Der Superspion

Skelton fans should get a laugh-fest out of this nifty slice of slapstick. Seems Red's a Union-loving bellboy in the Civil War South. Through typical Skelton mishaps, he's mistaken for the South's best spy, The Grey Spider. Only instead of spying for the South, he's persuaded to do same for the Yankees. Except as a spy, he keeps switching uniforms from one side to the other. Naturally, this leads to a rollicking series of mishaps, with Red scoring more mugs and pratfalls per minute than a road racer's RPM's. But that's got nothing on the uniform changes that are faster than a hooker in a rain storm. My guess is the scripters must have gone home in a permanent daze. But don't feel bad for our hero. He does get to romance the South's most delectable magnolia, Arlene Dahl, and right away I'm wondering where I can join up on her side.

All in all, it's a fine vehicle for Red's brand of comedy. Just one thing—I always thought the War was fought on the East Coast. But now I know it was really fought inside greater LA's scrublands. Thanks MGM for setting the history books straight.

First saw this movie on late 1950's TV, about 10 years after it was made. As a kid, I thought it was hilarious. Just watched again in 2011 and wondered if I would perceive it to be as funny as I did 50 years ago. I still love it. Not as much as a 10 year old perhaps, but Skelton can hold his own in his comedic genius through the decades. Of course the writing team of Frank & Panama also later wrote Danny Kaye's "The Court Jester" where they use the same tongue-twister rhyming lines to make hilarious running gags... and the hero's continuous use of secret code questions...to all the wrong people. Makes me want to revisit all the old Red Skelton movies of the late 40's and early 50's.

Red Skelton shines in this funny stereo-typical movie from the forties. All in all, the movies feels as though it was written for Bob Hope whom I personally dislike in the movies. Skelton and Hop both used double entendres and fast quipped one-liners to good effect. The funny plot includes a union hotel bellhop who mistakenly finds and captures the most dangerous spy of the confederates during the civil war and is asked by superiors to impersonate him because if he were caught, it would not matter, he being dispensable. So start the laughs and they come at a minute a dime including a classic scene at a hospital involving a chase and a couple of dentists. Brilliant. Arlene Dahl does what she does and that is look extremely beautiful. It is said Buster Keaton worked behind the scenes on this movie and some have compared it to the General but I don't see the resemblance. The movie it most resembles is Bob hope's The Paleface, a scathological spoof of genres as this movie is. When you get to see it, have fun.

why would she want him?

This is one of the few times I wish I could score a film 6.5. It's because I found "A Southern Yankee" enjoyable but not as good but far from great. I think the reason is that in Red Skelton's better comedies, you really like him. In this one, however, there's less emphasis on character development and more on pratfalls. Still, it's a nice little film that is worth seeing.

When the film begins, Red is a bellboy at a hotel during the Civil War. However, through some ridiculous circumstances, he's able to capture a notorious Southern spy. He then is able to convince the spy's contact that HE is this spy. Can he somehow make it through this mission without being exposed? And, can be manage to somehow win the heart of a pretty Southern belle (Arlene Dahl)?

I think Skelton falls down more in this film than his previous films put together--and this is not really a good thing. Pratfalls abound in this one and the ending is very weak--reasons it's not among the best of his films. Still, it's a reasonably agreeable way to spend about 90 minutes of your life.

I remember Red mostly from TV in the 50s. To my knowledge I had not seen even one of his films until this one a few years ago.

I found it amusing and well worth the viewing time.

It's also in something of a counterpoint to most of his TV sketch comedy which was too broad and pointless to me even as a child.

One of the interesting features of this film was that it was set in the American Civil War and was mostly a comedy. The film was produced in the late 40s (I think) in a period when most - if not all - Civil War films were completely dramatic ("Gone with the Wind" had a few pointedly amusing lines from Rhett Butler but was a serious film.) The Civil War by then was some 80 years in the past, but the South was still very much the South, so to lampoon the South in any way (even if also the Union received comic dusting) would seem to me as quite a stretch by the producers. Like they were willing to write the South off their distribution lists.

Bottom line, Red was much better than I can ever remember seeing him and that alone was worth it.