The Sex Life of the Polyp

1928 film

  • July 25, 1928 (1928-07-25)
Running time
11 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

The Sex Life of the Polyp is a 1928 short film written and performed by Robert Benchley, based on a routine he first did in 1922. The short, which was adapted from an essay by Benchley, documents a dim-witted doctor attempting to discuss the sex life of a polyp to a women's club. This was the second of Benchley's 46 comedy short films, with six made for Fox, one each for Universal Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures, 29 for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and nine for Paramount Pictures.

The film, made in the then-new Fox Movietone sound-on-film process, was a success and was later included in the compilation Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin.

Robert Benchley

In 2007, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[1][2]

Further reading

  • Maltin, Leonard, Selected Short Subjects. (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015) ISBN 1511644893
  • Billy Altman, Laughter's Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley. (New York City: W. W. Norton, 1997) ISBN 0-393-03833-5

External links

  • The Sex Life of the Polyp essay [1] by Steve Massa at National Film Registry
  • The Sex Life of the Polyp at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • The Sex Life of the Polyp is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
  • The Sex Life of the Polyp essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 ISBN 0826429777, pages 142-144 [2]

References

  1. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Librarian of Congress Announces National Film Registry Selections for 2007". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 8, 2020.


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