Robert Benchley is a name hardly ever mentioned today, and yet it appears from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s (when he died) he was a highly prolific and highly regarded actor-writer, specializing in comedy shorts. His only two that I've seen so far are "A Night At The Movies" (which was nominated for an Oscar) and "How To Sleep" (which actually won an Oscar) - both of them are included in the DVD special features of "A Day At The Races" and "A Night At The Opera", respectively. Of the two shorts, I think "A Night At The Movies" is the better one ("How To Sleep" is amusing....and that's that). This really is a terrific short that I have watched more than twice already. The film is basically a comic demonstration of Murphy's Law: everything that CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong, with Benchley making the perfect frustrated Everyman. And it may be surprising to realize that practically the entire Benchley list of the things that can go wrong in a typical couple's trip to the movie theater are still relevant today, 75 years later! This short has hardly aged at all. *** out of 4.
Review of A Night at the Movies
