''The Treasurer's Report'' (1928) is a comedy sketch, made into a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, written and performed by

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, newspaper columnist and actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays ...

. The film, made in the then-new

Fox Movietone Movietone News was a newsreel that ran from December 1927 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Spain in the early 1930s a ...

, 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 Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

, 29 for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, and nine for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. 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 The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel ...

. 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 Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 – August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated golden age comedies and melodramas such as '' The Philadelphia Story'' (based on the play by Philip Barry), ' ...

, 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 (Benchley would not commit a full script to paper until 1930). Benchley's disjointed parody so delighted those in attendance that

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

hired Benchley in 1923 to deliver the ''Report'' as part of Berlin's ''

Music Box Revue ''Music Box Revue'' was a series of four musical theatre revues by Irving Berlin, presented from 1921 to 1924 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. Berlin wrote the book, music, and lyrics to all four editions. "The Waltzes of Irving Berlin ...

'' for $500 a week. The ''Report'' was later filmed in 1928 and kicked off a second career for Benchley in Hollywood. 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''. The film was included in the compilation '' Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Treasurers Report, The 1928 films 1928 comedy films American comedy short films American films based on plays Comedy sketches 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films Algonquin Round Table 1920s American films English-language comedy short films