Jack Benny, movie producer?

[shimp scrampi]

Was listening to the March 27, 1949 show and Jack mentions that he produced the Dorothy Lamour movie "The Lucky Stiff". I've never seen it, but Jack is credited as the producer - there's no regular Benny cast or other affiliates I recognize in the imdb credits. How and why did Jack take this one and only shot at being a movie producer?

[LLeff]

Was listening to the March 27, 1949 show and Jack mentions that he produced the Dorothy Lamour movie "The Lucky Stiff". I've never seen it, but Jack is credited as the producer - there's no regular Benny cast or other affiliates I recognize in the imdb credits. How and why did Jack take this one and only shot at being a movie producer?

Because it was done by his production company, Amusement Enterprises, which was founded in 1947 and sold to CBS in 1948.

[Roman]

I found some interesting information about Jack's sale of his production company to CBS in 1948 on another website (http://blogs.salon.com/0003139/2004/04/13.html). I was kind of glad to read that the attorney who treated Jack and George Burns so miserably years earlier finally got his comeuppance.

According to this website, written by, I believe, Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.:

Paley’s Comic
From January 2, 1949:

DENNIS: Oh, you know, Mr. Benny? Charlie McCarthy starts on CBS today, too…

JACK: No…no, Dennis…now don’t get mixed up…I’m the only one who’s starting today…not Charlie McCarthy…

DENNIS: Well, that’s funny…I heard the doorman say to somebody, “We’ve got that dummy over here now…”


The above exchange is from the first of two Jack Benny Program episodes I listened to last night at work, and the broadcast marks the premiere show that Benny did over CBS Radio. The comedian, a longtime fixture at NBC, had been lured to the network through the machinations of CBS chairman William S. Paley—he had convinced Benny that by selling Amusement Enterprises (Jack’s production company) to CBS, the comedian’s earnings would be taxed at a much lower capital gains rate. Paley made similar pitches to several other NBC stars as well: Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll (Amos ‘n’ Andy), George Burns and Gracie Allen, Edgar Bergen and Red Skelton. These “talent raids” resulted not only in a shoring up of CBS’ prominence in radio (the network soon after featured the slogan “CBS, the stars’ address”) but benefited the network greatly in getting a leg-up into television as well.

***
One of the highlights of this program is the Lucky Strike commercial, a parody sung to the Frank Loesser-penned Slow Boat to China—Jack sings along with the Sportsmen on this one. (Later, at the show’s close, Jack and Mary do a reprise, singing about CBS’ Sunday night line-up—which consists of Spike Jones, Benny, Amos ‘n’ Andy, The Adventures of Sam Spade and Life With Luigi.) But throughout the show, Jack has been most anxious to meet with chairman Paley, and just before they go “on the air,” he gets a visit from Don Thornberg, the head of the Western Division of CBS:

THORNBERG: Well, I understand you’ve been looking for Mr. Paley…

JACK: Yes…yes, I have…uh…where…where is he?

THORNBERG: Well, Mr. Paley is in New York…he only comes out on urgent business…

JACK: Well, this is…this is rather important, Mr. Thornberg…but…perhaps you can help me, huh?

THORNBERG: Well, I hope so—what is it?

JACK: Well…well…

THORNBERG: Yes, Mr. Benny—what is it?

JACK: Well…do you have the authority to validate my parking lot ticket?

Shortly after this broadcast, rumors began to run rampant in the press that this joke had some basis in reality, and that it was the reason why Benny had decided to leave NBC. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jack was, in fact, very amenable to staying with his longtime network—but the National Broadcasting Company, in its negotiations with the comedian, committed a devastating blunder by allowing an attorney named John Cahill to participate in the proceedings. Cahill was a former U.S. Attorney who had been the prosecutor in a headline-making court case in which Jack and George Burns were accused in 1939 of smuggling jewelry into the United States upon returning home from a European vacation with their wives. Benny held a longstanding grudge against Cahill, whom he felt “persecuted rather than prosecuted me.” With this incident in his background, why NBC would allow Cahill such an active role in the negotiations has never been fully explained, but it was definitely the deal-breaker.