Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley (September 15, 1889 - November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, a newspaper columnist and an actor.
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 WhiteA 17th-century witch returns to wreak havoc in the life of a descendant of the Puritan witch...
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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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Foreign Correspondent
as StebbinsAmerican crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover...
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The Major and the Minor
as Albert OsborneReturning to her hometown from New York, Susan Applegate learns that she hasn't enough for the...
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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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You'll Never Get Rich
as Martin CortlandA Broadway choreographer gets drafted and coincidentally ends up in the same army base as the...
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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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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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Dancing Lady
as Ward KingJanie lives to dance and will dance anywhere, even stripping in a burlesque house. Tod Newton,...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Young and Willing
as Arthur KennyFor those, if any, who have wondered why so many Paramount contractees appeared in United...
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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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How to Figure Income Tax
as Joe DoakesA man humorously attempts to give an overview of income taxes.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Social Register
as Robert BenchleyChorus girl Patsy Shaw crashes a high-society party, meets playboy Charlie Breen, they fall in...
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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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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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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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Home Early
as Joe DoakesA businessman goes home early to surprise his family and is treated with suspicion, mostly by...
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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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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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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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The Bride Wore Boots
as Uncle Todd WarrenA bookish husband tries to win back the affections of his horse-breeding wife.
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Syncopation
as Doakes (scenes deleted)A young trumpeter rises through the jazz world and finds love.
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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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How to Sub-Let
as Joe DoakesA man fumbles through an apartment sub-let assessment while his wife is away.
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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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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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How to Read
as LecturerRobert Benchley offers a humorous lecture on how to avoid different types of strain during reading.
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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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Rafter Romance
as HubbellA working girl shares her apartment with an artist, taking the place in shifts.
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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.
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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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Nothing But Nerves
as Mr. BenchleyAfter some investigation, Robert Benchley finds his nerves are in a bad state. He has the...
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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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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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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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How to Watch Football
as Football FanHumorist Robert Benchley illustrates the fine points of attending an American football game.
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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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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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Pan-Americana
as Charlie CorkerA New York magazine sends its editors to South America to find beautiful girls.
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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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How to Eat
as Lecturer / Joe DoakesHumorist Robert Benchley discusses the issue of food and how different situations can affect...
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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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Mental Poise
as Psychoanalyst / Mr. OstegrafIn this comedic short, a psychoanalyst encounters a patient who eerily resembles himself.
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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...
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Why 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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Headline Shooter
as Radio AnnouncerA newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.
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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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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 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 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 Romance of Digestion
as Joe DoakesA brief, illustrated lecture on digestion. Aburdist humor is the hallmark of this...
Movie pageDark 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 Forgotten Man
as Joe Doakes / FatherRobert Benchley's wry forerunner to "Father of the Bride" detailing his perspective of the...
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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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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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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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Waiting for Baby
as Joe DoakesRobert Benchley aims his keen observational skills toward expectant fathers.
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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 pageBoogie Woogie
as Frederick StumplefingerWhile his wife is away, Frederick Stumplefinger lets his kids go out jitterbugging on a school...
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Crime 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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Important Business
as Joseph A. DoakesRobert takes a train ride to Washington, DC, on "important business."
Movie pageMusic Made Simple
as Robert BenchleyBenchley fills in for a music critic on a radio show. His performance is less than stellar.
Movie pageAn Evening Alone
as Joe DoakesRobert Benchley's everyman spends an evening home alone.
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