While Robert Benchley looks rather old to be a father to be, the suspension of disbelief is deleted by his deadpan humor that adds realism to the issue of a father in waiting. He provides other fathers to be with some good advice. Rule number one, never spend that waiting time in a bar. Rule number two, never hang out near other fathers to be, and rule number three, If you break rule number two, make sure you aren't coerced into braking rule number one. The biggest rule of all, take no advice, and when a nurse with a baby comes by, don't assume it ain't your baby. All really simple, but all entirely true. Baby making and baby expecting haven't changed in centuries, and hopefully never will.
2 Reviews
Let's look in on the father of the bride long before that ill-fated date in dad's life.
mark.waltz10 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
A Few Funny Bits
Michael_Elliott1 May 2011
Waiting for Baby (1941)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This is a pretty funny Robert Benchley short that once again finds himself behind the desk telling the audience the story. During the story Benchley turns into Joe Doakes, the poor man who constantly finds everything going wrong. This time out he shows up at work only to be given a message that his wife has been rushed to the hospital. Once there he must join the other fathers as they wait in the expecting room where the tension is high and growing higher each minute. Three years earlier Benchley made HOW TO RAISE A BABY, which was a pretty good entry in the "How to..." series and this here would make a good companion piece with that. I really thought the film hit the majority of the right marks as it makes fun of fathers for all their stress and does so in a good fashion. There are quite a few funny moments but one of the best deals with a jerk of a father who keeps going off on the other fathers in the room. Another funny moment happens when Doakes thinks it's his turn but it turns out the nurse calls him out of the room for something else. The final gag is extremely funny but I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen the film. Once again Benchley does a nice job with the role of Doakes as that nervous twitch he has perfectly comes across in this role.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This is a pretty funny Robert Benchley short that once again finds himself behind the desk telling the audience the story. During the story Benchley turns into Joe Doakes, the poor man who constantly finds everything going wrong. This time out he shows up at work only to be given a message that his wife has been rushed to the hospital. Once there he must join the other fathers as they wait in the expecting room where the tension is high and growing higher each minute. Three years earlier Benchley made HOW TO RAISE A BABY, which was a pretty good entry in the "How to..." series and this here would make a good companion piece with that. I really thought the film hit the majority of the right marks as it makes fun of fathers for all their stress and does so in a good fashion. There are quite a few funny moments but one of the best deals with a jerk of a father who keeps going off on the other fathers in the room. Another funny moment happens when Doakes thinks it's his turn but it turns out the nurse calls him out of the room for something else. The final gag is extremely funny but I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen the film. Once again Benchley does a nice job with the role of Doakes as that nervous twitch he has perfectly comes across in this role.
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