''How to Sleep'' is a short

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 o ...

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, thr ...

. Filmed and released by MGM 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 Perception, sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefuln ...

- causes, methods, avoiding sleep, and waking up. The production was inspired by a Mellon Institute 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. References * Billy Altman, ''Laughter's Gent ...

'', a spoof of dog-training techniques, and '' How to Behave'', which lampooned

etiquette Etiquette () is the set of norms of personal behaviour in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviours that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practised by a ...

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 o ...

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 W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton A ...

, 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