Belle Province Benny

Allied troops around the globe took a brief break from World War Two by enjoying one of the top comedians of their time in front of them on stage.

No, we don’t mean Bob Hope. We’re talking about Jack Benny.

This isn’t meant to denigrate Mr. Hope’s dedication. But Benny showed up in the jungles of New Guinea, bore the sweltering heat of Iraq and even took down the names of injured servicemen and hand-wrote to their families once he got back home.

The Benny radio show went on tour, too. It broadcast from various American military bases, and appeared in Vancouver and Toronto for Victory Loan efforts.

Let’s talk about a Canadian stop wasn’t part of the broadcast schedule. Benny and his cast appeared in Montreal on February 10, 1943, playing at the Home of the Habs, the Forum. The Montreal Gazette gave a fine account of the show the next day, along with a sidebar story about Benny’s coming tour. Unfortunately, it was waylaid a month later when he was bed-ridden with pneumonia and couldn’t appear on the air for five weeks.

Let’s give you the sidebar first, followed by the review. Unfortunately, the photo in the paper of Jack and his cast on stage doesn’t reproduce well enough to augment this post. Being the keen showman, veteran vaudevillian Benny lined up his show well, reserving the last spot for Rochester, who was loved by audiences everywhere. McIver’s orchestra appeared with Benny on his Toronto broadcast on February 14th.

Jack Benny Signs U.S.O. Contract
Will Go Overseas to Entertain Troops, Comedian Says Here
Jack Benny and Company, which include Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Don Wilson and Rochester, will be heading overseas this summer to entertain the American troops. The comedian signed a contract with the U.S.O. Camps Shows just before he left for Montreal to launch his voluntary tour for Canadian servicemen here yesterday.

The USO Jaunt, whether to Alaska or North Africa, will not come, however, until the holiday break in his radio program leaves him free. It means, however, that instead of staying in Hollywood to make a film, he will start travelling for Uncle Sam.
He has just completed one picture, The Meanest Man In The World, which is to be released shortly. He says it returns to an older pattern of film-making for him, with Rochester teaming up with him throughout. But on the whole, the comedian finds the type of film like To Be Or Not To Be, Charley's Aunt or George Washington Slept Here more satisfactory. In them he felt he was playing a straight part, with a character being created other than that he has built tor himself on the air.
Benny likes making pictures because they are comparatively restful after the grind of broadcasting. For the air there is always the driving immediacy of the next week's program and the endless conferences with script writers. For the screen everything has been worked out by the studio. The possibility of retakes, if a laugh line doesn't quite go over, eliminates much of the nervous strain of the radio, where a thing once said can never be improved.
But despite the fact that now, in addition to the radio show grind, he and his wife have the strain of steady troops shows, both of them looked well and fit as they chatted with reporters and servicemen at the Windsor Hotel yesterday. Mrs. Benny (or Mary Livingstone) had a relapse two weeks ago but is recovered and looking forward to the week in Canada. Both she and Mr. Benny feel it's a privilege to be allowed to play for the troops, and that goes for anywhere they are sent, be it Alaska or overseas.

TROUPE PLAYS TO PACKED HOUSE AT LOCAL FORUM SHOW
Local Servicemen Pack Forum, Accord Benny Rousing Welcome
With a crowd of about 14,000 whistling and cheering servicemen and their girl friends, Jack Benny and the personalities of his radio show launched their whirlwind tour of shows for the Canadian troops at the Forum last night. In a show that lasted over an hour and a half, the radio comedian won the wholehearted applause of Canadian troops and the title of "Public Morale Builder No. 1" from Air Vice Marshal Albert de Niverville, who thanked him at the close of the show.
This was a show for the troops, with a minimum of formality attending it. At about a quarter to nine, the men of Alan McIver's band walked onto the stage at one end of the vast building, by that time packed with an expectant crowd of soldiers, sailors, airmen and men of the Merchant Marine. They were followed by Jack Benny and the show was on.
The appearance of the grey-haired comedian, walking onto the stage with the familiar swagger, brought the first burst of applause of the evening. He walked out to the bank of microphones and quipped, "H’m he looks a lot older than he does in the movies, doesn't he!"
He then looked around about him and off into the far reaches of the Forum and exclaimed: "Why, it's bigger than Waukegan."
The show which followed was the show which Benny and his associates have built up from extensive touring of U.S. Army posts. It differs from the regular broadcasts in being a series of solo specialties by the members of the cast, rather than a show built on a consecutive comedy theme. And, contrary to expectations, neither Benny or the others worked from a script.

First of his company to be introduced was Mary Livingstone, with an admonition from Benny: "She's my wife, fellows, so lay off." And Miss Livingstone's contribution, as all had hoped, was one of her famous poems. It was a salute to the Canadian forces and finished up on a high note of international amity:
"Here's to the Canadian people,
"Our neighbors loyal and true,
"Although our flags are different
"They're both red, white and blue."
A guest singer, Alice Rowe, came on next and sang three songs, leading up to the introduction of the regular Benny vocalist, Dennis Day, who scored a hit with his tenor rendering of I Just Kissed Your Picture Good Night, There Are Such Things and an old Irish tune.
Don Wilson, genial and rotund announcer of the program, was next in line with a few remarks, including a reminder of the Benny-Allen feud, by now an integral part of any Benny show. Sam Hearn, well-known as Schlepperman to audiences of a few years ago, came on with more comedy, including a lengthy parody set to a medley of popular tunes, and a clever imitation of three violins.
Schlepperman's violin duet with Benny introduced what was one of the high-spots of the evening when Benny played his famous Love In Bloom. And just to show that he wasn't as bad as all that, Benny followed it up with a bit of string swings. More music was supplied by Jimmy Shields, vocalist of The Army Show, who made a guest appearance which won him generous applause.
But the loudest single burst of applause of the whole evening came with the introduction of the next performer, the inimitable Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, complete with a double-zoot suit and broad-brimmed hat. The crowd opened right up then and let the colored comedian have a real Canadian welcome. Rochester sang a bit, danced a lot and had to beg his way off the stage.
Then suddenly, and all too soon, the show was over, and Air Marshal de Niverville was saying a few brief words of thanks to the assembled company. Jack Benny and company had finished their first big troop show in Canada, and Montreal servicemen had set a high standard of appreciation for the gesture which brings them that rare phenomenon, a first-rate American comedy star, to brighten their lives and further establish a bond between Canadians and Americans in wartime.