PANAMA HATTIE

Ann Sothern

PANAMA HATTIE (1942). Director: Norman Z. McLeod.

Down in Panama a singing dancer named Hattie (Ann Sothern of Fast and Furious) has fallen for a wealthy Army man named Dick (Dan Dailey of It's Always Fair Weather), This is bad news for three sailors -- Red (Red Skelton), Rags (Rags Ragland) and Rowdy (Ben Blue) -- who are smitten with the gal and whom she relies on for emotional support. Hattie has some problems with her man when she meets his eight-year-old daughter and a woman named Leila Tree (Marsha Hunt of Smash Up), who is convinced she is more suitable for Dick. Reluctantly, Hattie agrees, at least for awhile ...

Virginia O'Brien with Skelton, Ragland and Blue

Based on an old Broadway show, Panama Hattie is as insubstantial as lint. The only real thing is has going for it, aside from some spirited performers, is the music, which consists of such Cole Porter tunes as "Just One of Those Things: (sung by Lena Horne) and other songs by Edens and Harburg ("Let's Be Buddies"). Sothern at least appears to be dubbed (although she could sing), but we hear the real voice of snappy Virginia O'Brien, who employs her deadpan style in some numbers ("Boy, Did I Get Stinkin' at the Club Savoy") and actually smiles during others ("I'm in Love"). Another highlight is a great dance number by a trio of talented black guys

Virginia O'Brien and Alan Mowbray

In the "slob vs snob" sub-plot, Leila is made as affected and unpleasant as possible, but Hattie really doesn't have much class. When Dick's little girl laughs, not unkindly, at Hattie's over- elaborate outfit, the adult practically calls the child a bitch! More fun is provided by O'Brien, whose character unaccountably develops a hankering for Dick's disdainful butler, amusingly played by Alan Mowbray. There is some tiresome, mildly comical business at the end when the three sailors make like lesser case Stooges, go into a haunted house, and uncover a nest of dangerous spies. Skelton delivers a tasteless gag about having his legs shot off. Ragland was in the Broadway show, wherein Ethel Merman played Hattie. Ben Blue was a comic who started in silent pictures.

Verdict: Easy to forget but with likable players and some good numbers. **1/2. 

DUCHESS OF IDAHO

Esther Williams and Van Johnson

DUCHESS OF IDAHO (1950). Director: Robert Z. Leonard.

Ellen Hallet (Paula Raymond) is madly in love with her playboy boss, Doug Morrison (John Lund of The Perils of Pauline), but he doesn't know she's alive. He consistently has Ellen pretend to be his fiancee so he can dump other women in a very cruel fashion. While any woman with sense or self-respect would tell Doug to go screw himself, Ellen has to have him, and her sister, Christine (Esther Williams) -- a theatrical swimming star, of course -- comes up with an idea. This idea, which doesn't make much sense, is for her to go to Sun Valley where Doug is staying and romance him, apparently with the hopes of opening his eyes to Ellen's charms. Say what? As only can happen in the movies, this ploy apparently works until Doug finds out about it, and we mustn't forget the complication of band leader and singer Dick Layn (Van Williams), who falls for Christine but is put off by her attentions to Doug. Oy vey. The plot for this flick is pretty stupid, but it has its charms, mostly due to a winning cast. Paula Raymond [The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms] has one of her most memorable roles, and is on screen almost as long as Williams. (In fact, there are times when our gal almost seems crowded out of her own movie.) Johnson makes a handsome and adept leading man for Williams, Lund is also good, and Williams swims with distinction and plays with her usual saucy and sexy attitude. Eleanor Powell dances in a guest bit, Red Skelton cameos for a minute or two, and Connie Haines, as singer Peggy Elliott, is merely mediocre. Mel Torme plays a bellboy named Cyril and looks 14, Lena Horne warbles a number, and Amanda Blake [Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard] is effective as the slinky Linda, who tries to drag Doug to the altar. Clinton Sundberg makes his mark, as usual, as Doug's slightly acerbic butler. The song numbers, mostly be-bop or a lesser variation on swing music, are not memorable.

Verdict: The script is nothing to crow about, but the cast puts it over with aplomb. **1/2. 

DU BARRY WAS A LADY

Ball, Kelly, Skelton, O'Brien, Dorsey

DU BARRY WAS A LADY (1943). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

May Daly (Lucille Ball) is a nightclub singer who is courted by both Alec (Gene Kelly) and Louis (Red Skelton), neither of whom are rich enough to suit her. She is squired around town by a man who is wealthy, as well as much older, Wille (Douglass Dumbrille). When Louis wins the sweepstakes May wonders if she can have any kind of life with the newly rich fellow, but before any decision is made Louis collapses and dreams that they are all back in the days of King Louis and Madame Du Barry. Who will May ultimately wind up with, and will the IRS man (Donald Meek) leave any money for Louis? Du Barry is a strange picture, whose plot -- such as it is -- is put on hold for about half an hour (after the brief opening minutes) while we watch Tommy Dorsey and his band perform and the Oxford Boys do their impressions of famous band leaders. Others in the cast include the delightfully deadpan Virginia O'Brien; Zero Mostel (who does a pretty terrible impression of Charles Boyer); Louise Beavers as May's sassy maid, Niagara; Dick Haymes, who only appears as the lead vocalist in a group of singers; and drummer Buddy Rich. There's also Clara Blandick as a funny little old lady on a subway who gives advice to Ball and Skelton. This is very loosely based on a Cole Porter Broadway show, although most of the songs in the movie were written by others. Du Barry isn't a very good movie, but it goes out on a high note, with the cast spiritedly performing Porter's "Friendship." Another bright spot is Kelly's dancing to "Do I Love You.", although Kelly doesn't get to do nearly enough dancing in this.

Verdict: Silly, amiable, light-weight, but well-performed, and the final number is a pip. **.

THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL

Eddie Albert and Lucille Ball

THE FULLER BRUSH GIRL (1950). Director: Lloyd Bacon. Written by Frank Tashlin.

Sally Elliott (Lucille Ball) is engaged to co-worker Humphrey Briggs (Eddie Albert), and the two have their eye on a home they can't afford. After a spectacular accident at work involving an exploding switchboard, Sally is fired and tries her hand at selling cosmetics as a Fuller Brush girl (she hasn't actually got the job yet, but is kind of "auditioning"). She and Humphrey wind up in the midst of a murder mystery, on the run both from police and from the real killer, winding up on a ship at sea with a bomb aboard! Red Skelton's The Fuller Brush Man was a success, so it was only natural for there to be a Fuller Brush Girl, and Lucy was an inspired choice as star, as she's wonderful in this. Franklin Tashlin's funny script (he also co-wrote Fuller Brush Man), has lots of thrills and laughs, and is full of his trademark inventive "cartoon-style" comedy, such as a great scene when Lucy, wearing several round life preservers, goes rapidly rolling around the deck of the ship and almost goes kerplunk into the ocean. Albert [On Your Toes] provides fine support for Lucy, and there are good performances from Jerome Cowan [Have Rocket, Will Travel] as her boss; Lee Patrick as his wife; Gail Robbins as dancer Ruby Rawlings; Arthur Space as Inspector Rogers; and Jeff Donnell [Night Editor] as Sally's friend, Jane. Red Skelton has a cameo playing himself and a potential customer -- he sells some items to Lucy instead of the other way around! There's a lot of clever stuff in this and the two parrots on the ship (voiced by Mel Blanc) are a scream.

Verdict: Cute picture with lots of laughs and a resplendent Lucy! ***.

THE FULLER BRUSH MAN

Red Skelton succumbs to the charms of Adele Jergens

THE FULLER BRUSH MAN (1948). Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

Red Jones (Red Skelton), who has trouble holding on to a job, to put it mildly, is told by his girlfriend Ann (Janet Blair) that if he doesn't make good at something they're through. He decides to try for a job at the Fuller Brush company where Ann works, but a romantic rival, Mr. Wallick (Don McGuire), who's a top salesman, makes it his business to screw up Red's chances at every turn. Things take a turn for the worse when Red becomes the suspect in the mysterious murder of Commissioner Trist (Nicholas Joy), who fired him from his last assignment. Skelton is in top form in one of his funniest movies, with an inventive script by Frank Tashlin [and Devery Freeman] that is full of so many great sight-gags that the movie is at times a live-action cartoon [typical of Tashlin's work]. A bit in a garden involving bug spray, pruning shears, and legs in weird positions is nearly classic, as is a hilarious sequence wherein Red tries to sell a shower brush to the man-hungry starlet Miss Sharmley (Adele Jergens), who's "brushed off more men than the porter at the Waldorf." In this brief bit sexy Jergens almost walks off with the movie, but there are also very good performances from the rest of the cast, which includes Hillary Brooke as Trist's wife, Sara Franzen as his protege, and Arthur Space as a police lieutenant. Don McGuire scores as the wolfish cad Wallick and Blair is attractive and capable as Skelton's girl.The ending in a factory is also full of clever physical action, all well-handled by director Simon and a variety of stunt people. Verna Felton and Jimmy Hunt [Invaders from Mars] have a funny scene wherein Red tries to sell the former one of his brushes and her not-so-adorable grandson interferes.

Verdict: One of Skelton's best! ***.

THREE LITTLE WORDS

THREE LITTLE WORDS (1950). Director: Richard Thorpe.

A perfectly pleasant and completely undistinguished biopic about the not terribly distinguished song writing team of Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton). The casting pretty much insures that there won't be a heck of a lot of drama in this movie, and there certainly isn't, although the two men spend a lot of time bickering and having misunderstandings [although the humor is not of the laugh-out-loud variety]. Vera-Ellen is Kalmar's spouse and a warmer-than-usual Arlene Dahl is Ruby's better half, Eileen. Gloria DeHaven, Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter have smaller roles (walk-ons in the case of the last two). Gale Robbins is sexsational as Terry, the singer that Ruby initially falls for. Astaire's fans will enjoy his smooth and fancy foot work. As for the songs, well ... they're pleasant enough, tuneful, but Kalmar and Ruby were not exactly Rodgers and Hammerstein or Rodgers and Hart. They spend the whole movie trying to make a song out of a tune Ruby keeps playing and when they finally do at the climax it's only the utterly mediocre title number!

Verdict: If you don't expect much ... **1/2.

MERTON OF THE MOVIES

MERTON OF THE MOVIES (1947). Director: Robert Alton.

Red Skelton stars as a movie usher, Merton Gill, with big dreams who winds up going to Hollywood and supposedly becoming protege of big star Lawrence Rupert (Leon Ames), who has no use for him. Befriended by a stunt woman, Phyllis (Virgina O'Brien), who also has ambitions, he winds up starring in parodies of Rupert's films -- only he thinks they're supposed to be serious. Not much of a "laugh out loud" movie but the picture is well-acted, good-natured and pleasant, with a happy wind-up for all. After Skelton, Gloria Grahame is the cast stand-out as sexy movie star Beulah Baxter, who at one point tries to "vamp" Merton. O'Brien is a perfectly pleasing leading lady with a certain elusive quality, yet ... somehow she lacks a certain oomph, although she's more than competent. She does show more emotion in this than she did as a singer (her funny shtick was to have an immobile face as she sang).

Verdict: pleasant time waster with nice performances and sentiment. **1/2.

THE SHOW-OFF (1946)

THE SHOW-OFF (1946): Director: Harry Beaumont.

One of several versions of a play about an overbearing know-it-all and braggart who drives his in-laws to distraction but is loved by his wife, who recognizes his essential good heart and that he means well. Skelton is very well-cast in the part of Aubrey Piper, and as his gal, Marilyn Maxwell is more subdued and pleasing than usual. But the picture is nearly stolen by Marjorie Main as Skelton's exasperated mother-in-law. Marshall Thompson is Skelton's young brother-in-law, and Leon Ames is married to Maxwell's sister, Clara (Jacqueline White). Virginia O'Brien is Maxwell's girlfriend, who arranges a double-date wth Skelton. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson also appears briefly. Good supporting cast and a typically winning performance by Skelton makes this a pleasant, amusing, if somewhat minor comedy-drama.

Verdict: Fast-moving and entertaining. **1/2.

WHISTLING IN THE DARK

WHISTLING IN THE DARK (1941). Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

It's easy to see why this comedy-thriller starring the likable Red Skelton was so popular, engendering a couple of sequels. Skelton plays a radio detective called The Fox, who is kidnapped by the head of a cult (Conrad Veidt) who wants him to help him and his gang come up with a way to bump off a certain individual without the crime being traced back to them. The victim is the nephew of a wealthy woman who left money to the cult, only they can't collect it until the nephew is deceased. Skelton's colleague and fiancee Ann Rutherford (pictured), as well as his boss's daughter (Virginia Grey) – who has a yen for him -- are also kidnapped to put pressure on Skelton. Skelton comes up with a murder plot but tries to outwit his captors and save the life of the nephew, who is due to be poisoned while traveling on an airplane. While the movie is certainly never as nail-biting or cinematic as a Hitchcock picture, it does manage a good mixture of genuine suspense and laughs. The performances are all top-notch – Rutherford is particularly effective – and Mariska Aldridge is a riot as the hatchet-faced Hilda.

Verdict: Lots of fun. ***.