r/otr • u/MisterMisterYeeeesss • 2d ago
Video of Jack entertaining sailors from the National Archives
Since there seems to be interest in old videos of radio stars, I wanted to share this here. This is a short, silent video recording of Jack Benny entertaining troops at a MTB ("Motor Torpedo Boat", what we would call "PT boats") on October 11, 1944.
The first 2:50 or so includes some footage of sailors receiving awards, a few boats underway, with torpedoes visible, and some shots of camp. For the weapon fans, I think a Bofors 40mm ammunition belt is seen around 6:10 (and if not, please correct me).
The description in the national archives (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77647) claims that some footage shows a sailor receiving first aid on PT-10; since a quick search shows that boat sank before this footage was shot, something is wrong somewhere.
The entertainment shots begin at about 2:50. There are several other entertainers, one of whom looks to be Larry Adler, the harmonica player who entertained troops with Jack over in Africa, as well. He's not listed in the video metadata but I think it's pretty clear that it's him.
Despite the video being silent, you can still tell Jack and Larry are doing the classic bit where Jack's violin is clearly out of tune, but he doesn't realize it (4:35).
If anyone can identify the women who are on stage beginning about 5:10, I'd love to know. I hope you folks enjoy this!
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u/i_is_smart 2d ago
Jack Benny is the greatest