Fascinación fatal

This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. A local station in Houston used to run this show on new year's eve and I would watch it every year. Few comics can top Benny and his deadpan delivery but Pa Kettle came close in this one as he played the slow motion yard man.

This is a better comedy than many reviewers indicate. To appreciate it you have to remember two things - firstly, it was made in 1942, and thus there are quite a few patriotic themes in the movie, since that was the kind of film being made at the beginning of World War II, when the U.S. didn't yet know if it would be successful fighting a two front war in which everything was at stake. The second thing to remember is that Jack Benny did all of his scenes with Percy Kilbride (later known as Pa Kettle) on days in which he had gotten no sleep the night before. He did this deliberately, because Jack had insisted Kilbride play the part when Jack Warner just wanted to insert one of his contract players. Jack Benny insisted that Kilbride made the play and was thus essential for the movie. Jack Benny got his way, but every time Jack Benny looked at Percy Kilbride when he was shooting the movie he broke into hysterical laughter. When the director threatened to remove Benny if he continued this, then Benny decided to stay up all night before he had any scenes with Kilbride because then he was so exhausted that he just didn't care.

If you're in the mood for a light sweet movie from the 40's with Benny's brand of understated comedy, this certainly fits the bill. Just don't expect Benny the miser of Jack's radio and TV days. This film takes advantage of Benny's comic timing and deadpan delivery of comic observations when confronted by outrageous behavior and situations on all sides, but it is just not a role for a cheapskate.

George S. Kauffman & Moss Hart's GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE was one of Broadway's most successful comedies of the early 1940s, a bright and witty tale with a slightly Americana tone that World War II audiences found particularly appealing. The film version, sparked up by the completely unexpected chemistry of dry-humored Jack Benny and "Oomph Girl" Ann Sheridan, is every bit as charming.

When New Yorkers Bill and Connie Fuller (Benny and Sheridan) are evicted from their apartment (their third change of address in less than a year), wife Connie decides what they need is a place in the country... and buys an incredibly dilapidated house where George Washington is said to have once slept. Needless to say, husband Bill is horrified--and keeps on being horrified as the price of renovation skyrockets.

Benny was most popular when he played himself in roles tailored to his talents, but although this role is a bit atypical his talents are well suited to the constantly harried Bill Fuller--and he has remarkable rapport with co-star Ann Sheridan, an underestimated actress who shows tremendous flair for comedy as his determinedly optimistic wife. Both are well supported by a cast that includes Charles Coburn, Joyce Reynolds, and Percy Kilbride, and Hattie McDaniel (best remembered as Mammy in GONE WITH THE WIND) really shines as Hester, their long-suffering domestic who finds herself with a hole in the kitchen wall big enough for a horse to walk through--and one does! The pace is snappy, the script is witty, and every one is sure to have a good time. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I've always enjoyed stories about a couple moving to the country to either fix up an old house or deal with a house that turns out to be haunted, etc. Along these lines I think of films like 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House' and/or the suspenseful 'The Uninvited'. But, of course, with Jack Benny as the star you know you're in for comedy when he and his attractive wife (Ann Sheridan) decide to shed city dweller status and move to a more rural setting. Sheridan has her heart set on a ramshackle old house in Connecticut that seems to be falling apart--but with the help of movie magic she fixes it up and--presto--looks like something out of a House Beautiful catalog. The comedy is outdated and some of it falls short of the mark, but not when neighbor Percy Kilbride is around. Reportedly, Jack and Ann found it hard to keep a straight face when Kilbride cracked some of his dryly humorous observations (in Pa Kettle style). Benny ruined many a take when he was unable to stifle a laugh. Some of the slapstick he and others are subjected to is painful, but all in all this is diverting enough entertainment. Ann Sheridan is a sheer pleasure to watch and Charles Coburn shows up as a story-telling uncle who turns out to be a real phony. Hattie McDaniel and Franklin Pangborn add to the fun, making it worth a peek. One of Benny's better films.

The classic of the "ramshackle house in the country" genre is without doubt "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", and although this predecessor by 6 years does not attain its succesor's high comic level, it is still amusing and worth a see. I must admit I feel ancient when a viewer here writes "Remember Jack Benny?" For those of us who grew up in the fifties he was a titan of early television. Although he and Ann Sheridan cannot match the chemistry of Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in the later flick, they still work well together, and the whole project is abetted by a marvelous script from the unmatched talents of Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, whose best lines go to Benny's Bill Fuller. Also notable are a contribution from Charles Coburn and a cameo from the inimitable Franklin Pangborn. Worthwhile comic viewing.