Groucho Marx "You Bet Your Life: The Lost Episodes" DVD 9-23

What Jamie said.

There's a big difference in being "coached and prepared" before going on stage, and having his jokes and ad-libs written in advance. That's just called putting on a professional show. That falls right in line with what we've written here previously about how much Groucho did or didn't know about the people on his show.

And contrary to popular opinion, the fine folks at Snopes aren't always completely right!

 

Thought I would give this a bump, as you should buy this set if you love old whatever coming out on dvd. Sales can only help with getting more of this kind of material out.

 

I finally got my hands on a copy of this yesterday, on Groucho's birthday no less. I haven't had too much time to digest it yet, but here's a few impressions of what I got a chance to look at.

While the actual shows look pretty good, the prints are far from perfect, look a bit worn, and still have the odd splice and audio pops here and there. Obviously there wasn't a budget for doing a The Kids Are Alright-style restoration, so what we've got here is more of a preservation effort. That's not to say they look bad, just average. What's nice is that these have the original opening and closing segments (with one exception that comes from a Best Of Groucho print, and doesn't exist any other way), are framed as originally shown (the syndicated versions were re-framed to eliminate the sponsor's logos on the back wall, and the network logo on Groucho's mic), and present episodes not seen since their original broadcasts (including one very early "duck-less" episode).

Each of the three discs includes a number of extras, including audio of Groucho's audition run-though, the Bob Hope/Groucho sketch that gave John Guedel the idea for YBYL, "stag reels", and surviving outtakes from the episodes (which the disc lets you branch in to the episodes themselves if you want). Disc one presents a short film Groucho made for the annual DeSoto dealer's convention, in which he and the crew explain how the show is made (watch for the babe who plays Groucho's secretary in this clip...she was his then wife Eden Hartford). An audio segment of outtakes appears on disc 3, which comes from a promotional record sent to DeSoto dealers, and features the closest proof that the infamous "I like my cigar too, but I take it out of my mouth once in awhile" line may have actually happened. Unfortunately, the original show it would have come from (radio only) is lost, and certainly the line would have never made it to the air. It isn't presented on the outtake either, but it does prove that a couple with a large family did indeed appear on the show. Doesn't solve anything, but does clear up a thing or two.

The bonus stag reels, made for the annual sponsor's convention have shown their age and are a bit rough, but are a lot of fun. The material is a bit more "risque" than YBYL's usual fare, but by today's standards, it's pretty quaint. Some of it's been released before, on stuff like The Unknown Marx Brothers and Groucho Uncensored, but it's still enjoyable. A bit of naughy innuendo and euphermism, some raised eyebrows and a Groucho quip (usually followed by his "Clip, clip" comment to the producer), and so forth...oh, and the secret word duck coming down on Fenneman's head, too.

Rob Bader's extensive liner notes are excellent as his writing always is, and give you a good basic rundown of the history of the show, plus an episode by episode guide of what's on the discs, and many nice pictures. Well worth picking up, and certainly much better than that old public domain DVD that's been around for a couple of years.

 

I have a bunch of college friends visiting me right now and they helped me finish watching the set. Lot's of brilliantly funny stuff in here. All of them now have copies (successfully buying Nashville out of all six copies to be found here in town).