Hal Martin

David Aylott

E.F. Symmons

Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog

Hilarious monologue

I was astonished that two directors are credited for this 3-minute film, because it&apos;s basically a single straightforward set-up of a monologist, speaking directly to the camera: why would it take TWO grown men to manage such a short and simple project?

Back in 1911, a poet named J Milton Hayes wrote a very powerful poem titled &apos;The Green Eye of the Yellow God&apos;. You can find the poem on the Internet. It became extremely popular as a recital piece in the British music halls, at dinner concerts, and so forth. There were probably Americans performing it in vaudeville, too. David Frost referenced this poem in 1962 during the premiere broadcast of &apos;That Was the Week that Was&apos;.

Inevitably, someone came up with a parody version. That someone was Billy Bennett, the English music-hall comedian who punctuated his jokes with a loud &apos;boom, boom!&apos; that was later coped by everyone from Basil Brush to Johnny Carson (whose version went &apos;ba-dump-ump!&apos;). Bennett&apos;s parody was titled &apos;The Green Tie on the Yellow Dog&apos;, and it&apos;s hilarious. You can find the parody version on the Internet too.

This early talking movie features a monologist named Hal Martin doing Bennett&apos;s parody. I&apos;d never heard of Hal Martin before, but he&apos;s actually quite good here, and he&apos;s made some effort to develop his own stage persona rather than imitating the older Bennett. (Billy Bennett was well before my time, but I&apos;ve heard several of his performances on gramophone discs.) Rather than merely reciting the piece, Martin makes some effort to act it out. For instance, when he gets to the line &quot;He had loved her all along, and despite his ong-bong-pong&quot;, Martin&apos;s facial antics make it clear that &quot;ong-bong-pong&quot; is a euphemism for unpleasant body odour.

This film is an excellent representation of what it must have been like to attend a variety-hall performance in the 1920s, and I&apos;ll rate &apos;Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog&apos; 9 out of 10.

I was astonished that two directors are credited for this 3-minute film, because it's basically a single straightforward set-up of a monologist, speaking directly to the camera: why would it take TWO grown men to manage such a short and simple project?

Back in 1911, a poet named J Milton Hayes wrote a very powerful poem titled 'The Green Eye of the Yellow God'. You can find the poem on the Internet. It became extremely popular as a recital piece in the British music halls, at dinner concerts, and so forth. There were probably Americans performing it in vaudeville, too. David Frost referenced this poem in 1962 during the premiere broadcast of 'That Was the Week that Was'.

Inevitably, someone came up with a parody version. That someone was Billy Bennett, the English music-hall comedian who punctuated his jokes with a loud 'boom, boom!' that was later coped by everyone from Basil Brush to Johnny Carson (whose version went 'ba-dump-ump!'). Bennett's parody was titled 'The Green Tie on the Yellow Dog', and it's hilarious. You can find the parody version on the Internet too.

This early talking movie features a monologist named Hal Martin doing Bennett's parody. I'd never heard of Hal Martin before, but he's actually quite good here, and he's made some effort to develop his own stage persona rather than imitating the older Bennett. (Billy Bennett was well before my time, but I've heard several of his performances on gramophone discs.) Rather than merely reciting the piece, Martin makes some effort to act it out. For instance, when he gets to the line "He had loved her all along, and despite his ong-bong-pong", Martin's facial antics make it clear that "ong-bong-pong" is a euphemism for unpleasant body odour.

This film is an excellent representation of what it must have been like to attend a variety-hall performance in the 1920s, and I'll rate 'Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog' 9 out of 10.

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Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog

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