Mr. B Natural (1956)
Shy junior-high student Buzz Turner lacks confidence until Mr. B Natural, an androgynous 'hep pixie' embodying the spirit of music, magically urges him to take up the trumpet — building his poise and popularity through school band participation.
Produced by Kling Film Productions as a sponsored promotion for the C.G. Conn instrument company, Mr. B Natural was rediscovered decades later via a beloved 1991 Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, whose hosts made the character’s ambiguous gender presentation a running joke throughout the series; RiffTrax revisited the short again in 2013.
Background
Mr. B Natural was produced by Kling Film Productions as a sponsored promotional film for the C. G. Conn instrument company. Phil Patton directed, and Betty Luster plays the title character. The short was revived decades later through a 1991 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, whose hosts made the character’s androgynous look a running joke. RiffTrax returned to it later, and it has since remained a cult favorite among fans of unusual educational films.
What to watch for
The story follows Buzz Turner, a shy junior-high student whose confidence is low until Mr. B Natural, an androgynous figure embodying the spirit of music, urges him to take up the trumpet. Watch how the film stages the change as something magical: the character appears and vanishes, and Buzz’s poise and popularity improve as he joins the school band. The short is built as a plain pitch for music education, so its tone is earnest rather than comic. Modern viewers often find the sincerity and the strange staging hard to separate, which is much of the reason it has lasted. The sponsor’s interest in selling instruments shows in how the band is presented as the answer to every problem.
