Un sudista del Nord

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.

This movie is about a hotel bell boy who wants to be a soldier in the Civil War (Red Skeleton's role). By sheer luck,he becomes a spy (Northern spy pretending to be a Southern). The flag carrying scene (I won't give it away anymore) is definitely one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen. My only critique is that the last part of the movie was not quite as humorous as the first part (at least in my opinion). However, this movie is definitely worth seeing.

THE GENERAL is my favorite movie of all time while Red Skelton is not a favorite of mine (I don't hate him, he's just not my cup of tea), so I am ashamed to admit I went into A SOUTHERN YANKEE fully expecting to hate it. To my surprise, it was not bad.

Though often called a "remake" of the Buster Keaton classic, A SOUTHERN YANKEE's plot is entirely different: Skelton plays a bellboy/aspiring secret agent who bumbles onto a real Confederate spy plot. General farce ensues, with only a few gags lifted from Keaton's earlier film. For what it is, A SOUTHERN YANKEE is quite enjoyable. Even some of the dumber gags had me howling.

As a fan of old films I always look for the character actors. This film has a lot of notable ones: John Ireland, George Colouris, Reed Hadley (what a voice), Art Baker, Louise Beavers, Charles Dingle, Paul Harvey, and many others. This movie has a mix of slapstick, stunt gags, screwball comedy, and one-liners like "Morning Electra". I must admit I enjoy these no-limit comedies.

Red Skelton and Bob Hope and Danny Kaye often did scaredy-cat but bluffing buffoon type characters in films. Skelton expanded this by adding his usual rubber-faced over-reacting but he managed to get away with it.

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.