TCM Schedule for Friday, August 9, 2019 -- Summer Under the Stars: Red Skelton

[Staph]

Today's Star is Red Skelton. His TCM bio:

A vaudeville and burlesque performer who worked his way up from the bottom of the rung clubs and show boats to play the Paramount Theatre in NYC, Red Skelton entered films in 1938 and went on to appear in some two dozen musicals and comedies through the 1940s, mostly for MGM. Skelton, who had his own radio show from 1941-53, embraced TV in 1950 and gained his greatest fame there, showcasing his gift for pantomime and his memorable characterizations, such as Freddy the Freeloader, on the long-running "The Red Skelton Show" which ran on NBC from 1951-53, then on CBS from 1953-70, and finally on NBC for its last year 1970-71.

Skelton was a physical comedian, and his work showed the influence of the circus his father had performed in, down to the clown-like floppy hats and facial expressions. He had a humble quality, not just in the essence of his characters, but in his modest bows to the audience, during which Skelton would hold his tongue gently between his teeth and just say thank you. (In reality, Skelton was said to be anything but modest when it came to taking credit for his work. He was lax in admitting he even had writers on his TV series.) Skelton was a star of the MGM lot in the 40s and his films, some of them with Lucille Ball, were financially successful, although few have subsequently been recognized as classics. Low brow in the classic sense--rather than in the tacky sense of say, The Three Stooges--Skelton was at his best when MGM acquired Broadway properties and molded them for him, such as "Panama Hattie" (1942), "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1943), in which he thought he was Louis XVI, and "I Dood It" (also 1943), with Eleanor Powell. A typical Skelton film other than Broadway adaptations might be "The Fuller Brush Man" (1948) in which he haplessly becomes embroiled with murder while trying to sell brushes door-to-door. His last MGM film was "Half a Hero" (1953), in which he was a writer who tries suburban life as background for a story. He subsequently made a cameo appearance in "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956) and did an amusing prologue tracing the history of aviation for "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (1965), but truth-be-told, after 1951 Skelton belonged to TV.

Skelton's repertoire of characters had been developed on stage and on radio--where he had worked before a live audience. His TV show had no other regulars, save his bandleader, David Rose, until 1970 when some skit performers were added for one season. Instead, they had Skelton, doing characters such as The Mean Widdle Kid, Clem Kadiddlehopper, the rustic Sheriff Deadeye, the West's worst nightmare, the drunken Willie Lump-Lump and Freddy the Freeloader, a speechless hobo. (The Freddy sequences were always performed in pantomime.) Skelton always ended his program thanking the audience and with the words "God bless!"

Skelton wrote much of his own material, although he had a full staff of writers as well. He also occasionally composed music for his stage shows. After the end of his over 20-year run on primetime TV, Skelton continued to do live appearances, including a 1990 concert at Carnegie Hall, as well as occasional TV commercials. He revived Freddy the Freeloader for a 1980 HBO special.

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- MERTON OF THE MOVIES (1947)
A star-struck hick goes to Hollywood to become a star.
Dir: Robert Alton
Cast: Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien, Gloria Grahame
BW-82 mins, CC,

This was Virginia O'Brien's final starring role and the last film she made for MGM. After this she had small roles in two later films but otherwise retired from the screen.


7:30 AM -- THE GREAT DIAMOND ROBBERY (1953)
A diamond cutter unwittingly helps a jewel thief.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Red Skelton, Cara Williams, James Whitmore
BW-69 mins, CC,

This was Skelton's last film for MGM. He had been under contract with the studio since 1940.


8:45 AM -- THE SHOW-OFF (1946)
A man's loud-mouthed bumbling almost ruins his new wife's family.
Dir: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Red Skelton, Marilyn Maxwell, Marjorie Main
BW-83 mins, CC,

The original play opened in New York on 5 February 1924. It starred Louis John Bartels and Helen Lowell and was directed by the author, George Kelly.


10:15 AM -- WATCH THE BIRDIE (1951)
A photographer falls for a rich girl and gets mixed up with crooks.
Dir: Jack Donohue
Cast: Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl, Ann Miller
BW-71 mins, CC,

When Red Skelton runs and jumps onto the fire truck, it is a reenactment of a Buster Keaton gag from The Cameraman (1928).


11:30 AM -- A SOUTHERN YANKEE (1948)
A bellboy masquerades as a spy and lands behind enemy lines during the Civil War.
Dir: Edward Sedgwick
Cast: Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Dahl
BW-91 mins, CC,

No one could figure out a simple, yet funny way to get Aubrey out of the house when he was being held captive by the angry dog. Buster Keaton, employed by MGM as a roving gag man, was called to the set, looked at the set up, and came up with the idea of removing the door hinges and letting the dog in as Aubrey got out. The most famous gag in the movie took Keaton all of five minutes to devise. Buster also contributed other gags some of which he'd done himself years earlier.


1:15 PM -- SHIP AHOY (1942)
A dancer sailing to Puerto Rico hides government messages in her tap routines.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Bert Lahr
BW-95 mins, CC,

The title was changed from "I'll Take Manila" to "Ship Ahoy" because the Philippines had already fallen to the Japanese in the war. The ship destination was changed from Manila to Puerto Rico, and the song "I'll Take Manila" was changed to "I'll Take Tallulah".


3:00 PM -- TEXAS CARNIVAL (1951)
A penniless carnival worker runs up a mountain of debts when he's mistaken for a millionaire.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Howard Keel
C-77 mins, CC,

At the time "Texas Carnival" was filmed, Red Norvo's trio included an African-American musician, bassist Charles Mingus, and when they recorded their number for this film (backing Ann Miller on "It's Dynamite&quot Mingus played on the soundtrack. But when the number was filmed MGM executives insisted that a white bassist substitute for Mingus on screen.


4:30 PM -- BATHING BEAUTY (1944)
A songwriter enrolls in an all-girl school to court a pretty gym teacher.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone
C-101 mins, CC,

The movie was initially to be titled "The Co-Ed" with Red Skelton having top billing. However, once MGM execs watched the first cut of the film, they realized that Esther Williams' role should be showcased more, and so changed the title to "Bathing Beauty", giving her top billing and featuring her bathing-suit clad figure on the posters.


6:15 PM -- NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER (1949)
Mistaken identity complicates a polo player's romance with a bathing suit designer.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban
C-93 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Frank Loesser for the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

A specially built, one-of-a-kind piano had been used during the early filming, but halfway through production it mysteriously disappeared from the set. Metro boss Louis B. Mayer was very upset at the lack of security and the increased production costs this would mean. Red Skelton told the studio head that he had an identical piano at home and would be willing to rent it to the studio. Mayer didn't believe him until Skelton drove him to his apartment to see it. An ecstatic Mayer offered $50 per diem for its use, but Red held out for $1000 a day. Faced with the prospect of keeping production waiting while a new one was built to order or reshooting the earlier scenes, Mayer capitulated. It never occurred to him that Skelton had stolen it with the aid of stagehands with whom he split the money.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: RED SKELTON



8:00 PM -- WHISTLING IN THE DARK (1941)
A radio detective is kidnapped and forced to plan the perfect murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford
BW-78 mins, CC,

When the New Jersey police refuse to believe the Fox's broadcast appeal for help is real, the chief says he isn't going to get fooled again. This refers to the famed War of the World's radio play by Orson Welle's Mercury Theater on the Air that "reported on" a Martian invasion in New Jersey.


9:30 PM -- WHISTLING IN DIXIE (1942)
A radio detective's southern honeymoon is cut short by the discovery of a murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, George Bancroft
BW-74 mins, CC,

This film did very well at the box office, earning MGM a profit of $542,000 ($8.1M in 2017) according to studio records.


11:00 PM -- WHISTLING IN BROOKLYN (1943)
A radio sleuth infiltrates the Brooklyn Dodgers to solve a murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Jean Rogers
BW-87 mins, CC,

During the baseball game Red Skelton gets into an argument with "Durocher" from the other team. That other player was, in fact, the real life legendary baseball player and manager Leo Durocher. When this movie was made in 1943, Leo Durocher was a player/manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers.


12:30 AM -- THE YELLOW CAB MAN (1950)
An inventor's unbreakable glass attracts the attention of businessmen and gangsters.
Dir: Jack Donohue
Cast: Red Skelton, Gloria De Haven, Walter Slezak
BW-84 mins, CC,

The film marked the final screen appearance of stage and screen actress Polly Moran, who began her film career in the silent era and who co-starred in several M-G-M comedies with Marie Dressler. Moran died in 1952.


2:15 AM -- DU BARRY WAS A LADY (1943)
A night club employee dreams he's Louis XV, and the star he idolizes is his lady love.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly
C-101 mins, CC,

MGM hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff dyed Lucille Ball's hair flame red for this film, the color that she kept for the rest of her life and became her trademark.


4:15 AM -- THE CLOWN (1953)
In this remake of The Champ, a drunken clown tries to make a comeback so he can keep his son.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Red Skelton, Jane Greer, Tim Considine
BW-91 mins, CC,

In part for its obvious publicity value, MGM had interest in casting Jackie Cooper's son John in the role his father had created in The Champ (1931) some twenty years before. He was favorably screen-tested and was to be billed as "Jackie Cooper Jr." But his father, well-versed in the pitfalls of child acting, objected to obligating the boy to a contract with the studio. Young Cooper was only six anyway, and his age made the casting a stretch, despite the good screen test. Tim Considine, several years older, was selected.