''How to Sleep'' is a

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written by and starring humorist

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...

. Filmed and released by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

in 1935 (as part of their "Miniatures" series), it features Benchley as a narrator as well as film subject, discussing four parts of

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

- causes, methods, avoiding sleep, and waking up. The production was inspired by a

Mellon Institute The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research is a former research institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University. It was founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and Richard B. Mellon as part of the ...

study on sleep commissioned by the Simmons Mattress Company. It was filmed in two days, and featured Benchley as both the narrator and sleeper, the latter a role Benchley claimed was "not much of a strain, as ewas in bed most of the time." The film was well received in preview screenings, and promotions took over, with a still from the film being used in Simmons advertisements. The only group not pleased was the Mellon Institute, who did not approve of the studio mocking their study. The early success of ''How to Sleep'' prompted MGM to rush two more short films featuring Benchley, ''

How to Train a Dog ''How to Train a Dog'' is a 1936 short film released through MGM Studios starring Robert Benchley. The short film reveals how not to train a dog, as the character Benchley gets the dog from a pet store A pet shop or pet store is a retail busines ...

'', a spoof of dog-training techniques, and '' How to Behave'', which lampooned etiquette norms. ''How to Sleep'' was named Best Short Subject at the

8th Academy Awards 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

in 1935, while the latter two shorts were not as well received. The film is included as an extra on the DVD of the 1935

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

feature film, '' A Night at the Opera'', and is also available on the DVD set ''The Robert Benchley Miniatures Collection''.

References

Notes

* Billy Altman, ''Laughter's Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley''. (New York City: W. W. Norton, 1997. ). * Nathaniel Benchley, ''Robert Benchley, a biography''. (New York City,

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes refere ...

, 1955).

External links

* 1935 films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films 1935 comedy films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners Films directed by Nick Grinde 1935 short films American comedy short films 1930s American films {{short-comedy-film-stub

See also

References

Notes

External links