A Southern Yankee (1948)

A hapless bellboy in a St. Louis hotel near the end of the Civil War is recruited by the Union secret service to impersonate a notorious Confederate spy.

Director:

Edward Sedgwick

Writers:

Melvin Frank (story), Norman Panama (story)

Stars:

Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Dahl

Cast

Credited cast:
Red Skelton	...	Aubrey Filmore
Brian Donlevy	...	Kurt Devlynn
Arlene Dahl	...	Sallyann Weatharby
George Coulouris	...	Maj. Jack Drumman aka The Grey Spider
Lloyd Gough	...	Capt. Steve Lorford
John Ireland	...	Capt. Jed Calbern
Minor Watson	...	Gen. Watkins
Charles Dingle	...	Col. Weatherby
Art Baker	...	Col. Clifford M. Baker
Reed Hadley	...	Fred Munsey
Arthur Space	...	Mark Haskins
Joyce Compton	...	Hortense Dobson
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Byron Foulger	...	Mr. Duncan (scenes deleted)
Edward Gargan	...	Male Nurse (scenes deleted)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Capt. Jeffreys (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Aubrey Filmore (Red Skelton) is a bumbling bellboy in a Missouri town who pesters the Union officers there; he desperately wants to be a spy for the North in the American Civil War. When Filmore accidentally waylays an infamous Confederate spy known as "The Grey Spider" and is mistaken for him by the Rebels, the Union brass see it as an opportunity for real espionage - and though Filmore is a coward as well as a fool, his real motivation for derring-do is a sweet Southern girl named Sallyann, whom he will see again behind Southern lines.

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Plot Keywords:

riding a horse backwards | slapstick comedy | spy | secret service | st. louis | 

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Taglines:

See Red in a Union Suit with Southern Exposure!

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Genres:

Comedy | History | War | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 August 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Superspion

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,482,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

No one could figure out a simple, yet funny way to get Aubrey out of the house when he was being held captive by the angry dog. Buster Keaton, employed by MGM as a roving gag man, was called to the set, looked at the set up, and came up with the idea of removing the door hinges and letting the dog in as Aubrey got out. The most famous gag in the movie took Keaton all of five minutes to devise. Buster also contributed other gags some of which he'd done himself years earlier.

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Goofs

The identity of the Gray Spider is allegedly only known by Generals Lee, Johnson, and Jackson. Stonewall Jackson had actually died two years earlier in 1863.

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Quotes

Aubrey Filmore: I'm dying for a smoke.
Kurt Devlynn: [Envisioning his execution by firing squad] Don't worry. You'll be smokin' later.

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Connections

Referenced in The Court Jester (1955)

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Soundtracks

Oh! Susanna
(uncredited)
Composed by Stephen Foster (1848)
Instrumental version used as leitmotif under titles ad sung briefly by Skelton and Dahl.

User Reviews

Morning Electra

As a fan of old films I always look for the character actors. This film has a lot of notable ones: John Ireland, George Colouris, Reed Hadley (what a voice), Art Baker, Louise Beavers, Charles Dingle, Paul Harvey, and many others. This movie has a mix of slapstick, stunt gags, screwball comedy, and one-liners like "Morning Electra". I must admit I enjoy these no-limit comedies.

Red Skelton and Bob Hope and Danny Kaye often did scaredy-cat but bluffing buffoon type characters in films. Skelton expanded this by adding his usual rubber-faced over-reacting but he managed to get away with it.