary to a female advertising executive. While working...
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Three Girls About Town
as Wilburforce Puddle, hotel managerFaith and Hope Banner, sisters, are "convention hostesses" in a hotel. A body is discovered next...
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Her Primitive Man
as Martin OsborneAn anthropologist unwittingly takes a man disguised as a "primitive man" back to New York as a...
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Bedtime Story
as Eddie TurnerA Braodway playwright wants to keep on writing plays for his wife to star in, but all she wants...
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Young and Willing
as Arthur KennyFor those, if any, who have wondered why so many Paramount contractees appeared in United...
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Week-End at the Waldorf
as Randy MortonAnything can happen during a weekend at New York's Waldorf-Astoria: a glamorous movie star meets...
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The Sport Parade
as Radio AnnouncerTwo Dartmouth football players fall in love with the same girl following college graduation.
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Sunday Night at the Trocadero
as Robert BenchleyA series of vignettes with a loose plot. Featured are Frank Morgan, Groucho Marx, Frank McHugh,...
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Home Movies
as Joe DoakesA comedy short staring Robert Benchley. He tries to show us how to make our own movies.
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Opening Day
as City Treasurer BenchleyThe City Treasurer stands in for the mayor, throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day.
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How to Behave
as Mr. BenchleyTwo men working below a manhole cover wonder what they would do if a woman was to fall in. This...
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Nice Girl?
as Prof. Oliver Wendel Holmes DanaJane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his...
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A Night at the Movies
as HusbandA Night at the Movies is a short film starring Robert Benchley. It was Benchley's greatest...
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Home Early
as Joe DoakesA businessman goes home early to surprise his family and is treated with suspicion, mostly by...
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Kiss and Tell
as George ArcherFilm adaptation of the Broadway hit, about the comic mayhem that erupts in a small town when a...
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How to Read
as LecturerRobert Benchley offers a humorous lecture on how to avoid different types of strain during reading.
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It's in the Bag!
as ParkerThe ringmaster of a flea circus inherits a fortune...if he can find which chair it's hidden in.
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Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
as uncreditedWinners of the Lucky Stars National Dance Contest - one woman from each state of the United...
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The Ten-Year Lunch
as Himself (archive footage)The story of the legendary wits who lunched daily at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City during...
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Social Register
as Robert BenchleyChorus girl Patsy Shaw crashes a high-society party, meets playboy Charlie Breen, they fall in...
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How to Be a Detective
as Mr. BenchleyThis Robert Benchley 'How To' comedy short attempts to teach us how to profile criminals by...
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Music Made Simple
as Robert BenchleyBenchley fills in for a music critic on a radio show. His performance is less than stellar.
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Hired Wife
as Roger Van HornAd man Stephen Dexter asks his secretary Kendall to marry him as a loophole in order to protect...
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Dark Magic
as Joe DoakesA man buys a magic set for his son, but the tricks worked better in the store than they do at home.
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The Bride Wore Boots
as Uncle Todd WarrenRich and beautiful Southern heiress Sally Warren loves horse-racing and running her horse-farm...
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Janie Gets Married
as John Van BruntNewlywed Janie's (Joan Leslie) World War II-veteran husband (Robert Hutton) goes to work at her...
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How to Raise a Baby
as Lecturer FatherAmerican humorist Robert Benchley provides a comedic look at the difficulty in being a father.
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Waiting for Baby
as Joe DoakesRobert Benchley aims his keen observational skills toward expectant fathers.
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An Evening Alone
as Joe DoakesRobert Benchley's everyman spends an evening home alone.
Movie pageHow to Figure Income Tax
as Joe DoakesA man humorously attempts to give an overview of income taxes.
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The Witness
as Joe DoakesAs Joe Doakes is reading the newspaper, he begins to talk to himself. Questioned by his wife, he...
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How to Sub-Let
as Joe DoakesA man fumbles through an apartment sub-let assessment while his wife is away.
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How to Watch Football
as Football FanHumorist Robert Benchley illustrates the fine points of attending an American football game.
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How to Sleep
as Host / NarratorA lecturer seated at a desk promises an informative film about how to sleep; it's a sequel to...
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How to Train a Dog
as Lecturer / Dog OwnerThis comedic short provides a lesson in how NOT to train a dog.
Movie pageWhy Daddy?
as Joseph A. DoakesWhen Joe Doakes listens to a quiz show on the radio and knows all the answers, his wife...
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Mental Poise
as Psychoanalyst / Mr. OstegrafIn this comedic short, a psychoanalyst encounters a patient who eerily resembles himself.
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The Trouble with Husbands
as Joe DoakesBenchley, in his own unique way, starts to drive his wife crazy. First he waits until just as...
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An Hour for Lunch
as Lecturer / JoeBenchley shows how to budget one's time during lunch hour to get things done efficiently....
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See Your Doctor
as Lecturer / Joseph H. DoakesA lecturer tells the audience that it is National Take Care Week. He tells the story of a man...
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How to Eat
as Lecturer / Joe DoakesHumorist Robert Benchley discusses the issue of food and how different situations can affect...
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That Inferior Feeling
as Joseph H. 'Joe' DoakesJoe Doakes, like most men, is unable to cope with personal emergencies or those in a position of...
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How to Vote
as Mr. Robert BenchleyA candidate has laryngitis, so his assistant must make a speech in his place. Both the speaker...
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The Sex Life of the Polyp
as LecturerDr. Benchley is addressing the Ladies Club on the subject of the reproductive habits of the...
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The Forgotten Man
as Joe Doakes / FatherRobert Benchley's wry forerunner to "Father of the Bride" detailing his perspective of the...
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The Courtship of the Newt
as Zoology LecturerRobert Benchley revamps his pre-code classic "Sex Life of the Polyp" for a new generation.
Movie pageCrime Control
as Sgt. Benchley / Joe DoakesA police officer alerts his audience to the fact that inanimate objects can be as dangerous as...
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My Tomato
as Joseph A. DoakesJoe Doakes is lamenting to his wife the lack of variety in his meals. In particular, he misses...
Movie pageHow to Start the Day
as LecturerBenchley tries his best to demonstrate the routine one should follow to start the day right.
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The Romance of Digestion
as Joe DoakesA brief, illustrated lecture on digestion. Aburdist humor is the hallmark of this...
Movie pageImportant Business
as Joseph A. DoakesRobert takes a train ride to Washington, DC, on "important business."
Movie pageNothing But Nerves
as Mr. BenchleyAfter some investigation, Robert Benchley finds his nerves are in a bad state. He has the...
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