Red Skelton spent more than a dozen years as a star at MGM, appearing in some very funny movies, particularly when S.Sylvan Simon was his director and Buster Keaton his gag man.Here he is in his movie try-out.... for Warner Brothers' Vitagraph unit, under the probably exasperated direction of Roy Mack.
There are a couple of other acts in this two-reeler set largely in a night club where half the staff is Red. The Merry Macs sing a close-harmony swing version of "Down By The Old Mill Stream", there's a nice comedy dance act called "Harris & Shore", and a couple of other acts -- which Red introduces -- but it's mostly the Old Redhead doing some of his narrated pantomime, like how to eat corn on the cob.
These routines would become classics on his long-running television show. Still, it's nice to see them early on.
There are a couple of other acts in this two-reeler set largely in a night club where half the staff is Red. The Merry Macs sing a close-harmony swing version of "Down By The Old Mill Stream", there's a nice comedy dance act called "Harris & Shore", and a couple of other acts -- which Red introduces -- but it's mostly the Old Redhead doing some of his narrated pantomime, like how to eat corn on the cob.
These routines would become classics on his long-running television show. Still, it's nice to see them early on.