Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself. Director:S. Sylvan Simon |
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Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself. Director:S. Sylvan Simon |
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| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Red Skelton | ... | ||
| Ann Rutherford | ... | ||
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Jean Rogers | ... |
Jean Pringle
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Rags Ragland | ... |
Chester
(as 'Rags' Ragland)
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| Ray Collins | ... |
Grover Kendall
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Henry O'Neill | ... |
Inspector Holcomb
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| William Frawley | ... |
Detective Ramsey
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Sam Levene | ... |
Creeper
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Arthur Space | ... |
Detective MacKenzie
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Robert Emmett O'Connor | ... |
Detective Leo Finnigan
(as Robert Emmet O'Connor)
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Steven Geray | ... |
Whitey
(as Steve Geray)
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| Howard Freeman | ... |
Steve Conlon
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Tom Dillon | ... |
Manager of the Beavers
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The Brooklyn Dodgers | ... |
Brooklyn Baseball Players
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Wally Benton, "The Fox," master detective on radio, is about to go with his sweetheart to Niagara Falls in order to get married. Unknown to him, his valet has told a newspaper reporter that Benton is "Constant Reader," someone who has sent information to newspapers about murdered people and where to find their bodies, thus making the police look bad. The police are sure that "Constant Reader" is the murderer himself, since no one else could know all of the details. And so they begin a chase after Benton, a chase which leads to old abandoned warehouses and old abandoned mansions. Wally is being chased not only by the police but also by the real "Constant Reader." Can he save his girl, his assistant, and the reporter and solve the crime before either the villain or the police, who have been told to shoot on sight, kill them all? Written by Jim Knoppow <jknoppow@sttl.uswest.net>
The gags fly thick and fast in this, the last of Skelton's Whistling series for MGM. The pace is so hectic you may have to check your fast-forward. But the first half-hour is near hilarious with the usual Skelton mugging and pratfalls, backed up by experts Rags Ragland and Ann Rutherford, along with clever quips galore, so stay tuned. As usual, the plot amounts to little more than a convenient hat-rack on which to hang Skelton's usual brand of madcap. And what better fare for wartime audiences than a chance to escape the horrors with this slapstick whirlwind. I really did wonder how they would escape the elevator shaft, one of those great moments when you don't know whether to laugh or hide your eyes. And, yes, that is Jean Rogers as the reporter, on a break from Ming the Merciless and his serial effort at conquering the universe and Flash Gordon all in the same breath. There's also a chance to scope out Ebbetts Field and the Brooklyn Dodgers before both were torn down and shipped to LA. All in all, good period fun, even this many years later.