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Released by: Warner Archive
Relesed on: 6/1/2010
Direcotr: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Red Skelton
Year: 1941-1942
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The Movies:
In the early forties, Red Skelton, at the height of his popularity, appeared in three films directed by S. Sylvan Simon. Warner Brothers, through their Warner Archive library of DVD-R titles, has released the three 'Whistling' films in one set titled, appropriately enough, the Red Skelton Whistling Collection.
Whistling In The Dark (1941)
This 1941 MGM production directed by S. Sylvan Simon was the first of the three Red Skelton pictures to cast the actor as Wally 'The Fox' Benton, a man who makes a living writing and acting murder mystery plays for a radio audience. When the movie begins, poor Wally finds himself kidnapped by a cult leader named Joseph Jones (Conrad Veidt) who runs an organization called Silver Haven. Jones, who is holding him under duress, wants Wally to help him plan the perfect murder which will get rid of a rich old lady whose fortune he stands to inherit. He figures that since Wally is so gosh-darned good at writing murder mysteries that he'll be the perfect guy to help him plan his crime. If Wally refuses, Jones has threatened to kill his girlfriend, Carol Lambert (Ann Rutherford).
Based on the play of the same name written by Laurence Gross and Edward Childs Carpenter, Whistling In The Dark is a good old fashioned comedy with some fairly effective moments of suspense. While obviously Skelton is meant to be the star of the show, Ann Rutherford provides plenty of classic old Hollywood eye candy and gets a few good lines of her own and Conrad Veidt is excellent, overshadowing everyone else, as the sinister cult leader forcing Wally's hand. There's enough style to the visuals that the movie looks fairly good too, even if it doesn't really benefit from particularly extravagant sets or production values.
The strength of the film lies in the writing and the delivery of the dialogue and on that level, it's pretty admirable. The entire cast do very well with the pace and keep the comedy coming at a constant enough level that, while at times it's a bit cliché and maybe even predictable to a modern audience, it's never dull and is consistently entertaining.
Whistling In Dixie (1942)
When Whistling In The Dark did well at the box office, MGM quickly teamed Skelton and Sylvan back up for a second crack at the mysterious world of Wally Benton. When the film begins, Wally and Carol (Skelton and Rutherford again) are heading off to Georgia to tie the knot. No longer content to exist as boyfriend and girlfriend they're hearing wedding bells. Of course, that's not the only reason they're travelling. You see, Carol's old college pal, Ellie Mae (Diana Lewis), knows of a murder involving a strange old man and a whole lot of gold and that's something that The Fox cannot resist.
The same kind of snappy dialogue and goofy facial expressions that Skelton had become known for at this point are in full swing here, along with a fair bit more physical comedy than we saw in the first one. It's a considerably goofier picture than Whistling In The Dark, itself a picture never intended to be taken seriously, and like its predecessor it moves along at a good pace. Skelton and Rutherford are just as good here as they were a year earlier and once the action moves to a creepy old gothic mansion, there's a fair bit of atmosphere as well.
Whistling Through Brooklyn (1943)
The third and final film in the series brings Wally, who still hasn't married poor Carol (again played by Skelton and Rutherford), en route to Niagara Falls where they hope to get some romance on only to have their plans thwarted when the police finger Wally for a murderer. Since Wally has been 'outed' as a newspaper letter writer dubbed 'Constant Reader' - a mysterious type with a knack for solving crimes before the cops - they figure they only way he could know what 'Constant Reader' has known was if he were the killer himself. The chase is on, and before you know it, Wally is running through Brooklyn trying to clear his name.
The comedy here is really more of the same. If you enjoyed the first two films, you'll dig these two as Skelton and company don't really do much to try and break the mold. What makes this one more interesting than the other two is the footage of early forties Brooklyn, what with all the warehouses and industrial buildings in the area at the time, a far cry from how parts of the borough have shaped up in modern times. This gives the movie some interesting historical/time capsule value, particularly towards the end where Skelton finds himself face to face with… The Brooklyn Dodgers!
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.33.1 fullframe black and white image looks about as good as could reasonably be expected given that the three films presented here haven't been given a full restoration and, like the rest of the Warner Archive titles, were simply mastered from the best materials that the studio had on hand (which in this case happened to be existing video masters and not film source prints). Contrast fluctuates here and there and it doesn't take make effort to spot the scratches and mild print damage that appears throughout the presentation, but otherwise the progressive scan image looks okay considering that some of this material is seventy plus years old.
The same comments apply to the Dolby Digital Mono audio track. You can understand things without having to strain your ears and the levels are well balanced, but these shorts do show their age. Background Hiss and pops are fairly common and there's a bit of waver and some audible distortion noticeable mostly in the higher end of the mix. The audio is serviceable, however. No alternate language dubs or subtitle options are supplied.
There are standard menu screens and episode selection, but aside from that, not much else though trailers for each of the three films have been included.
The Final Word:
The transfers aren't going to win any awards but they're certainly watchable enough and more than a step up from the old, worn VHS tapes that were released years back. As far as the features go, they're each a solid slice of entertaining light comedy. Completely inoffensive and prone to slapstick, they may not be everyone's cup of tea but Skelton's fans will certainly enjoy seeing him doing what he does best throughout the three pictures.