How to Sleep

US (1935): Comedy/Short

Robert Benchley (uncredited), seated at a desk, promises an informative film about how to sleep; it's a sequel to and inspired by his last lecture, "How to Stay Awake," which put his audience to sleep. He plans to examine the causes of sleep, the causes of insomnia, and recent research on sleep, including a time-lapse film of a man changing positions 55 times during an 8-hour rest: why exercise, he asks, when you can sleep like a top? The film instructs one on how to get a drink of water during the night without waking completely, and other useful skills for the insomniac, with Benchley himself acting out the instructions. (jhailey, IMDb)

Originally planned as a Pete Smith short, but Smith was ill. So the studio turned to Benchley. The film's success spawned several follow-up "How to..." films by Benchley for MGM.

 View this film on YouTube.com.

1 nomination, 1 Award