WHISTLING IN BROOKLYN

US, 1943, 97 minutes, Black and white.
Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Jean Rogers, Rags Ragland, Ray Collins, Henry O’ Neill, William Frawley, Sam Levene, Steven Geray, The Brooklyn Dodgers.
Directed by S. Sylvan Simon.

Whistling in Brooklyn is the third of the Whistling series with Red Skelton as the detective on air, Wally Benton, the Fox. There had been previously Whistling in the Dark, with a group of neo-Nazis in New York, as well as Whistling in Dixie which took Wally and his fiancée down South.

In this film, Wally is doing his radio program, about to go to Niagara Falls with his fiancée, Ann Rutherford. Rags Ragland, his chauffeur and press agent, remarks that Wally is a Constant Reader – the name that the police have given to a serial killer. The journalist, Gene Rogers, gets on the job and the four of them have all kinds of adventures in dark mansions, on the roads, on Ebbets Field for a baseball game, with a group of players in beards (the actual Brooklyn Dodgers) and aboard a ship.

There is a group of villains led by Ray Collins and Henry O’ Neill is the police inspector who does not believe the Fox.

There is a lot of verbal humour, quite a lot of slapstick comedy and stunts which would please Red Skelton’s fans. The film was directed by S. Sylvan Simon who directed the other three films as well as I Dood It.

1. The popularity of Red Skelton? The three Whistling films? His character the Fox, Wally Benton on air, solving the murder mysteries? Drawing on his resources to resolve the investigation he was involved in?

2. New York settings, black and white photography, the city, the mansions, the radio stations, the boat? The musical score?

3. The character of Wally, Red Skelton comedy, verbal, slapstick? Getting himself involved in silly situations? Wanting to marry Carol? Jean Pringle and her pursuit? Chester and his giving the information to the media? The involvement in the investigation, at the mansion, on Ebbets Field, on the boat? His theories for solving the crime? The confrontation with Grover Kendall, the Creeper and the thugs? The happy ending?

4. Ann Rutherford as Carol, the fiancée, ever loyal to Wally? Jean Rogers as Jean, the nosy investigator, getting into trouble, becoming involved in the investigation?

5. Rags Ragland as Chester, deadpan humour, verbal humour, giving the information to the press, helping Wally, the scene on the elevator and their hanging on it? His coming to the rescue?

6. The villains, Grover Kendall and his manipulation? The real murderer, Constant Reader?

7. The police, not believing Wally? Suspicious? The detectives?

8. A satisfying murder mystery, solved? With humour?