Consummate entertainer Bobby Darin (1936-1973) is making a movie about his life. He's volatile, driven by the love of performing, ambition, perfectionism, and belief that he's living on borrowed time. He begins in the Bronx: a fatherless lad learning music and dance from his mom. His career starts slowly, then "Splish Splash" puts him at the top of the charts and on "Bandstand." He wants to be an entertainer, not a pop star, so he aims for the Copacabana; then it's on to the movies, where he meets and marries Sandra Dee. After, it's balancing career, health, marriage and family life, balances he doesn't always keep. Throughout, conversations with his boyhood self give him perspective.
Nominated for Golden Globe.
Another 4 nominations
Marilyn Monroe made her one and only television appearance on this show. Jack Benny dreamed that the homely woman in the next deck chair was actually Marilyn.
Most of Jack Benny's original radio cast appeared on television with him, including Don Wilson, 'Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson' , Dennis Day and several his real-life wife Mary Livingston made several guest appearances. In one episode Jack dreamed that he and Mary (his platonic friend on the show) were married and had a teenage daughter. Their daughter was played by their real daughter Joan Benny.
Several episodes were adaptations of plots used on his radio show. Examples of this are the Christmas Shopping Episode and the Horse Racing Episode.
A 1952 spoof of Gaslight (1944), entitled "Autolight" and co-starring Barbara Stanwyck proved so popular that Jack Benny, who had filmed the original performance, wanted to rebroadcast it. Legal wranglings with MGM resulted in this not happening until 1959.
Theme song is a standard violin étude written by Kreutzer. It's the second one in the famous Kreuzter book.
In the early years, this was originally titled "The Lucky Strike Program" after the show's sponsor, Lucky Strike cigarettes, who had also sponsored Benny's radio program. The 16mm television syndication prints had the title cards replaced with ones that gave the title as either "The Jack Benny Program", or "The Jack Benny Show". Footage of Benny welcoming the audience to "The Lucky Strike Program" remained intact.
Bob Crosby:
That's like keeping the smog and throwing away Los Angeles.
Don Wilson:
I don't think you know how much it means to me to do the commercial. After all I'm not a funny man. I can't sing or dance. I don't lead a band. What are you paying me for?
Jack:
Don, you're hanging yourself.
Jack:
I believe in being honest with myself. If there's one thing I hate it's when a comedian is great and won't admit it. I've never met one like that, but if I did, I'd hate them.
Jack:
When another comedian has a lousy show, I'm the first one to admit it.
Jack:
When they laugh at one of my jokes... it just gets me right here.
[Puts hand on heart]
Rochester:
Yes, that's the spot all right. You almost had a heart attack when they laughed at Bob Hope.
[At Liberace's House]
Liberace:
What do we have for dinner?
Cook:
We have some breast of flamingo and gazelle steaks.
Jack:
Breast of flamingo and gazelle steaks?
Liberace:
Would you like to stay for dinner, Jack?
Jack:
Well, only if you have enough. I'd hate for you to run out to the zoo just for me.
Humphrey Bogart:
I'm entitled to one phone call, ain't I? Gimme a dime I'll go down to the drugstore.
Jack:
Oh, no you don't. You'll make your call here where I can keep an eye on you.
Bob:
And save a dime.
Marilyn Monroe:
What about the difference in our ages?
Jack:
Oh, it's not that big a difference. You're twenty-five and I'm thirty-nine.
Marilyn Monroe:
I know, Jack. But what about twenty-five years from now when I'm fifty and you're thirty-nine?
Jack:
Gee, I never thought of that.
Jack:
Did you know "execrable" means "lousy?"
Jack:
I feel responsible for Johnny Ray's success. See many years ago I asked him to be on my show and he asked for a lot of money and I cried. And he stole that from me.
[on trial for murder, Jack has Perry Mason defending him]
Jack:
I can't understand it. On your show you always win.
Perry Mason:
Maybe my writers are better than yours.
Jack:
What do you think of this card I wrote for Don? "To Don from Jacky, Oh golly, oh shucks. I hope that you like it, It cost forty bucks.
Rochester:
It would've been hard to rhyme a dollar ninety-eight.
[repeated line]
Jack Benny:
We're a little late, so good night, folks.
Jack Benny:
Where's that big glass star I told you to pack away last Christmas?
Rochester:
You mean that shiny one with the three points on it?
Jack Benny:
That star has five points.
Rochester:
Well, it went down two points this last year.
[repeated line]
Stationmaster:
Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cucamonga.
Thug:
Look, bud, I said 'Your money or your life.'
Jack Benny:
I'm thinking it over.
Thug:
You're gonna give us $10,000, or we're gonna break both your legs.
Jack Benny:
Does it have to be both?
[Jack picks up a jar from the dresser]
Jack:
Hey, wait a minute. What kind of make up is this?
Rochester:
Well, you said you wanted something to make you look nice and tanned.
Jack:
I know, but peanut butter?
[Audience laugh]
Jack:
I want to look tanned, not lumpy.
[Jack decides to have a shave]
Rochester:
[checking his equipment] Shaving cream, brush, razor, smelling salts.
Jack:
Smell?... What do I want with smelling salts?
Rochester:
That's for me. I can't stand the sight of blood.
[Rochester has started shaving Jack]
Rochester:
Oh oh.
Jack:
What's the matter?
Rochester:
I think I cut you.
Jack:
What do you mean, you think? Can't you tell?
Rochester:
It would help if you bleed a little.
Bob Hope:
[on being on a CBS show] I feel like Zsa Zsa at a P.T.A. meeting.
Bob Hope:
By the way, this is where Bing did his last show and I think they've done very nicely. They've gotten most of it out of the curtains.
Bob Hope:
[finding some coins tied with string in Jack's trousers] When you ask this kid for a loan, and he says his money is tied up, he isn't kidding. This is an obstacle course for pickpockets.
Jack:
[poking his head through the stage curtains] Bob, will you please give me my pants back?
Bob Hope:
Put your head back through there, or I'll start handing out baseballs to the audience.
Don Wilson:
[Poking his head through the curtains] Bob, Bob, quick, give me Jack's pants
Bob Hope:
Why do you want Jack's pants?
Don Wilson:
Because I had to give him mine.
Bob Hope:
You mean, Jack's actually wearing your pants?
Jack:
[out of shot] Darn right I am.
[Bob walks on carrying Jack's trousers]
Bob:
Welcome to the Lucky Strike Program. In just a few minutes, you'll see our star, Gypsy Rose Benny.
Bob:
This is rather strange for me, I'm on the major network.
[mouths ABC]
Bob:
[about Bing Crosby] He's up in Nevada looking over Boulder Dam - his piggy bank is filled. He's so loaded, you know, he uses Howard Hughes for a bell boy.
[Our heroes enter a jungle clearing carrying a tiger on a pole]
Jack:
These last 2 miles were rugged, weren't they?
'Clyde':
I knew as soon as we got off the freeway, we'd run into trouble.
Jack:
It's really dangerous, here in the jungle.
'Clyde':
Your'e telling me. What about those first three nights, we had to light fires to keep the animals away.
Jack:
Yeah, then we ran out of water. For three weeks we couldn't even take a bath.
'Clyde':
Then the animals lit fires to keep us away.
Jack:
[Pointing to the tiger] He must have gone to a veterinarian in Denmark.
'Clyde':
I wondered why he had his hand on his hip when I shot him.
Jack:
What kind of tiger is that - Siberian or Bengal?
'Clyde':
General Electric.
[our heroes have been captured by a tribe on cannibals, and are standing in a large pot]
Jack:
I'm scared, I'm frightened.
'Clyde':
Frightened. Why, you yellow-belly. Do you want to live forever?
Jack:
No, I just want to reach 40.
'Clyde':
Oh, we're not going to make that trip again, oh no.
Jack:
[pointing a pistol at Bob's trousers] I'm going to blow your brains out.
[Bob adjusts Jack's gun arm, so that the pistol is now pointing at Bob's head]
Bob Hope:
Let's not do any jokes we didn't plan on, eh.
Don Wilson:
Rochester, you sing, don't you?
Rochester:
Anything but Soprano.
Jack Benny:
[on the phone with Mary Livingston] Hello, Mary. Are you free tonight? No, I don't have any plans. Would you like to go see a movie? No, I'll come to your house; you're TV screen is much bigger.
[Mary hangs up the phone]
Jack Benny:
Mary? Mary? I don't know what she's mad about.
Follows
The Jack Benny Program (1949) (TV)
Followed by
The Jack Benny Hour (1965) (TV)
The Jack Benny Hour (1966) (TV)
Carnival Nights (1968) (TV)
Jack Benny's Bag (1968) (TV)
Jack Benny's Birthday Special (1969) (TV)
Version of
The Jack Benny Hour (1959/I) (TV)
Referenced in
Susan Slept Here (1954)
- referenced by Virgil
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
- Benny appears in his Maxwell automobile from his series
"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: Pilot (#1.0)" (1967)
- Larry Hovis immitates Jacks' famous "Goodnight, Jack"
The Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Pilot Special (1967) (TV)
- Larry Hovis immitates Jacks' famous "Goodnight, Jack"
"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: (#3.20)" (1970)
- referenced by Jack Benny
Say Goodnight, Gracie (1983) (TV)
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Robin Williams (1986) (V)
- referenced during the Ace Awards
"Saturday Night Live: (#13.9)" (1988)
- referenced during the Ace Awards
Bird (1988)
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Tormented (#5.14)" (1992)
- "Now Cut that out!"
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Bloodlust! (#7.7)" (1994)
- "So?" Servo: Sew. Mike: Si.
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hobgoblins (#10.7)" (1998)
- "He's breaking into Jack Benny's Piggy Bank"
The John Cleese Interview (1998) (V)
- Referenced by name
Featured in
A Love Letter to Jack Benny (1981) (TV)
Bacall on Bogart (1988) (TV)
The Unknown Marx Brothers (1993) (TV)
"American Masters: Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval" (1995)
Classic Stand-Up Comedy of Television (1996) (TV)
- footage from this show exists in this special
"American Masters: Jack Paar: 'As I Was Saying...'" (1997)
"Laughter in the House: The Story of British Sitcom" (1999) (mini)
Uncensored Comedy: That's Not Funny! (2003) (TV)
How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass (2003)
- A clip is used in a Hollywood movies montage.
Spoofed in
The Mouse That Jack Built (1959)
The Jet Benny Show (1986)
- Jet Benny is a caricature of Jack Benny employing his mannerisms, lines, violin playing, etc. and hosts a comedy variety program, with regular Rochester.