... as Groucho reprises his role as emcee in the popular TV show "You Bet Your Life". Jack finds out that the grand prize on the show that night is 3000 dollars - quite a bit of money in 1955 - and decides to try and get on the show incognito as a musician with a hilarious wig. Groucho's one liners are as funny now as they were thirty years before. And of course he gets Jack to choke back some laughs. And Groucho comes up with the one question that Jack will not answer even if he knows it and even if three thousand dollars are at stake.
Earlier in the show, there is a singing quartet wearing moustaches that you might think is part of the show and a tribute to Groucho. But it is also a way to do an ad for "Lucky Strike" cigarettes which hosted the show. This is how ads were done in the 50s. They were always incorporated into the show, I guess to try and "sneak up" on the audience when they did their plug.
There is also a couple - they don't know each other - that are on before Benny is a contestant. One is supposed to be a sailor and the other is a nineteen year old girl. However, they are actually actors with the girl being a frequent bit player over on George and Gracie's TV show. It's strange 65 years later hearing Groucho ask the girl if she is married when she is only 19! Today, a nineteen year old girl who is married would be considered a teenage tragedy, not mainstream.
There is actually a connection between Groucho and Jack Benny. Minnie Marx (who developed the act of her sons) saw Jack Benny perform and helped him improve and get better bookings.
If you ever run across the entire episode be sure to watch it and see two of the greatest comedians of the 20th century at work, both with two very different styles but who could always get the laughs.
Earlier in the show, there is a singing quartet wearing moustaches that you might think is part of the show and a tribute to Groucho. But it is also a way to do an ad for "Lucky Strike" cigarettes which hosted the show. This is how ads were done in the 50s. They were always incorporated into the show, I guess to try and "sneak up" on the audience when they did their plug.
There is also a couple - they don't know each other - that are on before Benny is a contestant. One is supposed to be a sailor and the other is a nineteen year old girl. However, they are actually actors with the girl being a frequent bit player over on George and Gracie's TV show. It's strange 65 years later hearing Groucho ask the girl if she is married when she is only 19! Today, a nineteen year old girl who is married would be considered a teenage tragedy, not mainstream.
There is actually a connection between Groucho and Jack Benny. Minnie Marx (who developed the act of her sons) saw Jack Benny perform and helped him improve and get better bookings.
If you ever run across the entire episode be sure to watch it and see two of the greatest comedians of the 20th century at work, both with two very different styles but who could always get the laughs.
