The Red Skelton Hour (TV Series) The Kadiddlehopper Mural or Clem the Artist (1958) User Reviews

John Carradine and Franklin Pangborn

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 4 November 2014]

"The Kadiddlehopper Mural or Clem the Artist" was broadcast Apr 22 1958, only three months before the death of co-star Franklin Pangborn, that marvelously prissy actor best remembered for his work opposite W. C. Fields in "International House," and especially "The Bank Dick." Red's monologue has him acting out a grandfather and grandson sneaking a peek at a baseball game through a fence knothole, followed by his Clem Kadiddlehopper character trading swings with lovely Daisy June (Joan Tabor). Enter Gregory Grumbucker (John Carradine), an overdone artist complete with beret and canvas, eager to paint a portrait of Clem's barn, mistaken for a woman by his smock (Carradine gulps at Red's ad lib about his adam's apple!). He boasts that he has painted such things as trees, rivers, and cows (Clem: "really, oh don't paint our cows, we like 'em the color they are!" Grumbucker: "just how stupid can you get?" Clem: "oh I don't know, how old are you?"). Eventually, the artist decides to do a portrait of Clem, inspiring the bumpkin to try his hand at a mural on the back of the same canvas, earning a $500 check from art dealer Stevens (Pangborn), far more than any of Grumbucker's work. This inspires Clem to make a go at painting in the big city, much to Daisy June's dismay. Red closes the show feeding a baby goat, mistaking his thumb for the milk bottle! Pangborn was a natural for his final role, while legendary scene stealer Carradine has his hands full trying to keep up with Skelton, who used the busy actor in as many as 10 different episodes.