The Rounder

Was surprised to see Jack Benny as a young man and showing more energy and vitality than in his later years on his TV show. On TV he is more stationary and lethargic, although still funny. Here his droll sense of humor is more effective as he strides easily around the set and flops into a chair, for example. His is not the comedy of the Marx Bros. or Laurel and Hardy - he is subtle and you listen to him more than watch what he does. I thought he was very funny and entertaining in this short, which has been given short shrift by previous reviewers.

Drunken Mr. Bartlett (Jack Benny) is climbing up a ladder into his bedroom. A police officer catches him, but he's convinced by Bartlett. It turns out that it's not his bedroom after all. Socialite Ethel Dalton is having a tiff with her boyfriend. She vows to marry the next man she meets and that's when Bartlett reveals himself.

It's an early talkie comedy for vaudevillain Jack Benny. He would become a radio star a couple of years after this. Most of this takes place in one room. It's done like a leisurely stage play. The timing is not quite there. It feels slow and hesitant. The weakness in the sound is also detrimental to the comedy. It's early yet. The ending is abrupt. It doesn't allow the last joke to breathe.

Taped a few movies from early in the AM and this film appeared between the two movies. I was surprised to see Jack Benny,( Mr.Bartlett),"To Be or Not to Be",'42, who was very very young, and appearing as a drunk. Benny performed this comical role to perfection, but you have to also consider it was filmed in the 1930's and Jack was trying to become a comic actor in Hollywood which never worked out very well for him on the Big Screen! Mr. Bartlett encounters a very sexy woman who has been stood up by her lover. Dorothy Sebastian,(Ethel Dalton),"The Big Gamble",'69, encounters Mr. Bartlett in her apartment which was very naughty in those days! Great entertaining Classic Film with great Actors from the past!

Here is a rare gem: an early short of Jack Benny. He is supposed to be playing a drunk, a very popular convention of the day, but underplays as ever--no W. C. Fields-type here. His gift is his glib talk, finely honed on the vaudeville stage, and he makes the most of it here. Obviously missing a live audience, which so energized him for later radio and television triumphs, nevertheless he shows complete confidence in the material and in his performance and star quality. Don't expect any fancy movie-making: there are very minimal camera angles and settings. Actually, don't expect very much at all! But, it's a treat to see the young Benny Kubelsky, and to think how funny he became.

This 1930 comedy short is a good example of films during the transition period from silent to sound. The early films of this period were shot with stationary microphones. The actors couldn't move about as freely and naturally. So, they often stood around in scenes that give them a "wooden" feel to audiences.

Jack Benny and the rest of the cast do a good job in this setting. His exchanges with Dorothy Sebastian are samples of the witty, clever and snappy comic routine he would develop and use throughout his career. It was as true of his Hollywood films as of his radio and then TV shows.

This 20-minute short has some very funny sequences. But Benny's Mr. Bartlett doesn't come across as too tipsy, which he is supposed to be. It's a fine film extra that accompanied feature films back in the early days of cinema.

Here are a couple favorite lines from this 20-minute short.

Ethel Dalton, "I am going to marry you." Mr. Bartlett, "All right, go ahead I haven't anything to do this afternoon."

Mr. Bartlett, "I love you. What is your name again?"