Important Business

Important Business (1944)

** (out of 4)

Joe Doakes (Robert Benchley) receives a letter from Washington, D.C. for him to come out and meet a government official so Doakes begins telling everyone that they finally want to learn what he knows. Doakes boards a train for this important business but when he arrives there he realizes he isn't going to be meeting anyone. I've shared my opinion of Benchley during reviews for many of his shorts but here is yet another that I didn't find funny. Once again it really does seem as if there wasn't even an attempt to make this thing funny because nothing funny happens. You'd think once he arrives in Washington D.C. that something would happen but instead he just sits by a phone and waits for someone to call. Nothing funny there, at least to me. Early on he simply sits around telling people that he's going to Washington. Again, I'm guessing this was meant to be funny but I didn't crack a smile. This is far from Benchley's worst short but it's pretty bland from start to finish.