VIDEO ARCHIVES NOTES: This movie was discussed on the March 14, 2023 episode of the Video Archives podcast and can be found on their site here.

Like everyone else, I only knew about this movie because of Quentin Tarantino bringing it up on the Video Archives podcast. Steve Norman is playing Jack Benny, pretty much starting just like his TV show, before the story becomes, well, Star Wars.

Jet Benny is an intergalactic soldier of fortune who crash lands his ship the Maxwell onto an alien planet. He loses his ship and his robot butler Rochester (Kevin Dees). After years living on his own, he finds and saves Princess Miranda (Polly MacIntyre) and becomes part of her quest to stop Lord Zane and saving her brother Prince Carmen (Richard Sabel).

Then, we’re back to Jack Benny on his TV show.

Directed by Roger Evans and written by Mark Feltch, this was shot on Super 8 and released on VHS and beta by United Entertainment. And you know, it’s a strange little film that’s a better concept — what if Jack Benny did a Star Wars sketch on his show — that is pretty much the one joke that lands. The Carmen Miranda one, on the other hand, thuds.

I think the learning experience here is that even your cinematic hero can love and champion a movie you see nothing in. As for me, I expect no one to follow me into the weird corridors of end career stage Jess Franco, foreign remake remix ripoff movies and vanity projects, but if you do, I’m happy to have you along for the trip.

You can watch this on YouTube.