The Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer's Report

Infobox Film
name = The Treasurer's Report


image_size =
caption =
director = Thomas Chalmers
producer = William Fox
writer = Robert Benchley
narrator =
starring = Robert Benchley
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Fox Film Corporation
released = 12 March 1928
runtime = 10 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by = "The Sex Life of the Polyp" (1928)
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 019491

"The Treasurer's Report" (1928) is a comedy sketch, made into a short film, written and performed by Robert Benchley. The film, made in the then-new Fox Movietone, documents an assistant treasurer of an organization struggling to present its yearly report. This was the first of Benchley's 46 comedy short films, with six made for Fox, one each for Universal Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures, 29 for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and nine for Paramount Pictures.

The short was adapted from a stage scene of the same name that Benchley wrote and performed for "No Sirree!", a revue staged in April 1922 by Benchley and other members of the Algonquin Round Table. [cite book
last =Kunkel
first =Thomas
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Genius in Disguise: Harold Ross of The New Yorker
publisher =Carroll & Graf Publishers (paperback)
date =1995
location = New York
pages =81
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 0786703237]

A number of Round Tablers were contributing new material for the revue and Benchley wanted to do his part, but as often happened he procrastinated. According to fellow Round Tabler Donald Ogden Stewart, Benchley didn't start writing the sketch until about a week before the revue, and then only scribbled rough notes on the back of an envelope [cite book
last =Altman
first =Billy
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Laughter's Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley
publisher =W. W. Norton & Company
date =1997
location = New York
pages =204
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 0393038335] (Benchley would not commit a full script to paper until 1930 [Altman, p. 206] ). Benchley's disjointed parody so delighted those in attendance that Irving Berlin hired Benchley in 1923 to deliver the "Report" as part of Berlin's "Music Box Revue" for $500 a week. [Altman, pp. 208-9] The "Report" was later filmed in 1928 [cite web
last =Internet Movie Database
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The Treaurer's Report
work =
publisher =
date =
url =http://imdb.com/title/tt0019491/
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-09-03 ] and kicked off a second career for Benchley in Hollywood. [cite web
last =Internet Movie Database
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Robert Benchley
work =
publisher =
date =
url =http://imdb.com/name/nm0070361/
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-09-03 ]

Benchley would continue to perform the sketch periodically throughout his life, with his final "Report" delivered on October 27, 1945 (just a few weeks prior to his death) for CBS Radio's "Report to the Nation". [Altman, p. 358]

The film was included in the compilation "Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin". [cite web
last =Kino
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin
work =
publisher =
date =
url =http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=258
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-09-03 ]

References


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