Whistling in the Dark (1941)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

S. Sylvan Simon

Writers:

Laurence Gross (play) and
Edward Childs Carpenter (play) ...

Release Date:

8 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery

Tagline:

WE'VE ROLLED OUT THE WELCOME MAT FOR 1941'S KING OF FUN!

Plot:

The operators of 'Silver Haven', a cultish group bilking gullible rich people out of money, is set to...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Radio | Heir | Murder Plot | Deception

Cast

Red Skelton	...	Wally Benton
Conrad Veidt	...	Joseph Jones
Ann Rutherford	...	Carol Lambert
Virginia Grey	...	'Fran' Post
Rags Ragland	...	Sylvester (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Henry O'Neill	...	Philip Post
Eve Arden	...	'Buzz' Baker
Paul Stanton	...	Jennings
Donald Douglas	...	Gordon Thomas (as Don Douglas)
Don Costello	...	'Noose' Green
William Tannen	...	Robert Graves
Reed Hadley	...	Beau Smith
Mariska Aldrich	...	Hilda
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Harvey Upshaw
George M. Carleton	...	Deputy Commissioner O'Neill (as George Carleton)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7550) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 19 January 1932 and had 265 performances. The opening night cast included Edward Arnold, Claire Trevor, Ernest Truex and Arthur Vinton.

Quotes:

Wally 'The Fox' Benton: I've got cold spines running up and down my chills.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

You'll Part in Radiant Contentment

There are 3 of these movies, all similarly crafted and each extremely amusing. Red plays radio sleuth Wally Benton, aka The Fox who gets wrangled into solving real life crimes along with his fiance played by your typical wartime girl next door looker, Ann Rutherford. Many of the one-liners and gags are dumb and probably were in the 1940s which I anticipated. But, just as many actually made me laugh out loud, which was unexpected to say the least. Red Skelton has a surprisingly strong screen presence, surprising I say because I grew up with a much older version of the man who's charm really didnt play well in my formidable years. I have to give these movies the go ahead though -if your in the mood for this type of nostalgic fare. I almost threw in light hearted, but in truth people get wasted and beaten up and dare i say it, the suspense at times is well above average. As with most movies from this era, it gets a PI (politically incorrect) rating for reasons you can well imagine. Wartime is funny that way I guess, and so then again are these movies. Watch one, watch them all.