A SOUTHERN YANKEE
US, 1948, 90 minutes, Black and white.
Red Skelton, Brian Donlevy, Arlene Dahl, George Coulouris, Lloyd Gough, John Ireland, Minor Watson, Charles Dingle.
Directed by Edward Sedgwick.
A Southern Yankee is one of Red Skelton’s more amusing films. It is said that Buster Keaton (with his background in the 1927 The General) contributed to the screenplay, another film set in the American Civil War.
Red Skelton plays a bumbling bellboy in a St Louis hotel – somewhat in the vein of Bob Hope in various comedies. There is quite a lot of slapstick and pratfalls as well as humorous lines. The humour stems very much from the writers Norman Panama and Melvin Frank who wrote many of the very good comedies of the 40s and 50s including Knock on Wood and The Court Jester for Danny Kaye. Fans of The Court Jester will relish its predecessor in some of Red Skelton’s dialogue including secret papers in the pocket of the boot with the buckle and the packet in the pocket of the jacket…
Brian Donlevy and John Ireland are strong performers for the heavies in the film. Arlene Dahl looks glamorous as usual and was to appear with Red Skelton in Watch the Birdie.
The film is a very good example of small-budget MGM comedies and the comic style of Red Skelton.
1. An entertaining film from the 1940s? Of its period? Now?
2. The comic presence of Red Skelton, bumbling, verbal mix-ups, pratfalls? The slapstick comedy? The popularity of Red Skelton in his time? Now?
3. The setting of the Civil War, the St Louis hotel, the battlefields? The southern towns? Authentic atmosphere?
4. The focus on the bellboy? Red Skelton as Aubrey? His spying ambitions? Looking in visitors’ luggage etc? His clashes with the authorities in the hotel? His talking to the colonel and wanting to become a spy? The story of the Grey Spider, his suspicions of the man in the lobby, in his room, fighting and overcoming in – and finding he belonged to the north?
5. The war situation, the Grey Spider, the casualties and explosions? Major Drumman and his arrival at the hotel? His having the bath, finding Aubrey in his room, his leading him on as to who the Grey Spider might be? Overcoming Aubrey, the fight, the accidents, his being knocked out? Aubrey sending the authorities to arrest Drumman? His later escape with the help of the confederate spy? His turning up at headquarters – his being mistaken for the northern spy, his father coming to identify him, the melee at the end?
6. Sallyann and her arrival, her southern charm, Aubrey and the attraction, her thinking that he was the Grey Spider, her admiration for him? Her being anti the north? Her cover as a nurse, the exchange of prisoners? The information for the Grey Spider, his plan to go to the south?
7. Aubrey, his time with Sallyann, learning the truth, going to the northern authorities, the discussions about who should go to the south, the decision that he should go? On the back of the horse and falling off? His going south, getting through the lines? His meeting with Sallyann? His fears? The innate coward – and then the heroism arising? His being in the middle of the attacking troops? Walking down the lines with the Confederacy uniform on one side and the Yankees on the other, the two flags, the wind blowing and everybody shooting at him? His mission, the two sets of documents, the packet in the boot, the packet in the jacket? His later getting them mixed up, the tongue-twister?
8. The south, Colonel Weatherby, Sallyann’s father, the welcoming of Aubrey as the Grey Spider? The general’s arrival? The ball and the dancing? Kurt, his relationship with Sallyann, using her, wanting to get money out of the Grey Spider? Captain Calbern as his associate?
9. The stealing of the documents, the wrong documents, the wrong information, the wrong maps? The spy listening in to the southern officers’ discussion about the attack, his being taken by Kurt and Calbern? Setting the trap for Aubrey – his being warned by Sallyann? Drumman going in and being mistakenly arrested?
10. The capture, Aubrey and his being about to be shot? Sallyann, discovering the truth, loving Aubrey – despite all appearances – and coming to his rescue? The end of the Civil War?
11. The range of comic routines for Red Skelton, the quality of the comedy? In the context of the Civil War, the clash between north and south? The military types, the spies, the exploiters – and the southern belles?
