The Rounder

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?"

A drunk Jack Benny climbs into the wrong window. Dorothy Sebastian wants a husband to serve as an escort in public. She offers Jack the job at a handsome salary.

It's an amusing short, and Jack Benny already has his trademark delivery, honed by years on the vaudeville circuit. It's not much more, because Jack Benny, as we remember him, is not just the performer. He was a collaboration between his skilled writers, his great comic timing and rapport with his audience, his director, and his supporting cast for the character Benny played for so many years on the radio and television, to work with. Here it's just Benny the performer, and while the situation he takes part is absurd, it's not fine-tuned to his abilities and the audience's expectation.

The story is that the best laugh Benny ever got was on his radio show. Mel Blanc, playing a thief, announced "Your money or your life!" This was followed by silence, during which the audience's laughter grew and grew, until Blanc repeated his demand. Benny interrupted him with "I'm thinking!" This was the confluence of all the collaborations I noted above. They could not occur here.

The Rounder is an extra on the DVD "To Be or Not to Be". After watching the main feature I decided to see what this extra was about. Jack Benny was out of character as we know him today but as I watched I became drawn in by the very bizarre story line. Jack plays a sophisticated man who has been out late drinking and enters the wrong home in his tipsy state. He encounters a woman who has also just returned from an evening at a club with her boyfriend that ended up in her breaking up with him. The interaction between Jack and the woman is priceless. It has a number of good laughs as well as a somewhat surreal feel to it. Highly recommended.

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.