Mr. B Natural (short)

Mr. B Natural
Year	1957
Directed by	Phil Patton
Written by	Marvin David
Studio	C.D. Conn
Cast	Betty Luster Bruce Podewell Les Podewell
Run time	29 minutes
Riffed in	Episode #319 Fesitval of Shorts The Mads

“	Knew your father, I did!	”
	- Mr. B Natural

Mr. B Natural is a 1957 short produced by the C.D. Conn Company to promote the use of musical instruments among young people.

Synopsis

A high school student called Buzz is visited by Mr. B Natural, a physical embodiment of the Spirit of Music. Mr. B shows Buzz the joys that can come from playing an instrument, and also how instruments are made.

Known Cast

• Betty Luster as Mr. B Natural
• Bruce Podewell as Buzz Turner
• Les Podewell as Mr. Turner
• Beverly Younger as Mrs. Turner
• James Andelin as Band Instructor

Notes

• This is regarded by fans as one of the most memorable shorts ever used on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• The short was filmed at the Waukegan (Illinois) Elementary School and Miami (Ohio) Sr. High School.
• Les Podewell and Beverly Younger (Mr. & Mrs. Turner) were the real-life parents of Bruce Podewell (Buzz).
• A clip from this short film is briefly seen again in the closing moments of Episode #1206 when Kinga Forrester and Max are trapped in the theater by Jonah Heston and are made to watch their own experiments.

Riffed Versions

• Mystery Science Theater 3000
  • Episode #319, 1991
  • Episode #1206 [clip], 2018
  • Short #13.11, first appearing as part of The MST3K Festival of Shorts, 2022
• RiffTrax, 2013
• The Mads Are Back - A Night of Shorts 8, 2022