Accuracy

[scottp]

I really enjoyed Eddie Carroll's show at La Mirada, but still, even at the risk of sounding anal (as our Fearless Leader has admitted to) I am going to ask if the historical inaccuracies of the show have been discussed previously, and if so, where?

[shimp scrampi]

scottp, do you want to give us a mini-review and note what the inaccuracies were? I've never seen Eddie Carroll's show and am interested, as I imagine others are.

[LLeff]

I really enjoyed Eddie Carroll's show at La Mirada, but still, even at the risk of sounding anal (as our Fearless Leader has admitted to) I am going to ask if the historical inaccuracies of the show have been discussed previously, and if so, where?

LOL...I heard several of them discussed over dinner with Eddie in Waukegan (I'm not the only anal-retentive JB fan out there)! And I had several member approach me after Eddie's performance at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts and said, "Well, he's really good! But that's wrong, and that's wrong, and that's wrong..."

I broached the subject with Eddie myself, and it's best summarized this way: I'm an archivist and a historian. Eddie is a performer. Some times real life just doesn't play as well as something rewritten for comedic or dramatic effect. So yeah, there are a number of things that aren't really true (e.g., Rochester was never called Syracuse, nor was Jack offered "Thanks for the Memory"). But the purpose of the show is to make people laugh and feel like they're enjoying seeing Jack all over again, and that it delivers.

[Maxwell]

I really enjoyed Eddie Carroll's show at La Mirada, but still, even at the risk of sounding anal (as our Fearless Leader has admitted to) I am going to ask if the historical inaccuracies of the show have been discussed previously, and if so, where?

LOL...I heard several of them discussed over dinner with Eddie in Waukegan (I'm not the only anal-retentive JB fan out there)! And I had several member approach me after Eddie's performance at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts and said, "Well, he's really good! But that's wrong, and that's wrong, and that's wrong..."

I broached the subject with Eddie myself, and it's best summarized this way: I'm an archivist and a historian. Eddie is a performer. Some times real life just doesn't play as well as something rewritten for comedic or dramatic effect. So yeah, there are a number of things that aren't really true (e.g., Rochester was never called Syracuse, nor was Jack offered "Thanks for the Memory"). But the purpose of the show is to make people laugh and feel like they're enjoying seeing Jack all over again, and that it delivers.

Kind of like Benny, Bob Hope and George Burns never had a vaudeville act together, although it made for a pretty good TV show.

[scottp]

I'd better not attempt to write even a mini-review... I didn't have that in mind at the time of the show, and I didn't take along my mini-critic's notebook or even my mini-pen, so I wouldn't do a good job of it.
I'd think there's enough interesting stuff in Jack's life that missing out on "Thanks for the Memory" doesn't need to be invented. And that's presented as something that happened before Jack had a radio show, when actually Hope sang that in 1938, after Jack had been on for years.

Another inaccuracy is saying he went back to making movies after World War II, specifically "To Be or Not To Be," "George Washington Slept Here," and "The Horn Blows at Midnight" (1942, 1942, and 1945 respectively.) I'd think some of the senior citizens who make up the bulk of the audience would recall their own "where I was at the time" memories and realize that these things don't line up too well.

Here's one that's almost not worth mentioning-- and if Eddie Anderson didn't really start by playing Syracuse, a Pullman car porter, who cares anyway? But there was no "Union Station" in Los Angeles until 1939... although that mistake is made frequently.

Finally, he mentions being introduced to Sadie Marks by her cousin Groucho Marx.

Well I guess it won't surprise anyone that another thing that bugs me is (are) those emails people forward, that say Bill Gates delivered this speech to a high school class, here's how Robin Williams says we should deal with unfriendly countries, here's the touching Civil War story behind the origin of "Taps".... I wonder if snopes.com has an entry concerning Hope, Benny, and Thanks for the Memory?

[shimp scrampi]

I can see both sides of this issue - 'never let the facts get in the way of a good story'. By analogy, when I saw George Burns on stage in 1992, he did essentially the same act I've heard a recording of from 1974, but he changed a few names and details in anecdotes, presumably to people the audience was likely more familiar with (I was at this party with so and so...). I would imagine Benny doing biographical material himself would probably do the same thing.

On the other hand, if it doesn't really help the story along or make the gag better, why do it, it just distracts the detail-oriented Benny cognoscenti. Again, I haven't seen the show, these are just general observations...

[LLeff]

Finally, he mentions being introduced to Sadie Marks by her cousin Groucho Marx.

ARGGHHHHHH *she exclaimed, doubling over and grabbing her side in pain*!!!! .I've had people throw that at me as fact, and be ready to be a real pain in the...well, side about it. Fortunately most people who see the show aren't walking out intent on being Benny experts or even relaying the information. However, I suppose one could say that it keeps my job active, dismissing misinformation.

www.snopesbenny.com...? Hmmm...in part, that's our FAQ...

[Maxwell]

Finally, he mentions being introduced to Sadie Marks by her cousin Groucho Marx.

ARGGHHHHHH *she exclaimed, doubling over and grabbing her side in pain*!!!! .I've had people throw that at me as fact, and be ready to be a real pain in the...well, side about it. Fortunately most people who see the show aren't walking out intent on being Benny experts or even relaying the information. However, I suppose one could say that it keeps my job active, dismissing misinformation.

www.snopesbenny.com...? Hmmm...in part, that's our FAQ...

Well, when you get right down to it, if you go back to Adam and Eve, we're all cousins!