FLESH AND FANTASY

DAVID HOFFMAN - "DAVIS"
ROBERT BENCHLEY - "DOAKES"

"Flesh and Fantasy" was a 1943 occult/fantasy anthology movie. From IMDB: Two men ("Davis" - played by David Hoffman, and "Doakes" played by Robert Benchley) are at a club discussing the occult, introducing three weird tales: 1) Plain bitter Henrietta secretly loves law student Michael. Then on Mardi Gras night, a mysterious stranger gives her a mask of beauty that she must return at midnight. 2) At a party, palmist Podgers makes uncannily accurate predictions, later telling skeptic Marshal Tyler that he will murder someone. The notion obsesses Tyler, with ironic consequences. 3) High wire artist Gaspar dreams of falling, then loses his nerve. He recognizes Joan from his dreams, and falls for her. Will any of his dreams, involving Joan and disaster, come true? Robert Benchley was born on 15 September 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA and passed away on 21 November 1941 in New York City, New York, USA. Although by his own account Benchley was not quite a writer and not quite an actor, he managed to become one of the best-known humorists and comedians of his time. As a Harvard undergraduate, Benchley gave his first comic performance, impersonating a befuddled after-dinner speaker. The act made him a campus celebrity and remained in Benchley's repertoire for the rest of his life. (Landing the position of editor of the Harvard Lampoon was the other highlight of his college career.) As a post-graduate journalist, between frequent firings and other disruptions, Benchley made his mark as a theater critic and as writer of whimsical musings on the vagaries of modern life. He served briefly as managing editor of the magazine Vanity Fair, where his lieutenants were Dorothy Parker and Robert E. Sherwood, but he quit to protest Parker's firing. (Benchley, Parker and Sherwood were among the regulars at the so-called Algonquin Round Table, a social circle of New York wits that also included Harpo Marx and George S. Kaufman). Benchley was among the first contributors to The New Yorker, where his work influenced other writers, such as E.B. White and James Thurber David Hoffman was born on 2 February 1904 in Russia and passed away on 19 June 1961 in Seattle, Washington, USA. His acting career began in 1941 in the movie "Underground", with his last peformance in 1961 playing the messenger in "13 Ghosts". Hoffman appeared on over 40 movies and television series. The following is a trailer for the movie: "Flesh and Fantasy" - trailer from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

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