Skip to content

Red Skelton

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.

Read More »The Show-Off [romantic comedy]
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

Red Skelton’s eye exam – From Red’s opening monologue on “The Red Skelton Show” (January 25, 1971) – Red talks about a visit to his eye doctor.

Red Skelton’s eye exam

Red Skelton‘s eye exam – From Red’s opening monologue on “The Red Skelton Show” (January 25, 1971) – Red talks about a visit to his eye doctor.

This doctor starts examining my eyes, now you’ve got to hear some of the conversation that went on. I said, “The eye’s making me dizzy.”

He said, “Well, let’s not blame it on the eye.”Read More »Red Skelton’s eye exam

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.  

Read More »Flight Command
Half a Hero, starring Red Skelton, Jean Hagen

Half a Hero (1953)

Synopsis of Half a Hero, starring Red Skelton, Jean Hagen

Red Skelton stars as Ben Dobson, a freelance writer who no sooner starts working full-time as a rewrite man at a magazine than his wife (Jean Hagen) decides that they should have their first child. Afterward, she pushes him into moving from New York City to the suburbs.  Here he is nickel and dimed to the verge of bankruptcy.  Until his boss gives him his first chance at writing his own article for this national magazine.  An article talking about the “slums of tomorrow” — the suburbs

Read More »Half a Hero (1953)
Christmas with Red Skelton, featuring €The Cop and the Anthem and Freddie and the Yuletide Doll featuring Freddie the Freeloader

Christmas with Red Skelton – DVD

Christmas with Red Skelton, featuring The Cop and the Anthem and Freddie and the Yuletide Doll featuring Freddie the Freeloader

The title, “Christmas with Red Skelton,” could perhaps have been “Christmas with Freddie the Freeloader.”  On this DVD are two Christmas episodes of The Red Skelton Show, both featuring Red Skelton’s hobo character, Freddie the Freeloader.   Both are absolute classics.

Read More »Christmas with Red Skelton – DVD
Merton of the Movies, starring Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien

Merton of the Movies

Movie review of Merton of the Movies (1947), starring Red Skelton, Virginia O’Brien

Merton of the Movies is set in the silent movie era of Hollywood. Red Skelton plays the part of Gil Merton, a naive, movie-struck young man. He’s given a chance to be a star …. But he doesn’t realize it. A very funny, and sweet, Red Skelton movie co-starring Virginia O’Brien.

Read More »Merton of the Movies