Back in 1933, Ernest Truex starred in "Whistling in the Dark" and it was a charming little comedy/mystery. Eight years later, the film was remade with Red Skelton and is the much more famous version of the story--though I prefer the original. Despite my preference, the Skelton film was so popular that it resulted in two sequels...first "Whistling in Dixie" and then "Whistling in Brooklyn".A series of murders have occurred and the police are baffled. However, when radio personality Wally Benton (Skelton) seems to know too many details about the killings, they assume he's the killer. Suddenly, cops are pouring out of the woodwork to arrest the guy. At first, he thinks that it's all a gag. After all, he and his fiancé (Ann Rutherford) are on their way to get married and his co- workers are always playing tricks on him. However, when he realizes they are firing REAL bullets, he and his girl and his idiot chauffeur are on the run. Soon, they are not just dodging the police but crooks as well and EVERYBODY seems to want to kill him.The best part of the film is towards the end, where Wally pretends to be a baseball player in order to alert the police who the real killer is. But he has to be disguised and sports a beard...and knows nothing about playing ball. But, miraculously, all the stupid things he does seem to work! Overall, enjoyable and pretty much more of the same for the short-lived franchise.

This was the third and final of the "Whistling In..." series of B movies starring the young Red Skelton. And in my view, it's the best, although "Whistling In The Dark" (the first in the series) was darned good. This series was the first time Skelton got top billing in a film, and he really makes the most of it. MGM "got" what Red Skelton did best in this early series. Unfortunately, later they forgot what he did best, and although his performances in musical comedies are interesting, it's when it's pure comedy that he best succeeds.Red plays Wally Benton again here -- radio's "The Fox" -- a detective yarn. This time he gets mixed up with the "Constant Reader"...someone who tells of impeding deaths. For a while, the police think he is Constant Reader. So, the police are after Benton (Red), as are the gangsters.Ann Rutherford is along again as the love interest, with Jean Rogers as her competition. Both ladies excel. Rags Ragland is the buddy again here, as he was in the second and third films, although here his role seems a bit diminished. Venerable character actors Ray Collins (later in "Perry Mason") and Henry O'Neill have decent roles here. William Frawley has a minor role as a detective.Lots of slapstick here, and it all works quite well. Tune in for Red in his third starring role. But, three times was enough. Time to move on after this third installment.

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.

This is the third and funniest of Red Skelton's "Whistling" movies about the murderous misadventures of Wally Benton, actor, who plays most of the roles on radio's mystery show, "The Fox". It is a breakneck farce. Skelton and a horde of comedians race their ways through a tale about how Wally is mistaken for a suspected serial murderer when all he wants to do is go on his honeymoon with Anne Rutherford -- and who could blame him? S. Sylvan Simon, one of MGM's terrific B talents, directed. His specialty was high speed farce and he pulls things off here at a terrific pace. Simon is largely forgotten. He had just produced the movie version of BORN YESTERDAY when he died suddenly at age 41 in 1951. He directed Skelton in four of his movies and knew how to get a good comic performance out of that talented clown.Skelton had a successful career in the movies, simultaneously with his radio and television gigs from the late 1930s through the mid-50s. His movies are unfamiliar to most people because his contract called for extra fees to him when his movies played on television! Fortunately, they play fairly often now on Turner Classic movies. Do yourself a favor and see this one.