JohnHowardReid Red Skelton (Wally Benton), Ann Rutherford (Carol Lambert), Rags Ragland (Chester), Ray Collins (Kendall), Jean Rogers (Jean Pringle), Henry O'Neill (Inspector Holcomb), Sam Levene (Creeper), William Frawley (Detective Ramsey), Steven Geray (Whitey), Howard Freeman (Steve Conlan), Arthur Space (Detective MacKenzie), Robert Emmett O'Connor (Detective Leo Finnigan), Tom Dillon (Beavers manager), Emmett Vogan (radio producer), John Wald (radio announcer), Morris Ankrum (news editor), Edgar Dearing (desk sergeant), Grant Withers, Jack Mulhall, Bert Moorhouse, Charles Jordan, Jack Carrington, Sammy Blum (reporters), James Warren (sound man), Robert Winkler, Rudy Wissler, Buddy Gorman, Larry Harris (newsboys), Harry Strang (Gumbatz), Harry Tyler (gateman), Frank J. Scannell (Joe), Fred Toones (fan), Ray Teal (traded Beaver), Anthony Caruso, Charles Sullivan, Elliott Sullivan, Dutch Hendrian (henchmen), Dewey Robinson (Beavers trainer), Gil Perkins, William Haade (police sergeants), Lee Phelps (police dispatcher), Harvey Parry (worman), Garry Owen (taxi-driver with record), Mike Mazurki (helpful thug), Howard M. Mitchell (officer), George Magrill (Brooklyn fan), Mitchell Lewis (bearded spectator), Donald Kerr (taxi-driver), Sheldon Jett (suspicious man), Sam Hayes (baseball announcer), Billy Engle (balloon vendor), Eddie Dunn (coffee cop), Charles Dorety (drunk), Clancy Cooper (Officer Slocum), Billy Bletcher (announcer), Chet Brandenburg (painter), William Bishop (psychiatrist), Leo Durocher (himself), Loretta Rush, Lillian Yarbo, Dorothy Wilson, Sue Moore (women), and The Brooklyn Dodgers Director: S. SYLVAN SIMON. Screenplay: Nat Perrin. Additional dialogue: Wilkie C. Mahoney. Photography: Lester White. Film editor: Ben Lewis. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Martin Smith. Set decorators: Edwin B. Willis and Mildred Griffiths. Stunts: Gil Perkins. Costumes designed by Irene. Special effects: Warren Newcombe. Music: George Bassman. Assistant director: Al Raboch. Sound recording: John Dullam. Producer: George Haight. Copyright 24 September 1943 by Loew's, Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture. New York opening at Loew's State: 23 March 1944. U.S. release: December 1943. Australian release: 13 September 1945 (sic). 9 reels. 7,825 feet. 87 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Mistakenly identified as a serial killer, a radio sleuth (accompanied by his fiancée, his self-appointed press agent, and a nosy girl reporter) is pursued by both the police and the real criminals.NOTES: Third and final entry in Red Skelton's Whistling series.COMMENT: Although it's the weakest of the Whistling movies, there's a high-flying sequence in this entry that I'll never forget. Red and his comrades are hanging from a grid at the top of an elevator shaft. They hang from each other's legs and then swing this human pendulum in an effort to land themselves on the floor below. Great stunt-work, very effectively handled! Unfortunately, the rest of the film doesn't reach this standard, though it has its moments of fun and suspense. The huge cast line-up helps.The chief fault is Wilkie Mahoney's inane additional dialogue which lacks the sparkle and wit he brought to Whistling in Dixie. The players do what they can with the talky screenplay and director Simon piles on the pace, but their efforts are often unsuccessful.

Robert J. Maxwell An enjoyable trifle, this is a fast-paced comedy in which Red Skelton is a radio performer pursued by the police as the suspect in a series of murders. His chauffeur is Rags Ragland, and they're accompanied by Red's fiancée, Ann Rutherford, and an inquiring report, Jean Rogers.What it lacks in sophistication it makes up for in energy. Three scenes in particular stand out. In one, the four hang from the top of an empty elevator shaft -- each by the other's heels -- and swing back and forth to reach an empty door. It's fairly tense for a comedy and the producers must have used professional acrobats.In another, Skelton poses as the pitcher for a bearded baseball team who happen to be playing the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1943, the Dodgers seemed ordained by the God of baseball never to win a series and were a national joke, referred to as "dem Bums." That was before they moved to Los Angeles and began wearing sandals, Hawaiian shirts, and shades on the playing field. Many, or maybe most, attempts at humor on the sports field flop as anticlimactic, but this one is kind of amusing. Leo Durocher and the rest of the team make an appearance.The last outstanding scene involves a farcical fight aboard a deserted ship and makes good use of nautical props.Zippy stuff. Better than some of Skelton's other movies, especially his later ones.

dougdoepke 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.

ccthemovieman-1 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.