Whistling in Dixie (1942)

Radio sleuth Wally "The Fox" Benton forgoes his honeymoon to help his wife's old friend solve a murder and hunt for Civil War gold inside a spooky mansion and fort.

Director:

S. Sylvan Simon

Writers:

Nat Perrin (screenplay), Wilkie C. Mahoney (additional dialogue),

Stars:

Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, George Bancroft

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Red Skelton	...	Wally 'The Fox' Benton
Ann Rutherford	...	Carol Lambert
George Bancroft	...	Sheriff Claude Stagg
Guy Kibbee	...	Judge George Lee
Diana Lewis	...	Ellamae Downs
Peter Whitney	...	Frank V. Bailie
Rags Ragland	...	Chester Conway / Sylvester 'Lester' Conway (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Celia Travers	...	Hattie Lee
Lucien Littlefield	...	Corporal Lucken
Louis Mason	...	Deputy Lem
Mark Daniels	...	Martin Gordon
Pierre Watkin	...	Doctor
Emmett Vogan	...	Radio Producer
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Mr. Panky

Storyline

Radio sleuth Wally "the Fox" Benton travels to Georgia with his fiance Carol to be married, and to help Carol's college chum Ellie Mae solve a mystery involving a murdered man, old Fort Dixon and buried treasure.

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Plot Keywords:

fort | murder | old friend | sorority | georgia | 

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Taglines:

PUCKER UP!...and join the fun as the Radio crime buster becomes a belly-buster of laughs in the film's screamingest fun-fest!

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

'Salapoliisi' hädässä

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Loew's, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 17, 1943 with Red Skelton reprising his film role.

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Goofs

Crooked sheriff George Bancroft mentions to crooked D.A. Peter Whitney how they "growed up together." Bancroft was 60 when the film was released, but Whitney was only 26.

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Quotes

Carol Lambert: [Panicked] Oh, I hope I wake up in the morning and find it's all a dream!
Wally 'The Fox' Benton: I hope I wake up!

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Connections

References I Dood It (1943)

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Soundtracks

"Anvil Chorus"
(1853) (uncredited)
from "Il Trovatore"
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Variations in the score during the fight

User Reviews

The one that went south

Red Skelton played the radio sleuth known as "the Fox" in three comic mysteries of the early 1940s. All had the word "whistling" in the title.

This is the second of the three, and by far the weakest.

The first one, "Whistling in the Dark," was an excellent remake of the 1933 film of the same. The last one, "Whistling in Brooklyn," was an extremely enjoyable farce. I recommend both.

"Whistling in Dixie" can be funny at times, but too often it's boring. I suspect it was made simply because the title seemed irresistible. The phrase "whistling 'Dixie' " was popular American slang at the time. And Ann Rutherford, who co-starred as the Fox's love interest in all three movies, was best known for her role in a Southern epic, "Gone With the Wind."

This movie is full of corny "Southern" dialog, and there are some dated portrayals of African-Americans. Nothing here is any more more offensive than what you'd find in the typical 1940s film about the segregated South. But gosh, this kind of stuff was tired even then.

Skelton's slapstick routines are weaker than usual. He and Rags Ragland, his sidekick and foil in all three "Whistling" films, work very hard, but some of the material falls flat.

If this movie leaves you cold, don't rush to judgment. You may like the other two "Whistling" entries, because they are much better. And if you love this one, you will definitely want to see the other two.