La bête

If you like old-fashioned corny humor you'll love this. I'm hesitant to give a movie this silly, corny and stupid eight stars but I had to because overall it was fun to watch and provided a number of genuine laughs. In fact, some of the scenes were downright hilarious. A lot of it is innocent old-time slapstick and, if it entertains, it did its job.

This was my first look at early Red Skelton films (I had only known him through his TV show) and it reminded of some Bob Hope films except this one had more slapstick and action.

It inspired me to go out and buy other Skelton comedies on VHS but, unfortunately, none ever measured up to this one. The real star of film might not have been Skelton, anyway, as Rags Ragland, playing the chauffeur, had perhaps the highest percentage of funny lines. The baseball scene in here also was very good.

Yes, this is stupid, generally-speaking, but it's really entertaining. If only two people have reviewed it (as of my review) then apparently a lot of people haven't seen this. That's too bad, especially with the older crowd, because they've missed a funny movie.

Another red skelton adventure. when a series of murders are committed, radio personality wally benton (Skelton) gets mixed up in them, and decides the only way to get out of it is to solve them himself. He and Carol (Anne Rutherford) will have to postpone their wedding. and there's a newspaper reporter (Jean Rogers) along for the ride. she was trying to get the scoop on the wedding, but now she's mixed up in it too! and so much screaming and screeching by the girls -- it quickly got annoying. some other fun names in here.. William Frawley (Fred !) is Detective Ramsey, Rags Ragland is Conway. Ray Collins usually turned out to be the bad guy. and somehow, they get caught up in a ball game with the actual players from the Dodgers. it's all silly, the usual red skelton goings on. not bad, but not great. directed by sylvan simon... they made a bunch of films together.

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.

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.

The overabundance of physical comedy in WHISTLING IN BROOKLYN is staggering. Most memorable moment has four of the principals hanging from an empty elevator shaft, each hanging on the the other for dear life and managing, somehow, to swing to safety at another level. It's probably the trickiest bit of physical comedy in the whole film, but the story requires a constant display of these sort of antics from its stars.

Once again, RED SKELTON is "The Fox", this time anxious to clear himself of a murder the mob is responsible for--with Red being mistaken for "The Constant Reader" due to a remark made by his chauffeur RAGS RAGLAND to newspaper reporter JEAN ROGERS. So, instead of going off on his honeymoon with ANN RUTHERFORD, Red is forced to spend the entire film on the lam from the police and the mob until he clears himself after a hilarious ball game at Ebbets Field with the N.Y. Dodgers, including Leo Durocher.

The slapstick is poured on so thick, it almost feels like a silent comedy with Buster Keaton at times. The storyline is slim, the gags fast and furious, and all of it is so far-fetched that it will strain the tolerance of some viewers.

But it does show that Red was a gifted comedian and that ANN RUTHERFORD and JEAN ROGERS were good sports to put up with all the shenanigans and stunts required of the cast--and both of them, by the way, show a flair for physical comedy.

But--not one of the best in the "Whistling" series.