''Lambchops'' is an 8-minute American comedy

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National Pictures, First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc sys ...

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

released in October 1929, which depicts a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performance by

Burns and Allen Burns and Allen were an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years. The ...

of the comedy routine "Lambchops" written by Al Boasberg. The work's copyright was renewed in 1957, and it entered the American public domain on January 1, 2025.

Plot

Cast

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

as George the Boyfriend (as Burns) *

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...

as Gracie the Girlfriend (as Allen)

Production

The night that they arrived in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

after their first tour of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

with their vaudeville routines,

and

attended a party where they were approached by their agent Arthur Lyons, who asked if they would be interested in filming a short for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

the following morning. Comedian

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist topically-pointed radio program '' The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forw ...

was slated to film one of his comedy routines but had come down with the flu, leaving the studio in the lurch. Burns was told that the job paid $1,700, so he said yes on the spot. "I'd never heard of $1,700 in my life, especially for nine minutes' work," Burns quipped. When they arrived on the set of the Vitaphone studio in Brooklyn the next morning, Burns was shocked to see his childhood buddy

Murray Roth Murray Roth (November 2, 1893 - 1938) was a writer and director of films in the United States. Roth was the writer for film producer and director Bryan Foy, and by the late 1920s began directing shorts in Brooklyn such as ''Lamchops''. He direct ...

, who was directing. Burns did not believe Roth was in showbiz, let alone a film director, so Roth shouted "Lights!" and the set lights come on. "Off!" he shouted, and the stage went black. This glimpse of the living room set that they'd be shooting on perplexed Burns due to his familiarity with theatre and street performance. His

toupée A toupée ( ) is a Fake hair, hairpiece or partial wig of natural or synthetic fiber, synthetic hair worn to cover partial baldness or for theatrical purposes. While toupées and hairpieces are typically associated with male wearers, some women a ...

was still in his luggage, which he had not had time to pick up from the loading dock following their trip. To explain why he was wearing a hat, he quickly rewrote the comedy duo's "Lambchops" routine to begin with himself and Gracie coming into the room and looking for the audience.

Reception

According to George Burns, Warner Bros. was not impressed with the short, which he himself described as, "not the greatest", so they were not asked to shoot any more for the studio. Burns, however was so enamored by the paycheck that he actively sought out more film work and was quickly embraced by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, with whom Burns and Allen subsequently released a whole series of short subjects. In 1999 ''Lambchops'' was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Home media

''Lambchops'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in October 2007, on disc three of a three-disc 80th anniversary edition of ''

The Jazz Singer ''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous ...

''. * 2007: ''The Jazz Singer'', Three-Disc Deluxe Edition. Burbank, California:

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

References

External links

''Lambchops''
essay by Ron Hutchinson at

''Lambchops''
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 , pages 163-164 * * * {{Murray Roth 1929 films 1929 comedy films 1929 short films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films American comedy short films English-language comedy short films United States National Film Registry films Vitaphone short films Warner Bros. short films