Bien faire... et la séduire

I've seen most of Red Skelton's films, so I can safely say that this is one of his better films. It's not his best, mostly because his character was goofy but not as sweet as likable as he was in some of his other pictures...plus the end seem to go on a bit long. Still, it's enjoyable and you could do a lot worse!

When the film begins, Red (Red Skelton) is a total loser who wants to marry his sweetie (Janet Blair). However, she is a realist and knows that Red can't hold a job...and their marriage would be doomed. When he fired from yet another job, he decides he wants to become a Fuller Brush man...selling brushes door to door. Oddly, about a third of the way into the movie, the plot changes dramatically---and Red is pulled into a murder mystery. And, to make it worse, the cops think he's the most likely suspect. Can he, with the help of his girl, manage to find out what really happened and prove his innocence?

This film is pleasant and fun. As I mentioned above, the ending was a bit of a disappointment as Red's fight with the baddies took very long--too long. It was full of stunts and folks getting bonked on the head. I would have preferred one or two less bonks! Still, it is a lot better than many of his films with MGM where the studio insisted on placing this comic in musicals--which wasted his many talents.

Even if your not a fan of slap stick or Skeleton's trademark corn this movie captures the best of Skelton in a great comedy. This movie launched his entry into TV and his series still ranks as one of the longest lived. Critics of the show would pan Skelton's unabashed corn, but the Fuller Brush Man was a classic comedy, done as well as your average Marx Brother's work. If you had to pick one Skeleton movie as his best, this is the one.

The movie begins with Red's complete failures in life and love. Unlike many of his movies and later TV roles, this movie show Skeleton as an actor who could show the pathos of his character. As a fuller brush salesman (a common fixture in the 40's and 50's), the occupation fits perfectly with Red's character as the proverbial pesty door to door salesman. Well on his way to another failure in life, Red gets involved in a murder that seems funnier and more convincing than his previous roles as a slap stick detective. The scenes in the WWII surplus wharehouse are both funny and extraordinarily well done. No computer generated action scenes, just excellent stunt work. If you like happy and funny endings, this movie will not disappoint.

Red Skelton can't keep a job. He's fired from his latest as a street cleaner when he runs his trash can into the commissioner's car. But Janet Blair loves him. She gets him a job as a salesman for a local Fuller Brush distributor. The usual comic situations ensue, and eventually a serious plot that will enable Red to become a hero and get the girl.

Red seems to be on loan to Columbia, where his best director, S. S.ylvan Simon was in charge. Keaton was still at Metro, but there's an able gag man in Frank Tashlin to help lift characters and situations from Skelton's radio show.

The Fuller Brush company was vastly successful with its network of salesmen and superior product. But when women started heading for the offices instead of homemaking, it shifted gears and is currently under a private conglomerate, but still operating.

The opening scenes of "The Fuller Brush Man" are hardly promising: Red Skelton, playing a ne'er-do-well who can't hold a job, hopes to impress his lady-love with his skills as a door-to-door salesman, not knowing that he's been sent to the worst neighborhood in town by his adversary, his gal's other boyfriend. Seeing charming Skelton (with his happy chatter and lilting walk) being set-up as a chump is awfully sour, and the slapstick chaos which ensues isn't funny as a result. Thankfully, writer Frank Tashlin quickly gets off this baleful track, turning the proceedings instead into a comedic murder mystery, with Red one of the suspects in the killing of his former boss. The new plot thread--while neither original nor ingenious--does allow Skelton lots of funny business as an actor, with Janet Blair the perfect counterpart to Red's unintentional hero. The wild, free-for-all finale in a warehouse has staging and stunt-work as good as anything from the silent era, if not better. No wonder this was a box-office smash in 1948--it leaves the audience with a succession of happy highs. Followed two years later by "The Fuller Brush Girl". *** from ****

I saw this on TV in the 60s when Red's weekly show brought us such wonderful laughs and memories. For me, there was only one other TV funny man besides him (the great one-Jackie Gleason). So TV comedies made an impact on me and my sensibilities.

But the one Skeleton MOVIE which I have always remembered was this movie and the remarkably fun-filled finale in the war surplus warehouse! I finally watched it again on TV again after soooo many years. And by golly, the memory of all of the gags all came back to me and I enjoyed it even more this time. I am sure that the endless gags and funny sequences were copied by scores of comedies.

These are the types of movies, with their innocent fun and optimism which helped to form my personality and character for the rest of my life.

Oh woe to the current generation who never had these movies in their consciousness. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be a product of these wholesome movies.

Thank you, Red, wherever you are. You were very special to me, indeed.