The penultimate show of the Campbell Playhouse (at least, the show done with Orson Welles)was an adaptation of the Ring Lardner-George S Kaufman Broadway hit, a success in its day but not that well remembered because (a) lack of a well remembered film adaptation and (b) it isn’t that good. Well the story isn’t.
It’s okay, there are some bright lines, but it feels underwhelming (the script isn’t as good as, say, Once in a Lifetime; maybe it played better if the industry it was lampooning – song writing on the hit parade – was still current) Jack Benny, in a rare “straight role”, plays the lead, a naïve songwriter who gets involved with some show biz sharks. Welles, or Benny or someone, seems to have wanted to reassure Benny playing a dramatic role so the Jack Benny character is always making cracks about the comedian Jack Benny.
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