Whistling in Brooklyn

Back in 1933, Ernest Truex starred in "Whistling in the Dark" and it was a charming little comedy/mystery. Eight years later, the film was remade with Red Skelton and is the much more famous version of the story--though I prefer the original. Despite my preference, the Skelton film was so popular that it resulted in two sequels...first "Whistling in Dixie" and then "Whistling in Brooklyn".

A series of murders have occurred and the police are baffled. However, when radio personality Wally Benton (Skelton) seems to know too many details about the killings, they assume he's the killer. Suddenly, cops are pouring out of the woodwork to arrest the guy. At first, he thinks that it's all a gag. After all, he and his fiancé (Ann Rutherford) are on their way to get married and his co- workers are always playing tricks on him. However, when he realizes they are firing REAL bullets, he and his girl and his idiot chauffeur are on the run. Soon, they are not just dodging the police but crooks as well and EVERYBODY seems to want to kill him.

The best part of the film is towards the end, where Wally pretends to be a baseball player in order to alert the police who the real killer is. But he has to be disguised and sports a beard...and knows nothing about playing ball. But, miraculously, all the stupid things he does seem to work! Overall, enjoyable and pretty much more of the same for the short-lived franchise.

The gags fly thick and fast in this, the last of Skelton's Whistling series for MGM. The pace is so hectic you may have to check your fast-forward. But the first half-hour is near hilarious with the usual Skelton mugging and pratfalls, backed up by experts Rags Ragland and Ann Rutherford, along with clever quips galore, so stay tuned. As usual, the plot amounts to little more than a convenient hat-rack on which to hang Skelton's usual brand of madcap. And what better fare for wartime audiences than a chance to escape the horrors with this slapstick whirlwind. I really did wonder how they would escape the elevator shaft, one of those great moments when you don't know whether to laugh or hide your eyes. And, yes, that is Jean Rogers as the reporter, on a break from Ming the Merciless and his serial effort at conquering the universe and Flash Gordon all in the same breath. There's also a chance to scope out Ebbetts Field and the Brooklyn Dodgers before both were torn down and shipped to LA. All in all, good period fun, even this many years later.

This is the third and funniest of Red Skelton's "Whistling" movies about the murderous misadventures of Wally Benton, actor, who plays most of the roles on radio's mystery show, "The Fox". It is a breakneck farce. Skelton and a horde of comedians race their ways through a tale about how Wally is mistaken for a suspected serial murderer when all he wants to do is go on his honeymoon with Anne Rutherford -- and who could blame him?

S. Sylvan Simon, one of MGM's terrific B talents, directed. His specialty was high speed farce and he pulls things off here at a terrific pace. Simon is largely forgotten. He had just produced the movie version of BORN YESTERDAY when he died suddenly at age 41 in 1951. He directed Skelton in four of his movies and knew how to get a good comic performance out of that talented clown.

Skelton had a successful career in the movies, simultaneously with his radio and television gigs from the late 1930s through the mid-50s. His movies are unfamiliar to most people because his contract called for extra fees to him when his movies played on television! Fortunately, they play fairly often now on Turner Classic movies. Do yourself a favor and see this one.

Of course there's a lot of slapstick, juvenile jokes, and near pushing the envelope humor, but more than occasional real zinger routines made me actually laugh out loud, (a real rarity). In all the decades,(too many to tell) I've watched movies, I'd never seen a stunt as good as the one in the elevator shaft. Trick 1943 photography or fantastic stunt doubles, whatever, that was real nail biting entertainment. Rags Ragland had great lines. This must have been his best role. Great to see Ebbetts Field again, especially Abe Stark's sign in right field (Hit sign, win suit). I'm a reanimated Red Skelton fan!

Henceforth, I'm going to be on the lookout for any old Skelton movie.

The man of many talents, Red Skelton, has some of his funniest moments on screen in this third and final installment of his amateur radio detective, Wally 'The Fox' Benton, series. Keeping up with him most of the way are the marvelous Rags Ragland as Chester the chauffeur, aka press agent, and the vivaciously funny dippy blonde, Jean Rogers, as a dumber than Rags (would you believe?) reporter. Two "dolls" are better than one in a comedy gangster flick. So the viewer is treated to the curvaceous Ann Rutherford as Wally's bride-to-be, Carol Lambert, who has fewer funny lines than the others, but is still delicious icing on the cake.

There are several scenes that are as fresh today as they were sixty-three years ago. One displays the comedic ability of Rags Ragland, who left us way too soon, to illustrate what perfect timing he could bring to a humorous sketch. He is attempting to use the telephone to assist his new client, Wally, when he is driven to anger by an aloof operator. Ma Bell would not receive such a lampooning again until the equally brilliant Lily Tomlin appeared as Ernestine, the telephone operator, nearly thirty years later. Watch too when the comic quartet is trapped in an elevator shaft. All four are dangling in the air, holding on to a precarious cable. Rags exclaims, "I didn't know I weighed so much." It's also a pleasure to see the Brooklyn Dodgers participating in all the shenanigans at the ball park, with Leo Durocher in the limelight. Then there's the final slapstick-filled sequence that ties the loose ends together.

There may be a few clinkers here and there, such as Wally's jibe,"You'll live the life of Riley...that is, if Riley don't come home," a joke that was already stale in 1943. But when a comic is on a roll, there are bound to be a few stale puns. Even Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy fall flat sometimes.

Enjoying the antics of these four clowns may cause the viewer to forget what the plot is about. Which is OK since it's nothing new. The story deals with the mob getting even, police corruption, and a popular radio personality, Wally "The Fox," being mistaken for a hit-man, The Constant Reader. All poor Wally wants to do is get married, honeymoon at Niagra Falls, and take a break from his job. Before he can do that, he must clear himself of the murders he is accused of committing.

Red Skelton's many fans will love this film. Those unfamiliar with Red's humor may miss many of the inside jokes, such as "I dood it," but should enjoy the rest, especially if fans of old-time radio and lovers of slapstick.