The Medicine Man

Benny's recognizable even at this early age, however there's none of his trademark understated humor. Looks like he was intended here as a leading man; if so, he underplays perhaps to a fault. In short, the low-key no doubt worked perfectly for the comedian but not for the actor. Good thing his career converted. Then too, movie-wise, whatever spark there is comes from leading lady Bronson whose sweetness shines even as the abused daughter of brutal father Goltz who leather-straps his kids for most any misbehavior. No, this is not a comedy as the Benny name would imply. Instead he runs a traveling medicine show that comes to Bronson's small town where their mutual attraction soon develops. But what's her tyrannical father going to do since he's already picked out an over-age finance for her. That's the plot crux. Still, there're several points to note.

The character Gus, Vadim Uranoff, is a highly unusual one both in looks and behavior. As a handyman he lurks in the background agonizing over Goltz' cruelty, a strangely craggy figure too timid to interfere. Also, note that despite their suspect reputation, Benny's medicine show is made relatively law-abiding, except for the two con men who operate apart from Benny. That way the hero's shown to be morally upright despite a suspect livelihood, and thus someone qualified to identify with. Note too the surprise climax, a case where law appears to conflict with morality though the shooter is not made clear. Still, it's a surprise and a clear case of pre-Code ambiguity that would soon be disallowed by Code censors. Anyway, for fans of comedian Benny, the flick may be disappointing. Nonetheless, there are unusual compensations.

Jack Benny, future star one of the most successful radio and television comedy series of all time, starred in this early-talkie for the low-budget small studio Tiffany at a time nobody was really sure what Benny's place in the world of the movies was.

At the time he was best-known as an emcee (and had played that role in the variety-show film "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" the previous year), so in this fictional movie he is given a part that is part emcee and part romantic lead as he plays the "Doctor" running a traveling patent medicine show. He plays the part well, but his emceeing duties are relegated to one somewhat extraneous scene in the middle of the film that is not terribly well-written and ruined anyway by a truly horribly realized laughter sound effect, and otherwise his talents are squandered in such a bland role as he is asked to play.

This film doesn't have too much to recommend it; the plot is a standard-issue about a girl who falls in love with the Benny character instead of the man her father wants her to marry. The acting on the part of the other actors is rather stiff and forced, with the exception of E. Alyn Warren, who plays his one-dimension father character to the hilt.

This father is a broad caricature of an evil, overbearing overlord, and he beats his daughter and son violently in a couple of very uncomfortable-to-watch scenes. When a movie introduces horrible domestic abuse and suggestions of rape (from the father's proposed husband) as a plot element, doesn't ever really deal with them, then expects the film to remain light, frothy, and fun it just isn't going to work.

A couple of attempts at comic relief with a strange woman following Beny's character from town to town and a member of the show who gives rise to the shocking discovery that sometimes people cheat at three-card monte come off as stilted and long rather than funny.

Presumably since this was both an early talkie and made at a smaller studio that might have been slower to adapt to the technology, the sound is often recorded very oddly and poorly, with people randomly getting louder or quieter and always sounding indoors, and crowd noises turning on and off sharply.

This is interesting as a historical curio documenting the traveling medicine show that was a fixture of small-town show business at the time and for its chance to see a young Jack Benny, but apart from these it's a pretty stiff film that doesn't really seem to know what it wants to be, and isn't a very good example of anything.

When watching The Medicine Man with Jack Benny one has to keep in mind that at this stage of his career Benny had not yet hit on the lovable tightwad character in which his comedy was built around. He was just another old vaudeville performer trying to make it in Hollywood at a point when studios were signing them up because of some kind of stage training. Benny's career in film was never all that significant, his primary venue was radio and later television where the tightwad image was so ingrained in your mind, it was what you expected and knew how he would react in a given situation.

That is not The Medicine Man. In this film Benny is a barker for a medicine show, not a respectable profession. But for Betty Bronson and young Billy Butts, brother and sister, he represents a way to get out from a really horrible life with a cruel and repressive father.

Jack does not really cut it as a romantic figure. But that might have not been his fault. The inevitable complaint from performers is about typecasting in a particular role. What was a complaint for most was something Benny absolutely relied on later for his comedy to work. It worked so well that even looking back at films before his hit radio show, he just can't be seen in another part.

But he'd have preferred it that way.

At the onset, this film has two huge strikes against it. First, it's a very early talkie and most films from this time suffered from very poor sound quality. And, compared to the average film of the time, it's even worse. Second, it's in the public domain—so there's no incentive for anyone to do anything to try to fix this sound problem. So, if you do try to watch it, be prepared. But, if you do it's a pretty good film.

The movie begins with a young lady and her brother living with a VERY abusive father. In fact, it's a bit shocking to see such a brutal depiction of child abuse. However, things look a bit brighter when a medicine show arrives in town, as the boss (Benny) is quite charming and might just be the young lady's ticket away from the horrid father. Tune in to see exactly what happens next.

While Jack Benny will always be remembered as a comedian, I am not really sure if I'd call this a comedy. This is not a bad thing, as the film worked pretty well as a light drama—plus in many of Benny's early films the humor is very forced. Here, however, the film is story-driven and this worked pretty well overall. So, if you are looking for a comedy—look a bit further. But if you are looking for a good movie—without laughs, then look no further.

Young Mamie Goltz (played by Betty Bronson) and her brother Buddy (Billy Butts) dream of getting away from the influence of their overly abusive and cruel father. When a medicine show comes to town and one Dr. John Harvey (Jack Benny) shows romantic interest in Mamie, she hopes even though she knows it unlikely that somehow her dream will be fulfilled.

The biggest flaw here is our story never seems credible. It's hard to believe Harvey, who our story establishes has an history of using and casting aside girls should so easily fall for Mamie and change his ways just to be with her and to help her although I guess it's not outside the realm of the plausible. Also this film often tries most unsuccessfully to be funny. It never is.