Lambchops

1929 ComedyMusic 8 minutes Directed by Murray Roth

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About Lambchops

George Burns and Gracie Allen walk into a drawing room looking for the audience. George finds the camera and they start the patter. Gracie tries to prove she is sharp, not dizzy. They sing "Do You Believe Me?" and dance a few steps while the talk goes on. They finish with a story Gracie whispers in George's ear.

Cast & crew

More about Lambchops

Murray Roth directed, without a credit. Al Boasberg wrote the vaudeville routine "Lambchops," also uncredited, with George Burns. Vitaphone Varieties number 891, from Warner Bros. It was shot in Brooklyn the morning after Burns and Allen landed in New York from an English tour. They were paid $1,700. Released October 1929. The short runs 8 minutes.

Themes

  • A routine aimed at the lens
  • Gracie arguing that she is not dizzy
  • A story told in a whisper
  • George Burns
  • Gracie Allen
  • Lambchops
  • Vitaphone
  • vaudeville
  • Do You Believe Me?

Music

They sing "Do You Believe Me?" in the middle of the talk. The short is a Vitaphone sound subject.

Preservation

Named to the National Film Registry in 1999. Public domain in the United States since 1 January 2025.

Notes

  • The copyright was renewed in 1957. It entered the public domain in the United States on 1 January 2025.
  • The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1999.
  • Warner Home Video put it on disc three of the October 2007 three-disc 80th-anniversary edition of The Jazz Singer.

Scenes

  • They search the room until George spots the camera.
  • The song breaks into a few dance steps.
  • Gracie ends by whispering the story into George's ear.

Influenced by

  • The vaudeville routine Lambchops by Al Boasberg

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (Lambchops (1929).webm)
  • Warner Home Video, The Jazz Singer 80th Anniversary three-disc set, disc 3 (October 2007)