List of Robert Benchley collections and film appearances

Robert Benchley produced over 600 essays, [Yates, 58-59.] initially compiled over twelve volumes, during his writing career. [Altman, 363.] Benchley was also featured in a number of films, including 48 short treatments that he mostly wrote or co-wrote, and numerous feature films. [Altman, 364-367.]

The following is a list of those compilations and appearances.

Books

Benchley produced twelve compilation books of his work for the various publications he wrote and freelanced for, and numerous posthumous compilations of his work have been produced since his death. Unless otherwise indicated, all volumes featuring illustrations were drawn by Gluyas Williams.The Robert Benchley Society.]

During his life

* "Of All Things" - Henry Holt & Company, 1921. 234p. - Twenty-two essays by Robert Benchley published in "Vanity Fair", "The New York Tribune", "Collier's Weekly", "Life", and "Motor Print".
* "Love Conquers All" - Henry Holt & Company, 1922.
* "Pluck And Luck" - Henry Holt & Company, 1925.
* "The Early Worm" - Henry Holt, 1927. 263p. - Forty-seven essays published in "Life", "The Detroit Athletic Club News", "The New Yorker", "College Humor", and "The Bell Syndicate".
* "20,000 Leagues under the Sea, or David Copperfield" - Henry Holt, 1928. 233p. - Forty essays by Robert Benchley published in "The Bookman", "The Detroit Athletic Club News", "The Forum", "Life", "The New Yorker", and "The Yale Review".
* "The Treasurer's Report & Other Aspects of Community Singing" - Harper and Brothers, 1930.
* "No Poems, Or Around the World Backwards and Sideways" - Harper and Brothers, 1932. 330p. - Forty-five essays.
* "From Bed to Worse, or Comforting Thoughts about the Bison" - Harper and Brothers, 1934. 286p. - Sixty essays.
* "My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew" - Harper and Brothers, 1936. 361p - One hundred and five essays.
* "After 1903 - What?" - Harper and Brothers, 1938.
* "Inside Benchley" - Harper and Brothers, 1942. 316p. - Fifty previously published essays.
* "Benchley Beside Himself" - Harper and Brothers, 1943. 304p. - Forty-seven previously published essays. Along with Williams illustrations, the book also contained still photographs from Benchley's short films.

Posthumous

* "Benchley--Or Else" - Harper and Brothers, 1947. 273p - Seventy-one essays, six of which were originally published in "The New Yorker".
*"Chips off the Old Benchley" - Harper and Brothers, 1949. 360p. - Collection of seventy-seven essays compiled by Gertrude Benchley, Robert's wife. Many of the illustrations were previously unpublished in book form.
* "The "Reel" Benchley" - A. A. Wyn, Inc., 1950. 96p - No Williams illustrations, instead consisting of stills and scripts from many of Benchley's short films.
* "" - Ipswich Press, 1985. - Edited by Charles Getchell, the volume contains eighty-four of Benchley's theatrical reviews written for "Life" and "The New Yorker" over his career.

Films

Benchley filmed for Fox Film Corporation, Universal Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, and then primarily for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures. Toward the end of his career, he did freelance acting around Hollywood. The films are listed by release date, not by production date.

hort films

* "The Treasurer's Report" (1928) - Fox Film Corporation
* "The Sex Life of the Polyp" (1928) - Fox
* "The Spellbinder" (1928) - Fox
* "Lesson No. 1" (1929) - Fox
* "Stewed, Fried, and Boiled" (1929) - Fox
* "Furnace Trouble" (1929) - Fox
* "Your Technocracy and Mine" (1933) - Universal Pictures
* "How to Break 90 at Croquet" (1935) - RKO Radio Pictures
* "How to Sleep" (1935) - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - Written and acted by Benchley, the short was based on a study on sleep and won the Academy Award in 1935 for Best Short Film. Benchley played narrator and sleeper. [Altman, 295-298.]
* "How to Behave" (1936) - MGM
* "How to Train a Dog" (1936) - MGM
* "How to Vote" (1936) - MGM
* "How to Be a Detective" (1936) - MGM
* "The Romance of Digestion" (1937) - MGM
* "How to Start the Day" (1937) - MGM
* "A Night at the Movies" (1937) - MGM - Written and acted by Benchley, this short was his most well-received since "How to Sleep". About a man going to the movies, [Altman, 321–325.] the short was nominated for an Academy Award.Nat Benchley.]
* "How to Figure Income Tax" (1938) - MGM
* "Music Made Simple" (1938) - MGM
* "An Evening Alone" (1938) - MGM
* "How to Raise a Baby" (1938) - MGM
* "The Courtship of the Newt" (1938) - MGM
* "How to Read" (1938) - MGM
* "How to Watch Football" (1938) - MGM
* "The Opening Day" (1938) - MGM
* "Mental Poise" (1938) - MGM
* "How to Sub-Let" (1939) - MGM
* "An Hour for Lunch" (1939) - MGM
* "Dark Magic" (1939) - MGM
* "How to Eat" (1939) - MGM
* "The Day of Rest" (1939) - MGM
* "See Your Doctor" (1939) - MGM
* "Inferiority Complex" (1939) - MGM - Also known as "That Inferior Feeling"
* "Home Movies" (1939) - MGM
* "The Trouble with Husbands" (1941) - Paramount Pictures - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Waiting for Baby" (1941) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Crime Control" (1941) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "The Forgotten Man" (1941) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "How To Take a Vacation" (1941) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Nothing But Nerves" (1942) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "The Witness" (1942) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Keeping In Shape" (1942) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "The Man's Angle" (1942) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "My Tomato" (1943) - MGM - Starring Benchley
* "No News Is Good News" (1943) - MGM - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Important Business" (1944) - MGM - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Why, Daddy?" (1944) - MGM - Written by and starring Benchley (his last short film for MGM)
* "Boogie Woogie" (1945) - Paramount - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Hollywood Victory Caravan" (1945) - Paramount and the United States Treasury Department - Starring Benchley, a film version of the touring show
* "I'm a Civilian Here Myself" (1945) - United States Navy - Written by and starring Benchley

Feature films

* "You'd Be Surprised" (1926) - Paramount - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "Sky Devils" (1932) - RKO - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "The Sport Parade" (1932) - RKO - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Headliner Shooter" (1933) - RKO - Starring Benchley
* "Dancing Lady" (1933) - MGM - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Rafter Romance" (1934) - RKO - Starring Benchley
* "Social Register" (1934) - Columbia Pictures - Starring Benchley in a bit part
* "The Gay Divorcee" (1934) - RKO - Featuring Benchley as a writer; it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture
* "The Gay Bride" (1934) - MGM - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "Murder on a Honeymoon" (1935) - RKO - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "China Seas" (1935) - MGM - Written by and starring Benchley
* "Pursuit" (1935) - MGM - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "The Perfect Gentleman" (1935) MGM - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "Dancing Pirate" (1936) - RKO - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "Riffraff" (1936) MGM - Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "Piccadilly Jim" (1936) - MGM - Featuring Benchley as a writer and actor; based on the novel of the same name by P. G. Wodehouse
* "Broadway Melody of 1938" (1937) - MGM - Starring Benchley in a bit part
* "Live, Love and Learn" (1938) - MGM -Featuring Benchley as a writer
* "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) - United Artists/Walter Wanger Productions - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and featuring dialogue written by Benchley. Benchley also acted in the film.
* "Hired Wife" (1940) - Universal - Starring Benchley
* "The Reluctant Dragon" (1940) - Walt Disney/RKO - Benchley played himself in the live action portions of this feature, giving a tour of the then-new Walt Disney Studios facility. Benchley was unhappy with the final product, as the writers relied too much (in his opinion) on pratfalls and visual gags. [Altman, 327-328.]
* "Nice Girl?" (1940) - A dramatic film, and a straight role for Benchley, often considered his finest straight performance. [Altman, 327-328.]
* "You'll Never Get Rich" (1941) - Columbia - Starring Benchley
* "Three Girls About Town" (1941) - Columbia - Starring Benchley
* "Bedtime Story" (1941) - Columbia - Starring Benchley
* "Take a Letter, Darling" - (1942) - Paramount - Starring Benchley
* "The Major and the Minor" (1942) - Paramount - Starring Benchley in a film directed by Billy Wilder
* "I Married a Witch" (1942) - United Artists - Starring Benchley in a film directed by Rene Clair
* "Young and Willing" (1943) - United Artists - Starring Benchley
* "The Sky's the Limit" (1943) - RKO - Starring Benchley
* "Flesh & Fantasy" (1943) - Universal - Benchley narrated
* "The Song of Russia" (1943) - MGM - Starring Benchley
* "See Here, Private Hargrove" (1944) - MGM - Starring Benchley
* "Janie" (1944) - Warner Bros. - Starring Benchley
* "National Barn Dance" (1944) - Paramount - Starring Benchley, a fictional account of the radio show of the same name.
* "Practically Yours" (1944) - Paramount - Starring Benchley
* "Pan-Americana" (1945) - RKO - Starring Benchley as narrator
* "It's in the Bag" (1945) - United Artists - Starring Benchley
* "Duffy's Tavern" (1945) - Paramount - Starring Benchley as narrator in the film version of the show of the same name
* "Kiss and Tell" (1945) - Columbia - Starring Benchley
* "Weekend at the Waldorf" (1945) - MGM - Starring Benchley
* "Snafu" (1945) - Columbia - Starring Benchley
* "Road to Utopia" (1945) - Paramount - Benchley narrated
* "The Stock Club" (1945) - Paramount - Starring Benchley
* "The Bride Wore Boots" (1946) - Paramount - Starring Benchley
* "Janie Gets Married" (1946) - Warner Bros. - Starring Benchley

Further reading

* Gordon Ernst, "Robert Benchley: An Annotated Bibliography". (Greenwood Press, 1995).

Works cited

* Billy Altman, "Laughter's Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley". (New York City: W. W. Norton, 1997. ISBN 0393038335).
* Internet Movie Database: [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0070361/ Robert Benchley] . URL accessed 6 May 2007.
* The Robert Benchley Society: [http://www.robertbenchley.org/sob/biblio_b.htm The Annotated Bibliography of Robert Benchley Writings] . David Trumbull, URL accessed 20 May 2007.
* Norris W. Yates, "Robert Benchley". (New York City, Twayne Publishers, 1968.).

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0070361|name=Robert Benchley