Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1951
Benjy (film)
Buy Benjy (film) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Benjy' is a 1951 American short documentary film directed by Fred Zinnemann. It won an Oscar in 1952 for Documentary Short Subject.
Production
Henry Fonda narrates this short film about a boy who was handicapped from birth. An orthopedic pediatrician wants to provide a therapeutic regimen that could cure the child, a scoliosis patient, but first he needs to convince the boy's parents, who have rejected the child because of his disabilities.[http://www.blockbuster.com/catalog/personDetails/104422 Fred Zinnemann]
Zinnemann and the film's production crew worked gratis on this project, which was originally designed to be used as a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital.
In his 1992 book 'An Autobiography', Zinneman noted that Paramount Pictures arranged for the crew on this production, and that the union members connected to the production turned their salaries back to the hospital. Henry Fonda also volunteered his services for the film.Zinneman, Fred, "An Autobiography." Forest Stewart/Charles Scribner & Sons, 1992.
Although the film extensively used dramatized sequences to tell its story, it was successfully entered in the Academy Award category for Best Documentary Short Subject.[http://www.oscars.org/events/past/2005/oscars_docs/november.html Oscars Docs]
Cast
* Lee Aaker as Benjy
* Henry Fonda as Narrator (voice)
References
Buy Benjy (film) now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1951