Keeping in Shape (1941)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent Robert Benchley short once again finds him behind his desk explaining to men the best way to stay in shape. This includes doing exercise, eating a healthy diet and taking care of your teeth. As Benchley explains the importance of these we see his alter ego Mr. Doakes doing anything to not take care of himself. This includes cheating at his exercises, trying to cancel a dentist appointment and substituting a beer into the spot of a grapefruit. KEEPING IN SHAPE isn't the greatest written short but it's mildly entertaining thanks in large part to Benchley's performance as Doakes. I found the segment on the dentist to contain the best joke and that's when Doakes is trying to get out of an appointment only for his wife to take the phone and take care of the matter in seconds. None of the three segments contain too much detail to anything as the entire film runs just over 7-minutes so there's really not enough time for that. Fans of Benchley will certainly want to check it out but others might want to start with a different short from the comedian.
