MovieChat Forums > Beginner's Luck (1935) Discussion > Interesting point

Interesting point

posted 10 years ago by doug78595
27 replies | jump to latest

Some time back people told me about a Roach studio short called "Benny from Panama" which was made about 1 1/2 yrs before " Beginner's luck".
I've seen it several times and well it's the same studio ,same writers, Spanky is in it and so is james Morton(the piano player) but as far as I'm concerened that's it. These folks are raving it's so close to B/L but I never saw it. I first thought it was going to be a story of a kid's amateur show with a pushy stage mother or something like that. This is a story about a couple getting married and all these crazy things happen to them, so I didn't even give it a second thought. I just saw it again and the 1st time in many years and it clicked . the bride looses her dress and must step out of the limo in her very short slip wearing a blanket wrapped around her which of course falls off reveiling her in her slip in the street. I then realized the actress looks a lot like kitty Kelly . Same exact blonde shade to her hair same hair do and a very similar overall look especially their faces. Someone told me they used these older women to be the cutie who looses their dresses and this actress is about 30 and Kitty is 32 most of these girls that got stripped were 18-24 range. If you can check it out I'd like to hear some comments on it.

[–] richardschwerner 10 years ago

Hello Doug

The woman your talking about who stared in "Benny from Panama" was an actress named Jeanette Loff. I had heard these stories about this short for a long time, with me no one said there was a B/L connection but just said you must watch it. I saw the connection right away. They weren't identical but very close looking. It was obvious that both women dyed their hair to that bleached blonde look. Their hair dos are very similar as well. I did a lot of research about Jeanette and found her career was nothing to really speak of she did a hand full of shorts and one every so often again close to Kitty's. Jeanette retired from films and sadly died from swallowing ammonia .

You are very correct that the Roach studios used these older women to loose their dresses instead of the usual young girls as you said the 18-25 year olds. These young girls were called chickens in their day. Interestingly Jeanette was 5' 2" and Kitty was only 4' 11" so both very short. I've seen a few pics of Jeanette and none look anything like Kitty it was just in the short.

[–] cps617 10 years ago

Not a bad short funny how they show a lot of Ms. Loff in her slip but don't show much of Kitty in hers.

[–] doug78595 10 years ago

I'm very glad that you guys posted as it's been so dead here.

It's very interesting that if you watch the other Roach shorts you will see the same things done over and over such as the part where Eddie Foy walks into the bathroom and steps on a bar of soap and falls back first into the water filled bathtub, which is a skit that Oliver Hardy perfected some yrs earlier. Even the famous ending where Kitty looses her dress and winds up petrified on the stage looking up at her torn dress and then having the prop placed infront of her.This type of sight gag was used 6 or 7 times in othe4r Roach shorts over their day. This answers the question that many folks ask if B/L was so successful why wasn't that type of short done again and why wasn't Kitty used again. Well I can't honestly say why Roach never used Kitty again. No one really knows . But after B/l Kitty still did some film and shorts work but her acting was transferred mostly to her voice on the radio . I've heard that people were shocked by the way she was with the prop in font of her and seeing her pretty face come in for casting calls well her goose was cooked. I have no idea if there is any truth to this rumor.

P.S. Hey CPS did you think Jeanette Loff looked like Kitty ? Did you think she looked sexy in her dress loosing scene??

[–] cps617 10 years ago

Yes Doug I did find Jeanette quite sexy in her slip and she did resemble Kitty just a litte. Nothing would ever come close to the excitement Kitty brought me from this short.I have often wondered over the years why other comedy shows didn't do a simliar short like beginers luck. There sure were some great t.v. moms I would of loved to seen on stage in a slip. Also this short was done a year earlier than beginers luck. So why not show Kitty in her full slip or a scene with her ladies group laughing at her from the front row. I was sorry to see she was never used again by the Roach studio She was my favorite mom by far.

[–] doug78595 10 years ago

Thank you CPS for your post and your answer. I as well, wondered why they never did anything like B/L again in a movie or a TV show. I agree that there were many TV moms that I'd love to see in that situation. If you notice ( and I'm sure you did) Jeanette was wearing a very short slip that was very high on her thighs whereas Kitty had a very loose slip that went down was about mid calf. I guess they didn't want Kitty to look to sexy whereas they let go with Jeanette. But Kitty's scene became so incredibly sexy.

[–] cps617 10 years ago

Yes maybe Kitty had something in her contact which would not allow her to be fully shown in her slip. I have been fasincated by this short ever since I first saw it when I was a little kid. I would have to say this has always been the most erotic thing Iv'e seen. Thank God for this board I always thought I was a little off but seeing other share the same feelings about it is quite a relief. Glad to see some posting for a change.

[–] steveb789 10 years ago

Great post cps617!

I think you said it for the vast majority of the guys on this board. I've read this entire post and I havn't yet see the short "Benny from Panama" but so many times you hear hey they never did anything like BL ever again. Well I remember after reading it originally hearing it on this board there was a TV commercial for a women's deordrant which aired in the late 60's I would say late in 69 or early 70 and it's a real copy of BL.The very pretty mommy walking her son into a large building and she holds his hand in the elevator .We find out she is taking him into a advertising agency to model of ads . As the elevator door opens the boy gets scared and as they step out he freezes and the mother bends over to talk to him and give him some confidence. The door closes on her dress hem and rips her dress off and up into the elevator doors. Leaving the mom in her short slip with everyone laughing at her. It's the only one even close.

[–] cps617 10 years ago

Thanks Steve I am just really glad to see some new posts on the board. I really look forward to reading others thoughts on the short and of thier opinons on the topic. I don't recall that comercial growing up at all too bad it couldn't be found on youtube.I wish other sitcoms had gone off and done some similar scenes like the one Kitty did on stage.

[–] onestooges 10 years ago

CPS617 has hit the nail on the head on his posts here. Most guys say that "Beginner's Luck" was easily the most erotic scene they have ever seen. Also I don't think that anyone thought that others were interested in it to the extant they are. I don't think that others ever thought that other young kids had fantasies about their friends mother's getting a Beginner's Luck type treatment in real life.
When Jawyer put that Roll Call Post up some time back I couldn't believe the amount of stories that came out basically about the same type of thing. All these young kids trying to get one of their friends mothers out of her dress and get a good public humiliation .

[–] JAYWER430 10 years ago

How about this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIC8_ijGra4

[–] doug78595 10 years ago

Sorry Jaywer I think you have a bad address as I can't get into that.

Going back to the earlier stuff - I agree that B/l was the most erotic scene I've ever seen. But for the life of me I don't know why and no one ever explained why it is to me correctly.

The Roll Call stories were so incredibly great . That guy posts 1 or 2 posts about a woman named Regina Cantwell and the guys here I speak to on a regular basis all knew a woman like her and knew exactly what she was all about and loved his stories. Lets not forget our buddy who lost his job and became a grade school teacher. A huge B/L fan he had a real stage prop made and has his women pose with it. Everyone I know is so jealous were now too old and were born to soon but would have loved that.

[–] JAYWER430 10 years ago

Too bad Doug.
I coped and pasted what I posted and it worked.
It's a scene from Rules of Engagement where Megyn Price has her skirt caught in elevator and you see it raised up exposing her legs and panties,
I am sure you can google it.

[–] cps617 10 years ago

That wasn't a bad clip of Megyn she is rather hot but nothing as exciting as Kitty.

[–] doug78595 10 years ago

Sorry Jaywer I goofed I did get it later. Megyn is a fine looking woman for sure. I loved looking at it (several times ) but I have to stand with cps nothing near Kitty.

I'd like to tell how much this short effected me throughout my life.
I read every book or magazine article I could find on the "Our Gang comedy" or the Roach Studio. I was really disappointed as I never read anything that Spoke about B/L at all other than it was one of the shorts they did or it was the first for or the last for so and so. I was sure there would be something that said this short was special or why it effected me so much but never. Of course later on there was Maltin's work with Bann which I hated !

I loved the idea of this happening in real life and looked for stories about it . Every once in a while you would hear one ( We even had one here on this board yrs ago ) but in general I believe that it never actually happened ever. It is just a fantasy of someone putting a woman they knew into that type of situation, I am as bad as I'm the first to repeat it or retell it years later.

Another thing I did was collect stories about women getting stripped or something like it and being humiliated. I must have heard about 2 or 3 thousand stories over the years, but none of these even came close to B/L. When the internet came into being I remember finding "Ladies suddenly stripped" when I joined I found out one of their best ones and most popular was our own B/L.

In everyday life whenever I met a woman I checked her out of course but I found her more attractive if she was wearing a dress . I would always look down to the back of her dress just where a stage curtain hook would go. I was always aroused if a woman had her lace of her slip showing .

[–] onestooges 10 years ago

Hi Doug

When you mentioned you read every book of the OGC or the Roach studio, I did the exact same thing thinking the book or magazine story would tell me why I was so into this short. I'm so glad you said that.

[–] JAYWER430 10 years ago

Well put Doug
I too have always had the same fascination and am so grateful for this board to get other stories and insights,,
I too am always looking for more facts or personal anecdotes from people who actually were a part of this classic, but sadly i assume all are gone.

[–] cps617 10 years ago

Yes this board has really hleped me realize I was not the only one to enjoy this short and have it be so erotic to me. I guess there are things that every guy finds erotic and a turn on. I know alot of my friends while in Marines were really heavy into porn and dirty magazines. They liked going to Strip clubs and watching naked woman on stage. I never really got into this sort of thing and didn't find it that exciting to me. I'd rather watch Kitty on stage I guess we all have our things we enjoy.

[–] onestooges 10 years ago

I just reread earlier posts here and realized I missed some of Doug's last post. When read your line about always looking at the back of a woman's dress and thinking of a curtain hook going there I couldn't believe it as it is something I have always done. I can't believe it I wonder if other guys do that too????

[–] cps617 10 years ago

I sure do I picture them on stage to and standing in front of an audience wearing only a slip and beret.

[–] steveb789 10 years ago

I keep going back to some of the words printed by Doug. In all the years and all the stories of B/L type of stories there has been actually not one real case of it ever happening. In my much younger days we tried to get some kid to recite on stage just so his pretty mom would try and rescue him and in the process humiliate herself with the help of me and my friends. I've heard of others as well as some here on this board where others tried all unsuccessful to have this mission accomplished. It was so vitialy important to us at the time but it did seem to be a tall order to actually get it done.

As for the quirky thing of checking out the back hem of a pretty women's dress well I too am guilty of this and I don't think I ever spoke to anyone else about it till now.

The story that cps told about his days in the USMC . Well I feel just the same as he did give me Kitty in slip over strip clubs and porn and all that stuff.

[–] cps617 10 years ago

Yes Steve I didn't dare share with my fellow Marines I wasn't into that stuff or my fascination with the Little rascals short. I think we all have shared some type of fantasy about someone's Mom or a teacher wearing a dress that reminds of us Kitty and then fantasying about them being stripped on stage.I think we all have those situations happen in our lifes and I still do it today if I am out and about and see a Pretty Woman wearing a dress.

[–] doug78595 10 years ago

Sure I've told many people about my thing for B/L but it was after a long time and I was pretty sure that I would be accepted. You could never blurt it out to a platoon of Marines.

Another of the things that bother me is very simple the guys who post here over the years are getting older and the youngest (that I know of ) is 43 with many others at least 20 yrs older. One day we will all be gone and all people that had a fascination with this short will be gone and it will be forgotten.

[–] onestooges 10 years ago

WOW Doug did you have a real bad day of what ??

Ok so lets say many tears down the road all of us will be in the big Ritz Theater in the sky.

CPS will be sitting in the front row with Kitty's ladies group.

Jaywer will be raising the stage curtain.

And You- You lucky dog You - will be taking Miss Kitty home !!!!!

[–] cps617 10 years ago

That sounds like a dream come true perhaps if that does happen there is truely a heaven. I just hope that when we reach the perley gates Kitty is waiting for all of her adoring fans with a big hug and smile.

[–] JAYWER430 10 years ago

Great post Onestooges.
I don't know what you're talking about…I am really 21 (in my dreams)..

[–] doug78595 10 years ago

Ok boys I ad a bad day , I became Debbie Downer!

You knew just what to say to turn my day around.

Jaywer 21 ?????????????????? I'll bet you have shoes older than 21 !

[–] JAYWER430 10 years ago

Keep smiling Doug

Shoes, ties, shirts and
pants all in my closet older than 21 yrs in my closet….