Pirdy is accident prone. He has been denied insurance from every company in town because he is always getting hit or hurt in some way. On the day that he meets the lovely Ellen of the ...
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The comedic actor has his summer movie plans set but has catching up to do when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Title: The Yellow Cab Man (1950)
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Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Red Skelton | ... | Augustus 'Red' Pirdy | |
| Gloria DeHaven | ... | Ellen Goodrich (as Gloria De Haven) | |
| Walter Slezak | ... | Dr. Byron Dokstedder | |
| Edward Arnold | ... | Martin Creavy | |
| James Gleason | ... | Mickey Corkins | |
| Jay C. Flippen | ... | Hugo | |
| Paul Harvey | ... | Pearson Hendricks | |
| Herbert Anderson | ... | Willis Tomlin (as Guy Anderson) | |
| John Butler | ... | Gimpy | |
| John Indrisano | ... | Danny | |
| Polly Moran | ... | Bride's Mother | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Pirdy is accident prone. He has been denied insurance from every company in town because he is always getting hit or hurt in some way. On the day that he meets the lovely Ellen of the Yellow Cab Co., he also meets the crooked lawyer named Creavy. Pirdy is an inventor and when Creavy learns about elastic-glass, his new invention, he makes plans to steal the process. With the help of another con man named Doksteader, and the boys, he will steal this million dollar invention no matter who gets hurt. Written by Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
Taglines:
Ride and roar with Red Skelton! See more »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
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See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
7 April 1950 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Der Unglücksrabe See more »Filming Locations:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$1,195,000 (estimated)Gross USA:
$2,599,000Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
Edit
Dr. Byron Dokstedder: Possibly.
Augustus 'Red' Pirdy: Yeah, I could blow my brains out.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
This film was a success at the box office, earning MGM a profit of $545,000 ($5.84M in 2018) according to studio records. See more »Goofs
When the little boy rises off the ground after grabbing the large balloon, it can be seen that he is being lifted by a harness. The back of the collar of his jacket has a wire attached. See more »Quotes
Augustus 'Red' Pirdy: I couldn't possibly hurt myself with a handkerchief, could I?Dr. Byron Dokstedder: Possibly.
Augustus 'Red' Pirdy: Yeah, I could blow my brains out.
See more »
Crazy Credits
During the title credit, dressed as a cabbie, Skelton falls down the stairs towards his taxi. He then appears in a hospital room and, speaking to the camera, says "this is my best cast yet". The camera pans down to his arm and then his legs where the film credits are written on his cast(s). See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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Some belly laughs in this Skelton madcap. As usual Red plays a good-hearted schlemiel who stumbles from one mishap to the next, but somehow muddles through to win the girl (Gloria DeHaven) and the climax. Here he's an amateur inventor and Yellow Cab man battling veteran baddies Walter Slezak and Edward Arnold.
A great job by the writers. The comedy set-ups are consistently funny and inventive from the mine-field opening of Red walking down the street to the whirlwind close at the L A Home Show . (Forget the muddled story-line which is just a handy post to hang the hi-jinks on.) This was just the kind of slapstick that Skelton could turn into a wild and crazy romp, and he does. .
Catch the great comedic architecture in the early sequence that builds hilariously from the baby-sitting beginning to the nine-one-one close. Too bad this kind of engineering has largely disappeared from today's movie screen. Then too, the crib scene with Red playing both his toddler self and infant sister amounts to 60 second knee-slapper.
In fact, there are a number of special effects scenes that work up more than a few chuckles. But the North Pole dream has something of a nightmarish undercurrent as does Red's getting shoved into the mixer.
I guess my only complaints are the cheapness of the street sets and the dull-grayish quality of the filming (at least, in my copy). Coming from big-budget MGM, such cost-cutters affecting overall quality seem surprising.
Nonetheless, this is a fine little post-war flick whose futuristic house at the Home Show expresses something of the surging spirit of a 1950's America then on the economic upswing.