The Fuller Brush Man (1948) User Reviews

Post War Euphoria, Hollywood Style

[redryan64 · 8/10 · 17 June 2002]

With the making of THE FULLER BRUSH MAN, Edward Small/Columbia Pictures,(1948) the period of the global hostilities of World War II is officially put to rest by Hollywood.The situations, the humor, the settings are all pointing to the theme of making a living and getting on with the newly won PEACE. There are no references to hostilities,rationing, the draft, nor any 'New Deal' Federal programs.The only connection to the previous wartime situation is the plot line involving the war surplus industry and the crooked individuals (in the story) fraudulently manipulating it.

This was probably thought to be a 'Small' picture in more ways than one by MGM, the big studio that lent out young star under contract, Red Skelton, for the lead;perhaps much in the same way that they had lent Clark Gable to Columbia & Frank Capra for 1934's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. While it's true that Red did not come back to his home studio with the Oscar as did Gable (Best Actor),Capra(Best Director),Claudette Colbert (Best Actress), Robert Riskin (Best Writing Adaptation) and the Movie(Best Picture) did, but he did give a comic performance that, in this writer's opinion topped his previous outings at MGM.

Mr.Skelton had starred in the 3 comedies, WHISTLING IN THE DARK, WHISTLING IN DIXIE and WHISTLING IN BROOKLYN, all with the same Director (S.Sylvan Simon), but was never used better or was not funnier on the screen.

The film, like the previously mentioned Skelton vehicles, has no pretensions about it.It's there to make us laugh. And it succeeds in a most thorough manner,bringing in post war elements such as having to wait for automobiles and home appliances to be made, but placing orders first.The coming on the scene of Television is included. The highlight of the film is a cartoon-like chase toward the end of the picture.(As silly as it may be, my wife and myself were in stitches over it!) Otherwise the story is bright, cheerful,hopeful and looks toward much happier, more prosperous days following the great World War II.

Helter Skelton

[robert-temple-1 · 6/10 · 4 October 2008]

Red Skelton was one of the most famous and best-loved comedians in America from the 1940s to 1971. Everybody was always talking about him and looking forward to his TV show every week. He was a national icon. He played a lovable simple fool, in the tradition of Harry Langdon and Stan Laurel. His remarkable comic abilities were never properly captured in his films because there were never enough closeups for us to see the details of his comedic effects. For instance, in this film there is one wonderful scene where he thrusts his lower jaw out more than one could think possible and impersonates someone who wanted to help his friend by 'being a spare ashtray'. The trouble is, we get to see this only in badly lit long shots! This film was the fourth time Skelton was directed by S. Sylan Simon, who made one more film and died tragically at the age of only 41. But Simon never did justice to Skelton's special qualities, and Skelton's producers also saw him as just a useful clown. In fact, with proper handling and loving attention by an inspired director, Skelton could have achieved high art, of which he was well capable, since he was a a truly great clown. In this film, his girl friend who is a perfect foil was the lively Janet Blair, just as American as apple pie and absolutely right for 1948. The script has some great gags in it. At one point, where Skelton is being used as 'allure practice' by a siren, she says to him: 'I usually have men eating out of my hand.' Skelton replies with childlike innocence: 'I've already had my lunch.' Maybe nobody remembers any more about Fuller brush salesmen, but they used to be everywhere. There were more of them than neighbourhood cats and dogs. Yes, they really existed, and 'get in the door' was their motto, just as in this film. The Fuller Brush Company really existed too, and maybe the producer got a big product placement bonus in his pocket, or his studio did. This film was so successful, it was followed by 'The Fuller Brush Woman', starring the wacky Lucille Ball. Certainly Fuller brushes were familiar to every American, in the way that Tupperware was. This film has a spectacular closing chase sequence with some truly amazing sight gags, a few of which rival Buster Keaton's, but they are filmed so badly that much of their impact is lost. Whoever designed them was brilliant. It is a very long and very astonishing sequence which anyone interested in such things really needs to see. I found myself wishing it could all be recreated and shot properly. What was lacking from Skelton's films was the care and imagination to match his innate genius. But if you like Skelton and want to see him in top form, watch this one. The fact that it could have been so much better is something you just have to put up with. It may be corny, but it is never dull.

Poor Red; What Abuse He Takes!

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 25 March 2009]

Wow, this movie wore me out. It was almost non-stop slapstick action....actually too much; it could have used some lulls. Still, there were tons of funny moments.

Red Skeleton, in the starring role, provides most of the laughs with some corny-but-great lines and wonderful slapstick sight gags. Red, himself, must have been exhausted making this film.

My favorite parts were in the beginning when he gives door-to-door selling a chance. His mentor and nemesis "Keenan" (Don McGuire), sets him up with the worst houses on the block and poor Red takes a verbal and physical beating, even from a little kid! It's actually painful to see such a nice guy, such an Innocent human being, get treated so poorly by everyone. He can't catch a break, including making points with his wannabe girlfriend "Ann" (Janet Blair).

The break comes, of course, at the end and after a lot of chaos when Red inadvertently becomes involved in a murder and has to clear his name. You know Red, somehow, is going to pull through a ton of messy situations, even though it looks bad for him at least a hundred times!

This film, and "The Fuller Brush Girl" with Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert, have never been put on DVDs and that's a shame. It would make a nice double-feature disc.

By the way, when was the last time anyone saw a Fuller Brush man at their doorstep?

Frantic screwball with the Tashlin touch...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 13 November 2009]

The opening scenes of "The Fuller Brush Man" are hardly promising: Red Skelton, playing a ne'er-do-well who can't hold a job, hopes to impress his lady-love with his skills as a door-to-door salesman, not knowing that he's been sent to the worst neighborhood in town by his adversary, his gal's other boyfriend. Seeing charming Skelton (with his happy chatter and lilting walk) being set-up as a chump is awfully sour, and the slapstick chaos which ensues isn't funny as a result. Thankfully, writer Frank Tashlin quickly gets off this baleful track, turning the proceedings instead into a comedic murder mystery, with Red one of the suspects in the killing of his former boss. The new plot thread--while neither original nor ingenious--does allow Skelton lots of funny business as an actor, with Janet Blair the perfect counterpart to Red's unintentional hero. The wild, free-for-all finale in a warehouse has staging and stunt-work as good as anything from the silent era, if not better. No wonder this was a box-office smash in 1948--it leaves the audience with a succession of happy highs. Followed two years later by "The Fuller Brush Girl". *** from ****

Funny But Over-Done At Times

[dougdoepke · 7 October 2019]

A bumbling sanitation worker can't seem to hold a job or his girl, so she gets him a job as a door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman. But can he with his madcap ways hold on to it, and just as importantly win his girl away from his slickster competition.

I hope Red and Janet got extra pay for all those stunts they do at the bang-up climax. In fact, the 15-minutes of non-stop acrobatics may set a slapstick Hollywood record. I really liked the first part where the bumbling Red goes door to door trying to sell his Fuller brushes. The comedic potential of Red and behind-the-door surprises promises a comedic gold mine. However, the screenplay soon transitions into a murder mystery and from there into a lengthy chase ending in a war surplus warehouse and a wildly acrobatic finale. Of course, there's a lot of funny stuff in the latter two, but still there's little chance to catch your breath between stunts. Piling stunts on like that, to me, lessens the chance of enjoying particularly funny ones. My guess is that ex-Disney cartoonist Frank Tashlin was behind these bouncing, swinging, belly-flop antics. They seem right up his alley.

Anyway, Red proves one of the liveliest comics around, while Blair does a lot more than stand around looking pretty. Still, I'm wondering if Columbia owed sexy blonde vixen Jergens a payday since she sort of drops in and out but still leaves her vampish mark. All in all, it's a funny, if at times over-done, Skelton feature. He's at his peak during this period and there's nobody quite like him, so stay tuned. It may not be his best comedy, but it's sure to tease the funny bone in his inimitable style.

Red runs away from home and hits the jackpot!

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 6 November 2012]

You like films that make you laugh so much that your stomach hurts? Then, this is your film. Red Skelton, on loan to Columbia from MGM, strikes gold. As the title suggests, he's a salesman selling brushes, but it is not all sugar and cream for him. His girlfriend Janet Blair's supposed male friend (Don McGuire) gives Skelton the opportunity to sell brushes, setting him up to fail so he can move in on Blair. Skelton and Blair get involved in murder with hysterical results.

The movie is overabundant with hysterically funny gags straight out of vaudeville, and it is amazing how many of them work. The initial selling sequences are filled with gags straight out of the classic shorts that influenced the first wave of television sitcoms. Skelton hysterically deals with a rascally kid with a speech impediment, a temperamental actress out to vamp him (Adele Jergens), and finally, the gardeners of the man who had him fired from his job who ends up becoming the unfortunate murder victim. A hysterical sequence in Skelton's kitchen (straight out of the state room sequence from "A Night at the Opera") follows with a group of suspects and of course, a riotously funny finale in a warehouse.

Like its even more outrageous follow-up, "The Fuller Brush Girl", the film was headway for a funny redhead to move into greater success on television.

A very good Skelton effort

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 19 August 2016]

I've seen most of Red Skelton's films, so I can safely say that this is one of his better films. It's not his best, mostly because his character was goofy but not as sweet as likable as he was in some of his other pictures...plus the end seem to go on a bit long. Still, it's enjoyable and you could do a lot worse!

When the film begins, Red (Red Skelton) is a total loser who wants to marry his sweetie (Janet Blair). However, she is a realist and knows that Red can't hold a job...and their marriage would be doomed. When he fired from yet another job, he decides he wants to become a Fuller Brush man...selling brushes door to door. Oddly, about a third of the way into the movie, the plot changes dramatically---and Red is pulled into a murder mystery. And, to make it worse, the cops think he's the most likely suspect. Can he, with the help of his girl, manage to find out what really happened and prove his innocence?

This film is pleasant and fun. As I mentioned above, the ending was a bit of a disappointment as Red's fight with the baddies took very long--too long. It was full of stunts and folks getting bonked on the head. I would have preferred one or two less bonks! Still, it is a lot better than many of his films with MGM where the studio insisted on placing this comic in musicals--which wasted his many talents.

One of the best of the Skelton film comedies

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 9 March 2012]

All those wonderful years Red Skelton spent with MGM...lots of funny gags in many of their musicals. But, MGM didn't get comedy movies. They got humor in ,usicals, but they didn't get making movies that were out-and-out comedies. This, however -- when he was lent out to Columbia -- is one of his best comedies.

The plot is simple -- can the goofy guy win the girl of his dreams (Janet Blair) by becoming a successful Fuller Brush Man...even if murder enters the picture.

There's a succession of funny segments, first when Red gets fired as a street cleaner after setting fire to the city park and then smashing up the commissioner's car. Then there's an extended segment where he first tries being a brush salesmen and meets a different challenge at ever door...including a (if not the) Mean Widdle Kid. In fact, fans of the old Red Skelton television shows will recognize a numbers of lines and skits that became standards for Red. During the period, Buster Keaton was often off-camera in Skelton movies, and while I found no evidence of Keaton working on this film, you'll see his influence in some of the bits. There are some great sight gags in the "chase scene" at the end of the flick.

This is very much Red's picture. Janet Blair does her job here, but it's nothing special. Hillary Brooke, quite active in Abbot & Costello films, does rather nicely here. And, Arthur Space is one of those character actors whose name you probably don't know, but he does nicely here at the police detective.

If you like slapstick comedy, get this one for your DVD shelf. SONY has done a decent job here in terms of the transfer to DVD.

Fuller Brush man accused of murder

[CCsito · 7/10 · 20 August 2009]

The movies has Red Skelton playing an accident prone person who tries to succeed as a Fuller Brush Man. His girlfriend is at the breaking point from his employment failures and gives him another chance. There is another Fuller Brush man salesman who is Red's rival for the girl's affections. The movie has many sight gags and funny events happening to Red as he attempts to sell the brushes to potential customers. Red has a run in with the local sanitation director and damages his car. He is later unknowingly sent to the sanitation director's home where a murder later occurs and Red becomes the prime murder suspect. Red is trailed by the police and the other people who were present at the murder scene. A slapstick chase ensues as Red and his girlfriend are pursued by thugs who are attempting to retrieve the murder weapon. After a rather frenzied chase inside a warehouse area, the authorities are called in and arrest the actual murderer (who Red actually pointed out at the initial murder scene). There are quite a few laughs in the movie, although I thought the final chase scene had some redundant and somewhat lame action sequences. There is also a funny sequence when Red is at his home and then keeps getting guests arriving who were at the murder scene and he has to keep juggling the arrivals around. I thought that the storyline ended without the other cast of characters a bit too early and didn't include the other suspects at the end of the film.

Red Skeleton's Best Movie

[denscul · 9/10 · 9 November 2006]

Even if your not a fan of slap stick or Skeleton's trademark corn this movie captures the best of Skelton in a great comedy. This movie launched his entry into TV and his series still ranks as one of the longest lived. Critics of the show would pan Skelton's unabashed corn, but the Fuller Brush Man was a classic comedy, done as well as your average Marx Brother's work. If you had to pick one Skeleton movie as his best, this is the one.

The movie begins with Red's complete failures in life and love. Unlike many of his movies and later TV roles, this movie show Skeleton as an actor who could show the pathos of his character. As a fuller brush salesman (a common fixture in the 40's and 50's), the occupation fits perfectly with Red's character as the proverbial pesty door to door salesman. Well on his way to another failure in life, Red gets involved in a murder that seems funnier and more convincing than his previous roles as a slap stick detective. The scenes in the WWII surplus wharehouse are both funny and extraordinarily well done. No computer generated action scenes, just excellent stunt work. If you like happy and funny endings, this movie will not disappoint.

Those brushes from Fuller

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 9 August 2016]

Harry Cohn must have ponied up big to Louis B. Mayer for the services of his number one comic star Red Skelton. But the results were definitely worthwhile with The Fuller Brush Man.

Back in the 40s there were 3 things sold door to door by intrepid salesmen, encyclopedias, vacuum cleaners, and those brushes from Fuller. As sleazy Don McGuire points out to Red it takes personality which Red has, but not to sell anything but laughs.

Red's previous job before Fuller was a sanitation worker, but he insults Sanitation Commissioner Nicholas Joy and later is present in the house when Joy is murdered. One of Red's brushes is the weapon, but how it was used I can't say. Red was in a houseful of suspects and he looks like just the patsy for good size frame.

Columbia put three of its best female contract players with Red. Janet Blair plays the girl McGuire keeps trying to steal from him. Hillary Brooke and Adele Jergens were at the murder scene, a pair of femme fatales if I ever saw one.

In fact there's more than one and one obviously clichéd murderer as well.

The Fuller Brush Man has two good scenes. The first is in Red's apartment where he's trying to keep Blair, Brooke, Jergens and others apart from each other and the cops. Second is a madcap chase through a warehouse with everyone else chasing Red and Janet.

I hope Louis B. Mayer got enough money to offset what Columbia took in for The Fuller Brush Man. A lot of laughs, a must for Skelton fans.

Outstanding teaming of Skelton and Tashlin

[16mmRay · 9/10 · 22 August 2008]

THE FULLER BRUSH MAN is, hands-down, Red Skelton's best film. The script is tight and packed solid with one liners. The supporting cast, especially Janet Blair and Don McGuire, are very personable (McGuire in a greasy sort of way, of course!). The scenario is perfectly balanced between the first half wherein Red tries to make something of himself and the second half after which a murder is committed in the home of the sanitation commissioner who fired Skelton. Like Sylvan Simon's WHISTLING pictures, there is an extended set-piece - this time in Red's apartment. But unlike the MGM comedies (poor MGM, they tried at comedy) the cutting, camera-work and staging are more fluid. And funnier. BUT all this is but a build-up to one of the great chase finales in pictures. And here is where co-scenarist Frank Tashlin really shows his stuff. The chase is a raucous knockabout affair with the gangsters, all played by top stunt players such as Dave Sharpe and Bud Wolfe, bounce and tumble like the Keystone Kops. And what really sells the chase is Heinz Roemheld's dizzy, pizzicato scoring. It is perfectly punctuated and wraps the entire finale up into a three-ring circus act. It is very interesting to compare the chase finale in FULLER BRUSH MAN to the chase finale in THE YELLOW CAB MAN. The latter sequence was scored by MGM cartoon music maestro Scott Bradley. But for some unconscionable reason, Bradley's music was completely dropped from the finale. Talked about a scotched opportunity. Never mind. See THE FULLER BRUSH MAN. It's Red's best.

Red Sells Brushes

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 19 August 2009]

Red Skelton finds a job as a door-to-door salesman while courting Janis Paige. The story turns into a murder mystery. That's about it.

The script was by Frank Tashlin, who went on to direct a couple of very amusing comedies, including "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter." It's not clear who the intended audience is in this instance.

I remember seeing it as a kid and laughing throughout, as I did at most of Red Skelton's movie -- and Abbot and Costello, for that matter. But I saw things then as through a glass redly, or rosily, and now that I am a man I have put away that particular child-like faculty along with my unbroken collection of Action Comics.

It strikes me now as more silly than funny. Red Skelton marches down the sidewalk to appropriately pompous music, steps on a child's skate, and falls down. (The editor holds on the scene for several seconds, allowing the laughs in the audience die down.) Danny Kaye's comedies of the same period have held up much better. So have some of Red Skelton's. "A Southern Yankee" is still good for laughs.

Withal, there's an endearing innocence about the production. Nobody's sense of humor was designed to exceed the age of fourteen. The gags we've seen a hundred times on television sit comes may have been relatively fresh. Skelton has a mobile face and does mime well. And the slapstick chase through a war surplus warehouse at the end is exciting enough to entertain almost everyone.

It would be nice to check this out on an eleven-year-old child and see if he or she laughs or whether an abundance of sit coms and cartoons have made their sensibilities harden and their demands more challenging.

Great action and slap-stick film for Skelton, a dandy 4O's classic-comedy..

[JRobert · 9/10 · 27 October 1998]

Red Skelton could entertain you just with his funny faces, clown like slap-stick pratfalls and knock=about comedy. He was at his best in this fast-action b/w feature that also had in a role as a henchman, great little stunt man, Dave Sharpe. (Watch the wonderful knocks and tumbles during the chase and fight scenes at the end..)And who indeed is the killer of this murder-mystery plot woven into the gags and bang-up routines? Many of the younger movie fans today will understand why Red was a favorite of so many back in the 4O's movies and then later on radio and then on TV,after viewing this one...

What a wonderful movie! RED's BEST!

[Enrique-Sanchez-56 · 10/10 · 3 July 2011]

I saw this on TV in the 60s when Red's weekly show brought us such wonderful laughs and memories. For me, there was only one other TV funny man besides him (the great one-Jackie Gleason). So TV comedies made an impact on me and my sensibilities.

But the one Skeleton MOVIE which I have always remembered was this movie and the remarkably fun-filled finale in the war surplus warehouse! I finally watched it again on TV again after soooo many years. And by golly, the memory of all of the gags all came back to me and I enjoyed it even more this time. I am sure that the endless gags and funny sequences were copied by scores of comedies.

These are the types of movies, with their innocent fun and optimism which helped to form my personality and character for the rest of my life.

Oh woe to the current generation who never had these movies in their consciousness. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be a product of these wholesome movies.

Thank you, Red, wherever you are. You were very special to me, indeed.

Way too many pratfalls and humorless dialog make a dull comedy

[SimonJack · 4/10 · 1 March 2023]

Having recently seen a vey good, witty and funny comedy, I was expecting something very funny from Red Skelton in "The Fuller Brush Man." But what a disappointment and a dud of a film. It's a stretch to give it four stars, and I do so just for the patience of Janet Blair sticking it out in the filming, and for a very active, frenzied and somewhat funny ending. But, it's hardly worth it to suffer thru 75 minutes of mostly pratfall after pratfall after pratfall by Skelton.

One or two pratfalls in succession in some films can be quite funny. But when that's all there is - no funny or clever dialog to go with it or to fill out the film, these things become boring and aggravating after a while. I have seen some other films with Skelton, when he's not the lead role, and he was quite good. More than that, I remember watching The Red Skelton Hour on TV when he had some wonderful comedy.

I know that Red had his following in his day, and that he was very funny in his imitations and some of his different roles - Freddie the Freeloader and Clem Kadiddlehopper. But his character here, with a very sparse script, and his never-ending round of failures and goofs just doesn't generate much laughter at all.