{"id":35658,"date":"2021-08-13T20:03:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T00:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=35658"},"modified":"2021-08-13T20:03:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T00:03:50","slug":"the-bootleg-files-jack-benny-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/13\/the-bootleg-files-jack-benny-in-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: Jack Benny in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 776:<\/strong> \u201cJack Benny in Australia\u201d (1964 television special from down under).<\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: <\/strong>No perceived commercial value.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely.<\/p>\n

In early 1964, Jack Benny received an offer to do a series of shows in Australia, where his radio and television shows had been popular for years. The timing for the offer was serendipitous, as CBS unceremoniously axed Benny\u2019s popular television program at the end of 1963 and he had no other engagements lined up.
\n<\/p>\n

Benny performed on stage in Melbourne and Sydney and taped a one-shot special for the Australian Television Network that encapsulated his stage offering. \u201cJack Benny in Australia\u201d was never broadcast in the U.S. But, in a way, not having a U.S. broadcast wasn\u2019t the worst thing because his Australian show replicated a great deal of his long-running CBS program.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack Benny in Australia\u201d opens in the same manner as his CBS shows, with the comic standing in front a curtain on a bare stage. He wisecracks that the rousing audience reaction makes him feel like the \u201cfifth Beatle\u201d and he serves up amusing observations on the local cultural scene. He remarks on the Sydney Opera House by noting \u201cit won\u2019t be ready to open for two, three months yet\u201d \u2013 a reference to the notorious time- and cost-overruns on the project (the building wouldn\u2019t open until 1973). He talks about local lifeguards warning swimmers against oncoming sharks by ringing a small bell and so plays a brief film clip about his taking up temporary residence at a fleabag hotel across from Sydney\u2019s luxurious Menzies Hotel \u2013 Benny comments it was a better deal than \u201cpaying the Menzies\u2019 prices to overlook the dump I\u2019m living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benny\u2019s opening monologue is followed by a juggling duo called the Rudenko Brothers, and Benny then returns to begin a long story about a panhandler who constantly winds up in court. But as Benny is winding up for the story\u2019s punchline, the Rudenko Brothers come on stage and announce they forgot to do their act\u2019s encore stunt, so they lasso a supposedly dumbfounded Benny into their routine. After the jugglers exit, Benny finishes his story\u2019s punchline, admitting that \u201cit goes over better when people don\u2019t come in the middle of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the remainder of the show, Benny shares the stage with three musical performers, and it is here where the special gets a bit stale because he recycles similar material from his CBS show. Singer Lorrae Desmond does a song-and-dance number with two male dancers to \u201cGreat Day\u201d and then engages in a lengthy conversation on Benny\u2019s alleged bad luck about being a movie star. Desmond is pretty and an okay singer, but feeding straight lines to Benny was definitely not her forte. However, there is one very funny moment when Benny screws up the Australian slang \u201cfair dinkum\u201d and chastises himself for goofing up the phrase.<\/p>\n

Johnny O\u2019Keefe, who was sort of an Australian version of the Bobby Rydell or Fabian-type of pop singer who was in vogue in the early 60s, does a jazzed up version of \u201cOn the Street Where You Live\u201d and then gives Benny \u201cadvice\u201d on improving his act. (Benny did a version of this with Johnny Carson on CBS \u2013 O\u2019Keefe was no Carson, but he did perform \u201cShe Wears My Ring\u201d and that became a local hit tune.) <\/p>\n

Benny then does a violin duet with teenage Cynthia O\u2019Brien, replicating a routine around \u201cGetting to Know You\u201d that he did with Gisele McKenzie a few years earlier. Benny would acknowledge this was O\u2019Brien\u2019s first time performing on stage, which is obvious because her presence is stiff and uncertain.<\/p>\n

Benny closes the show with a genuinely funny wisecrack that he deserves a medal for doing a show in Australia without making any reference to a kangaroo. He also mentions he is departing for home the next day \u2013 he never came back to Australia and it is not certain if he ever saw the finished special, which aired on the Australian Television Network in April 1964.<\/p>\n

It is a shame that \u201cJack Benny in Australia\u201d didn\u2019t take a travelogue-with-comedy approach, with the funnyman observing Australia\u2019s sites and interacting with its distinctive wildlife \u2013 that would have helped sell the production for a U.S. release. It is also a shame that his beloved ensemble including Eddie \u201cRochester\u201d Anderson, Don Wilson, Dennis Day, Mel Blanc and Frank Nelson didn\u2019t come along \u2013 much of the fun in the Benny show came from his supporting players and the fun they would have at Benny\u2019s exasperated expense. <\/p>\n

But for Benny fans who are willing to accept even a lesser effort, \u201cJack Benny in Australia\u201d can be found on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.<\/em><\/p>\n

Listen to the award-winning podcast \u201cThe Online Movie Show with Phil Hall\u201d on SoundCloud. Phil Hall\u2019s new book \u201cJesus Christ Movie Star\u201d is now available from BearManor Media. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 776: \u201cJack Benny in Australia\u201d (1964 television special from down under). LAST SEEN: On YouTube. AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None. REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived commercial value. CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely. In early 1964, Jack Benny received an offer to do a series of shows in Australia, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":35659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513],"tags":[1973,1774,1728],"class_list":["post-35658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bootleg-files","tag-australia","tag-jack-benny","tag-tv-special"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35660,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658\/revisions\/35660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}