Lambchops (1929) is a comedy Vitaphone short which is a filming of a vaudeville performance by George Burns and Gracie Allen of the comedy routine Lambchops written by Al Boasberg. The night that they arrived in New York after their first tour of England with their vaudeville routines, George Burns and Gracie Allen attended a party where they were approached by their agent Arthur Lyons, who asked if theyd be interested in filming a short for Warner Brothers the following morning. Comedian Fred Allen was slated to film one of his comedy routines but had come down with the flu, leaving the studio in the lurch. Burns was told that the job paid $1,700, so he said yes on the spot. Id never heard of $1,700 in my life, especially for nine minutes work, Burns quipped. When they arrived on-set in Astoria, Queens the next morning, Burns was shocked to see his childhood buddy Murray Roth, who was directing. Burns didnt believe Roth was in showbiz, let alone a film director, so Roth shouted Lights! and the set lights come on. Off! he shouted, and the stage went black. This glimpse of the living room set that theyd be shooting on perplexed Burns. His toupée was still in his luggage, which he hadnt had time to pick up from the loading dock following their trip. To explain why he was wearing a hat, he quickly rewrote the comedy duos Lambchops routine to begin with himself and Gracie coming into the room and looking for the audience. According to George Burns, Warner Bros. was not impressed with the short, which he himself described as, not the greatest, so they were not asked to shoot any more for the studio. Burns, however was so enamored by the paycheck that he actively sought out more film work and was quickly embraced by Paramount Pictures, with whom Burns and Allen subsequently released a whole series of short subjects. (Wikipedia) youtu.be/jPhmNhO7dRw
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 08:57:01 +0000
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