Showing posts with label P.G. Wodehouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label P.G. Wodehouse. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Benchley, Wodehouse, and Mitford

In response to this query,
Hi there!
My mother and I used to read a book together and I think it was by Robert Benchley. I think it was called Noblesse Oblige, and was very funny.

Would you happen to know anything about this?

Thanks,

xxxx xxxxx
The Robert Benchley Society qrote:
Thank you for contacting the Robert Benchley Society. There is no book of Benchley's by the name "Noblesse Oblige." You can find a listing of all Benchley's books, with the titles of the individual essays in each book, on
our website at

http://www.robertbenchley.org/sob/biblio_b.htm

According to Wikipedia there are a couple of works by that name:

Noblesse Oblige (book), a humorous book on U and non-U English edited by Nancy Mitford

Noblesse Oblige (short story), a short story by P. G. Wodehouse

David Trumbull
ROBERT BENCHLEY SOCIETY
www.robertbenchley.org

"What is the news this morning, Mr. MacGregor?" I asked, peering around from
behind a hangover.
--Robert Benchley

Thursday, May 21, 2009

What ho, members of The Wodehouse Society!

The all-online registration system is now available for "A Little Wodehouse on the Prairie," the Wodehouse Society convention coming up in St. Paul on 12-14 June. From http://northwodes.org/ , click on
"On-line Convention Registration" -- http://northwodes.org/convention/bonafides.asp to start the process.

The "Schedule of Events" http://northwodes.org/convention/events.asp is also available in a bit more detail than as published in "Plum
Lines;" more info is being added daily.

Convention highlights you won't want to miss:
  • Wodehouse songs performed by soprano Maria Jette and pianist Dan Chouinard
  • Near-professional level, quasi-official quasi-Cricket Event
  • Riveting talks by International Experts
  • Costume contest and riverboat cruise, serenaded by the Barbary Coast Banjo Band
  • An Afternoon at the Races
  • Performances by the Chicago Accident Syndicate as well as the Northwodes
  • -Luxurious accommodations at the historic Saint Paul Hotel
  • Sunday, July 6, 2008

    From Benchley's Wider Circle of Friends

    CLEOPATTERER
    From the Broadway Show "Leave It To Jane" (1917)
    (Jerome Kern / P.G. Wodehouse)

    Georgia O'Ramey (Broadway Production) - 1917
    June Allyson (feat. in the film "Till The Clouds Roll By") - 1946
    Dorothy Greener (Off-Broadway Revival) - 1959
    Joan Morris - 1983

    Verse 1

    In days of old beside the Nile
    A famous queen there dwelt.
    Her clothes were few,
    But full of style.
    Her figure slim and swelt.

    On every man that wandered by
    She pulled the Theda Bara eye.
    And every one observed with awe,
    That her work was swift,
    But never raw.

    I'd be like Cleopatterer,
    If I could have my way.
    Each man she met she went and kissed.
    And she'd dozens on her waiting list.

    I wish that I had lived there.
    Beside the pyramid.
    For a girl today don't get the scope
    That Cleopatterer did.

    Verse 2

    And when she tired as girls will do,
    Of Bill or Jack or Jim,
    The time had come, his friends all knew,
    To say goodbye to him.

    She couldn't stand by any means,
    Reproachful, stormy farewell scenes.
    To such coarse stuff she would not stoop,
    So she just put poison in his soup.

    When out with Cleopatterer,
    Men always made their wills.
    They knew there was no time to waste,
    When the gumbo had that funny taste.

    They'd take her hand and squeeze it.
    They'd murmur "Oh you kid!"
    But they never liked to start to feed,
    Til Cleopatterer did.

    Verse 3

    She danced new dances now and then.
    The sort that make you blush.
    Each time she did them, scores of men
    Got injured in the rush.

    They'd stand there gaping in a line,
    And watch her agitate her spine.
    It simply use to knock them flat,
    When she went like this and then like that.

    At dancing Cleopatterer,
    Was always on the spot.
    She gave these poor Egyptian ginks,
    Something else to watch besides the spinx.

    Marc Antony admitted,
    That what first made him skid,
    Was the wibbly, wobbly, wiggly dance,
    That Cleopatterer did.

    Thursday, July 3, 2008

    Robert Benchley Society Top-Ten Humor Books for the Summer

    In time for Independence Day Weekend, the Robert Benchley Society presents a Top-Ten List of humorous summer reading for 2008.

    Number one on this year's list is “What To Do While the Family is Away” from Love Conquers All, by Robert Benchley. The family is off on holiday: what does Daddy want to do with his freedom? What does he actually end up doing?
    Somewhere or other the legend has sprung up that, as soon as the family goes away for the summer, Daddy brushes the hair over his bald spot, ties up his shoes, and goes out on a whirlwind trip through the hellish districts of town.
    Other authors on this summer's list are Dorothy Parker, O. Henry, Dorothy Sayers, Jean Shepherd, Charles Lamb, H. Allen Smith, Mark Twain, and P. G. Wodehouse.

    Past summer top-ten lists are available here and here

    Robert Benchley Society

    For more information about the Robert Benchley Society, local chapters near you, our annual Award for Humor, and our Annual Gathering, visit The RBS Website