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Movie reviews of Red Skelton’s appearances

Having Wonderful Time (1938) starring Ginger Rogers, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Having Wonderful Time

Having Wonderful Time (1938) starring Ginger Rogers, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

In Having Wonderful Time, Ginger Rogers is an overworked New York office girl. She seeks 2 weeks of rest and relaxation at a camp in the Catskills. She’s definitely not a happy camper because of the crowded and noisy conditions. She tries her best to fit in and, after an initial dislike, falls for college educated Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., a waiter at the camp. Ginger becomes suspicious of his motives, however, and he becomes alarmed when she spends an innocent night in the cabin of a rival suitor. All ends happily, however.

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The Show-Off (1946) starring Red Skelton, Marilyn Maxwell

The Show-Off [romantic comedy]

The Show-Off (1946) starring Red Skelton, Marilyn Maxwell

Synopsis of The Show-Off

Amy Fisher falls in love with Aubrey Piper, a loudmouth and braggart who pretends to be more than the lowly clerk he is. Then she marries him, over her family’s objections.  Aubrey can’t seem to stop insulting others or interfering with their lives. He accidentally sets her inventor brother Joe’s laboratory on fire, wrecks a car, driving it without a license, gets kicked off a radio show for offending the sponsor and blows Joe’s deal with a paint company.

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Panama Hattie (1942) starring Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, Rags Ragland, Virginia O'Brien

Panama Hattie

Panama Hattie (1942) starring Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, Rags Ragland, Virginia O’Brien Synopsis In Panama Hattie, the brassy but gold-hearted proprietress of a Canal Zone hotel, where… Read More »Panama Hattie

Flight Command (1940) starring Rod Taylor, Walter Pidgeon, Ruth Hussey, Red Skelton

Flight Command

Flight Command (1940) starring Rod Taylor, Walter Pidgeon, Ruth Hussey, Red Skelton

Buy from Amazon.com I originally watched  Flight Command because it was one of Red Skelton‘s earliest movie roles — which is technically true; Red’s in the film as part of the Hellcats squadron, acting as the class clown, but he’s definitely a secondary character.  Flight Command is primarily about a brash young pilot, Alan Drake (played by Robert Taylor) who’s recruited straight out of college to join the premier squad of Navy Hellcats.  

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Maisie Gets Her Man (1942) starring Ann Sothern, Red Skelton

Maisie Gets Her Man

Maisie Gets Her Man (1942) starring Ann Sothern, Red Skelton

Buy from Amazon.com Ann Sothern stars as Maisie Ravier in Maisie Gets Her Man.  This is the seventh entry in the “Maisie” series.  Here, vaudeville performer Maisie has to leave the knife-throwing act when her partner, “Professor Orco” is jilted by his girlfriend, and decides to take his revenge out on all women … starting with Maisie, the target of his knives! Orco throwing knives at her is a very funny scene, that ends Maisie running away from the mad Orco, only end up to knocking him silly … and leaving herself unemployed once again.

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Watch the Birdie (1950) starring Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl, Ann Miller

Watch the Birdie

Watch the Birdie (1950) starring Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl, Ann Miller

Buy from Amazon.com In Watch The Birdie, Red Skelton plays his normal lovable klutz (Rusty Cammeron), who runs a camera shop with him father (also played by Red Skelton, using his Newton J. Numbskull character) — and his grandfather (also played by Red, in a variation on his San Fernando Red Character). However, between the three of them, the store is nearly bankrupt, owing over $1,100 (a large sum in 1950).

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Thousands Cheer, starring Gene Kelly and Kathryn Grayson

Thousands Cheer

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Thousands Cheer (1943) starring Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson

Thousands Cheer, starring Gene Kelly and Kathryn Grayson

Thousands Cheer is a  musical romance, set in the U.S.A. during World War II.   The first half of the movie deals with Kathryn Roberts (played by Kathryn Grayson). She’s a  concert singer who is retiring from the stage to work on putting on shows for the Army, to help morale.   This is also designed to let her bond with  her father, an Army colonel. Whom she hasn’t seen since she was a baby, after her parents’ divorce.  

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Ziegfeld Follies (1945) starring Red Skelton, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly,  Lucille Ball,  Lena Horne, Kathryn Grayson, William Powell and many more

Ziegfeld Follies

Ziegfeld Follies (1945) starring Red Skelton, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly,  Lucille Ball,  Lena Horne, Kathryn Grayson, William Powell and many more

Ziegfeld Follies is an attempt at recreating the spectacle of Flo Ziegfeld’s famous Broadway shows. And so the film is a series of unrelated musical and comedy routines. They’re unconnected except by the narration of the ghostly Flo Ziegfeld. The part is played by William Powell. He sits back in Heaven, thinking of the spectacles that he could create with then-current stars.  

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