Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

S. Sylvan Simon

Writers:

Nat Perrin (screenplay)
Wilkie C. Mahoney (additional dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

December 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

Wally Benton, "The Fox," master detective on radio, is about to go with his sweetheart to Niagara Falls in order to get married...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Reporter | Chase | Detective | Warehouse

Cast

Red Skelton	...	Wally 'The Fox' Benton
Ann Rutherford	...	Carol Lambert
Jean Rogers	...	Jean Pringle
Rags Ragland	...	Chester (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Ray Collins	...	Grover Kendall
Henry O'Neill	...	Inspector Holcomb
William Frawley	...	Detective Ramsey
Sam Levene	...	Creeper
Arthur Space	...	Detective MacKenzie
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Detective Leo Finnigan (as Robert Emmet O'Connor)
Steven Geray	...	Whitey (as Steve Geray)
Howard Freeman	...	Steve Conlon
Tom Dillon	...	Manager of the Beavers
The Brooklyn Dodgers	...	Themselves
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pat Ankenman	...	Baseball Player (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Morris Ankrum	...	Blake - Newspaper Editor (uncredited)
William Bishop	...	Psychiatrist (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Announcer (uncredited)
Sammy Blum	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Jack Lionel Bohn	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg	...	Painter (uncredited)
Dolph Camilli	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodger Batter #4 (uncredited)
Jack Carrington	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Anthony Caruso	...	Henchman Fingers (uncredited)
Hilda Chester	...	Extra as Brooklyn Dodger Fan (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Clancy Cooper	...	Police Officer Slocum (uncredited)
Edgar Dearing	...	Police Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Charles Dorety	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Divonna Doxie	...	Radio Quartette Member (uncredited)
Jimmie Dundee	...	Brooklyn Dodger Fan (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn	...	Policeman Serving Coffee (uncredited)
Leo Durocher	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodgers Manager (uncredited)
Mary Elliott	...	Veronica Lake Lookalike (uncredited)
Billy Engle	...	Balloon Vendor (uncredited)
Happy Felton	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Buddy Gorman	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
William Haade	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Larry Harris	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Sam Hayes	...	Baseball Game Announcer (uncredited)
Ray Hayworth	...	Baseball Player (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Henchman Joey (uncredited)
Billy Herman	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodger Batter #1 (uncredited)
Sheldon Jett	...	Suspicious Man (uncredited)
Charles Jordan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Alex Kampouris	...	Baseball Player (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Donald Kerr	...	Taxi Driver #1 (uncredited)
Newt Kimball	...	Baseball Player (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Carrie Koshnik	...	Extra as Brooklyn Dodger Fan (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Mitchell Lewis	...	Bearded Baseball Spectator (uncredited)
Walter Luedke	...	Kid (uncredited)
Max Macon	...	Baseball Player (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
George Magrill	...	Brooklyn Dodger Fan (uncredited)
Mike Mazurki	...	Henchman on Ship (uncredited)
Kay Medford	...	Phone Operator (uncredited) (voice)
Joe 'Ducky' Medwick	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodger Batter #3 (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Officer (uncredited)
Sue Moore	...	Tough Girl (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Jack Mulhall	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Bobo Newsom	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodger Pitcher (uncredited)
Garry Owen	...	Taxi Driver #2 (uncredited)
Mickey Owen	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodger Catcher (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	...	Workman (uncredited)
Hal Peck	...	Baseball Player (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Gil Perkins	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Police Dispatcher (uncredited)
Frank Pittman	...	Sound Effects Man (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson	...	Beavers Trainer (uncredited)
Loretta Rush	...	Confused Matron (uncredited)
Harry Saz	...	Assistant Sound Effects Man (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Henchman Joe (uncredited)
Mabel Smaney	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Christine Stafford	...	Radio Quartette Member (uncredited)
Freddie Steele	...	Brooklyn Dodger Fan (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Gumbatz (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Henchman Harry (uncredited)
Elliott Sullivan	...	Henchman Dutch (uncredited)
Robert Sully	...	Assistant Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Beaver To Be Traded (uncredited)
Richard Thorne	...	Brooklyn Dodger Fan (uncredited)
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	Fan (uncredited)
Florence Turner	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Gateman (uncredited)
Arky Vaughan	...	Himself - Brooklyn Dodger Batter #2 (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Radio Producer (uncredited)
John Wald	...	Studio Announcer (uncredited)
James Warren	...	Sound Man (uncredited)
Barbara Whitson	...	Radio Quartette Member (uncredited)
Kay Williams	...	Office Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Wilson	...	Radio Quartette Member (uncredited)
Robert Winkler	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Rudy Wissler	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Grant Withers	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Lillian Yarbo	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
S. Sylvan Simon

Writing credits
Nat Perrin		(screenplay)
Wilkie C. Mahoney		(additional dialogue) (as Wilkie Mahoney)
Stanley Roberts		contributor to treatment and screenplay construction (uncredited)

Produced by
George Haight	....	producer

Original Music by
George Bassman

Cinematography by
Lester White		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ben Lewis

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Production Management
Keith Weeks	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Earl McEvoy	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Alfred Raboch	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mildred Griffiths	....	associate set decorator
Jack Martin Smith	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
John F. Dullam	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
William Axt	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Lennie Hayton	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Sol Kaplan	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
David Snell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Loew's (as Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Loew's (1943) (USA) (theatrical) (as Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (video)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #9430) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Brooklyn Dodger players Max Macon, Alex Kampouris, Ray Hayworth, Pat Ankenman, Newt Kimball and Hal Peck were reported (by the New York Times) to be cast in the movie as baseball players, with some of them as "Beaver" players. A few of them had left the Brooklyn Dodgers by the time this film was released.

Movie Connections:

Follows Whistling in the Dark (1941)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

Rags and Red Bring A Lot Of Laughs

If you like old-fashioned corny humor you'll love this. I'm hesitant to give a movie this silly, corny and stupid eight stars but I had to because overall it was fun to watch and provided a number of genuine laughs. In fact, some of the scenes were downright hilarious. A lot of it is innocent old-time slapstick and, if it entertains, it did its job.

This was my first look at early Red Skelton films (I had only known him through his TV show) and it reminded of some Bob Hope films except this one had more slapstick and action.

It inspired me to go out and buy other Skelton comedies on VHS but, unfortunately, none ever measured up to this one. The real star of film might not have been Skelton, anyway, as Rags Ragland, playing the chauffeur, had perhaps the highest percentage of funny lines. The baseball scene in here also was very good.

Yes, this is stupid, generally-speaking, but it's really entertaining. If only two people have reviewed it (as of my review) then apparently a lot of people haven't seen this. That's too bad, especially with the older crowd, because they've missed a funny movie.