Watch the Birdie (1950)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This film has some good sight gags and slapstick. Red is pleasant. Arlene Dahl (who co-starred with Red on 3 films in this time period) is pleasant, as well. So what's the problem? Well, an awfully weak script to begin with. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'll put the blame on Jack Donohue, who directed a handful of films, but mostly went into television (including a number of Red's later t.v. shows)...which I learned after watching this film. And that is very telling, because I kept thinking this film needed a laugh track! And as we all know, that's a television trick not needed in a decent film.It seems to me that this film had some real potential. A somewhat down-in-the-luck photographer and photography store owner (Red) gets involved saving a wealthy socialite/real estate mogul (Dahl) from bankruptcy when the bad guys (chiefly Leon Ames) begin a swindle. But, it just never really takes off. Even with Red playing the lead character, and his father, and his grandfather. It almost seemed as if someone said, "We have all these bits. How can we string them together into a film?" No doubt there are some laughs here, including the scene at the doctor's office. And Red is funny. It's the script that poor. Still worth watching though, just for the joy of Red Skelton.

Remake of Buster Keaton's 1928 success "The Cameraman" features Red Skelton at his most amiable, playing a salesman in his family's camera store (Cammeron & Son & Son) who helps the heiress of a major construction company thwart her crooked partner, who's planning on driving her out of business. The plot isn't taken at all seriously; instead, the film is comprised mainly of comic vignettes, some hilarious, with Skelton also playing his own father and wily grandfather. Gets off to a wonderful start, but loses steam along the way despite slapstick climax. The cramped dressing room bit has hardly any relation to the story yet remains a laugh-out-loud highlight, and Ann Miller is a hoot as a beauty contest winner who's always getting slugged. Skelton has some wonderful scenes, double takes, and pratfalls--and, as usual, he's quietly charming while attempting to win over the girl of his dreams. **1/2 from ****

---and see him in three roles in this B / W comedy of his. His first is the lead role of Rusty a bumbling photographer who is trying to save the family business; his father a rather old fashioned and quiet guy that might be Rusty one day if not for his Grandfather (the third role), a playboy a heart, who shows Rusty how to handle a woman properly. The special shots of the three of them and even two of the same characters are great and there is no blurring screen or noticeable break in the film.This film may be only for Skelton fans, of which I am not really one, but I did found a lot of the routines here funny (especially a scene in a Dr.'s change room) and did laugh out loud at some of Skelton's delivery and timing. The girls are great - Arlene Dahl and Ann Miller. They have their share of gags, though Miller is quite far the funniest of the pair. Some tributes to old movies are obvious, especially in the final chase scene. The only scene people might find objectionable today is where Grandpa tells Rusty how to handle and keep a woman by showing him old Clark Gable and Robert Taylor movies.This is great preservation of a moment in cinema history.

Red Skelton stars in three roles here as members of the Cammeron family, who operate a camera shop. The fun begins when young Rusty Cammeron is hired to film the groundbreaking ceremony of Lucky Vista, a new land development. In doing so, he accidentally captures on film the scheming of some crooked land developers. The best moments come from Skelton's slapstick humor. I also enjoyed his narration of the credits, and the lovely Ann Miller (as Miss Lucky Vista) posing seductively amid a flock of escaped turkeys! This remake of a Buster Keaton classic (The Cameraman) is diverting, if not terribly memorable. Recommended for fans of Skelton. Ann Miller fans won't find her tapping up a storm here, but she's pleasant in her role and shows off those famous legs.