Saturday, January 18, 2020

YouTube Theatre: Jack Benny: Comedy in Bloom (1992)

Nearly 20 years after his passing, Jack Benny was celebrated in an HBO documentary.

Jack Benny: Comedy in Bloom, narrated by Tom Smothers, first aired in 1992, and has since resurfaced on PBS as recently as 2011. In the course of the special, Smothers traces Benny's career history, from his early days as a teenage violinist to the Navy to radio, movies, & television. Vintage clips from The Jack Benny Program (TV & radio versions), Make Room For Daddy, Dinah's Place, The Tonight Show, and elsewhere are sprinkled in with interviews with Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Dinah Shore, and some of the surviving writers of Benny's shows, plus archived interviews with Benny and Mel Blanc.



Forever 39, Benny left us the day after Christmas in 1974.

Rating: A.

No comments: