WHISTLING IN DIXIE

US, 1942, 74 minutes. Black and white.
Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, George Bancroft, Guy Kibbee, Diana Lewis, Peter Whitney, Rags Ragland.
Directed by S. Sylvan Simon.

Whistling in Dixie is the second of three films with Red Skelton as Wally ‘The Fox’ Benton, a radio personality dramatising and solving murder mysteries.

Whistling in the Dark took up rather sinister themes of cults and sects, murder and power. This film is set in the South, a story of corruption and the finding of Civil War treasure.

The film is a star vehicle for Red Skelton, emerging as a comedian on screen. His is the bumbling style, plenty of pratfalls. He is also the cowardly hero who, despite himself and his attempts to escape from difficult situations, solves the mystery. He is matched by Ann Rutherford, his co-host on the radio program.

Ann Rutherford’s friend, played by Diana Lewis, is concerned about the disappearance and death of her boyfriend. When Wally the Fox and Carol come south, they encounter a sheriff who turns out to be corrupt, a politician who is even more corrupt and double-dealing. Guy Kibbee portrays the judge whose daughter is in love with the missing man as well as his niece in love with him.

Through a series of events, discovering the coins, being trapped in an underground sealed room that is filling with water, The Fox eventually gets out, exposes the criminals and makes for a happy ending.

The film is of interest historically as an indication of Red Skelton’s style and his emerging popularity. It has good MGM treatment, direction by S. Sylvan Simon who directed a number of comedies at MGM at this time. And, if audiences respond to Red Skelton, the film can be quite amusing.