Web Site Logo

This website is made possible, in part, by displaying a few online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker for this site.
[ <- Back to Radio & TV Appearances ]

 
Click to view full image
 

JACK BENNY PROGRAM, THE / aka THE LUCKY STRIKE PROGRAM - On the Train to Hollywood

Air Date/Released Sunday, January 25, 1948
Station/Studio NBC (radio)
Host/Star Jack Benny
Featuring Joe Besser (Solo)

Jack Benny 1930s - 1950s radio show, noteworthy for the characters and characterizations that made his show a Sunday night favorite. Benny’s regular cast of characters included girlfriend Mary Livingstone (Jack’s real-life wife), vocalist Dennis Day, bandleader Phil Harris, announcer Don Wilson, and valet Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson. A trademark of the show was its ensemble chemistry, and writers that wrote as much for the supporting cast’s comic characterizations as they did for the star... e.g., Day as the dumb kid, Harris’ hard-partying bandleader with an orchestra of drunks and ne’er-do-wells, Mary with a wisecrack at the ready to deflate Jack’s vanity, etc.

After the prior week’s March of Dimes benefit in Denver, the gang finds ways to pass the time during the train ride back to Los Angeles. Jack endures a gin rummy losing streak to Mary. Don’s berth is in the dining car. Phil raids Jack’s compartment for a corkscrew, bottle opener and extra glasses... and comes back later to borrow some aspirin. Mel Blanc is the engineer, asking Jack for directions to the engine. Jack catches Rochester regaling a porter with tall tales of being Benny’s writer, manager, agent and personal adviser. Mary and Jack tune in the radio for Dennis’ show, where he sings “A Few More Kisses.” Fellow passenger Joe Besser announces he’s a big fan of Jack’s, and wants tickets for next week’s broadcast. Jack’s complicated instructions are too much for Joe to handle as he screams “Not so fa-a-a-st!” The Sportsmen do their Lucky Strike commercial to the tune of “Civilization.” Arriving in L.A., Mel Blanc has an opportunity to do his hilarious P.A. announcer… “Anaheim --- Azuza --- and Cuc --- a - - - - monga!” Jack has another encounter with Besser, who’s holding up the baggage claim, and then spots Dennis waiting at the station... he wants to know when they’re leaving for Denver.



Cast: Jack Benny (Himself), Don Wilson (Announcer), Mary Benny (Mary Livingstone), Eddie Anderson (Rochester Van Jones), Dennis Day (Himself), Phil Harris (Himself), Joe Besser (Conducter), Ernest Whitman (Porter), Hy Averback (Cab driver), Mel Blanc (P.A. announcer, Engineer), Jerry Hausner (Baby), Ann Stone (Mother), Bill Days, Gurney Bell, Martin Sperzel, Jay Meyer (The Sportsmen Quartet), Eddie Marr (Dennis’ announcer), F. E. Boone, L. A. Speed Riggs (Tobacco auctioneers), John Laing, Basil Ruysdeal (Lucky Strike spokesmen)

Crew: John Tackaberry, George Balzer, Milt Josefsberg, Sam Perrin (Writers), Mahlon Merrick (Musical Director)
[ <- Back to Radio & TV Appearances ]




FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of the issues involved. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information please visit: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission directly from the copyright owner.