The Fuller Brush Man (1948)

I've seen most of Red Skelton's films, so I can safely say that this is one of his better films. It's not his best, mostly because his character was goofy but not as sweet as likable as he was in some of his other pictures...plus the end seem to go on a bit long. Still, it's enjoyable and you could do a lot worse!When the film begins, Red (Red Skelton) is a total loser who wants to marry his sweetie (Janet Blair). However, she is a realist and knows that Red can't hold a job...and their marriage would be doomed. When he fired from yet another job, he decides he wants to become a Fuller Brush man...selling brushes door to door. Oddly, about a third of the way into the movie, the plot changes dramatically---and Red is pulled into a murder mystery. And, to make it worse, the cops think he's the most likely suspect. Can he, with the help of his girl, manage to find out what really happened and prove his innocence?This film is pleasant and fun. As I mentioned above, the ending was a bit of a disappointment as Red's fight with the baddies took very long--too long. It was full of stunts and folks getting bonked on the head. I would have preferred one or two less bonks! Still, it is a lot better than many of his films with MGM where the studio insisted on placing this comic in musicals--which wasted his many talents.

All those wonderful years Red Skelton spent with MGM...lots of funny gags in many of their musicals. But, MGM didn't get comedy movies. They got humor in ,usicals, but they didn't get making movies that were out-and-out comedies. This, however -- when he was lent out to Columbia -- is one of his best comedies.The plot is simple -- can the goofy guy win the girl of his dreams (Janet Blair) by becoming a successful Fuller Brush Man...even if murder enters the picture.There's a succession of funny segments, first when Red gets fired as a street cleaner after setting fire to the city park and then smashing up the commissioner's car. Then there's an extended segment where he first tries being a brush salesmen and meets a different challenge at ever door...including a (if not the) Mean Widdle Kid. In fact, fans of the old Red Skelton television shows will recognize a numbers of lines and skits that became standards for Red. During the period, Buster Keaton was often off-camera in Skelton movies, and while I found no evidence of Keaton working on this film, you'll see his influence in some of the bits. There are some great sight gags in the "chase scene" at the end of the flick.This is very much Red's picture. Janet Blair does her job here, but it's nothing special. Hillary Brooke, quite active in Abbot & Costello films, does rather nicely here. And, Arthur Space is one of those character actors whose name you probably don't know, but he does nicely here at the police detective.If you like slapstick comedy, get this one for your DVD shelf. SONY has done a decent job here in terms of the transfer to DVD.

Wow, this movie wore me out. It was almost non-stop slapstick action....actually too much; it could have used some lulls. Still, there were tons of funny moments.Red Skeleton, in the starring role, provides most of the laughs with some corny-but-great lines and wonderful slapstick sight gags. Red, himself, must have been exhausted making this film.My favorite parts were in the beginning when he gives door-to-door selling a chance. His mentor and nemesis "Keenan" (Don McGuire), sets him up with the worst houses on the block and poor Red takes a verbal and physical beating, even from a little kid! It's actually painful to see such a nice guy, such an Innocent human being, get treated so poorly by everyone. He can't catch a break, including making points with his wannabe girlfriend "Ann" (Janet Blair). The break comes, of course, at the end and after a lot of chaos when Red inadvertently becomes involved in a murder and has to clear his name. You know Red, somehow, is going to pull through a ton of messy situations, even though it looks bad for him at least a hundred times!This film, and "The Fuller Brush Girl" with Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert, have never been put on DVDs and that's a shame. It would make a nice double-feature disc.By the way, when was the last time anyone saw a Fuller Brush man at their doorstep?

THE FULLER BRUSH MAN is, hands-down, Red Skelton's best film. The script is tight and packed solid with one liners. The supporting cast, especially Janet Blair and Don McGuire, are very personable (McGuire in a greasy sort of way, of course!). The scenario is perfectly balanced between the first half wherein Red tries to make something of himself and the second half after which a murder is committed in the home of the sanitation commissioner who fired Skelton. Like Sylvan Simon's WHISTLING pictures, there is an extended set-piece - this time in Red's apartment. But unlike the MGM comedies (poor MGM, they tried at comedy) the cutting, camera-work and staging are more fluid. And funnier. BUT all this is but a build-up to one of the great chase finales in pictures. And here is where co-scenarist Frank Tashlin really shows his stuff. The chase is a raucous knockabout affair with the gangsters, all played by top stunt players such as Dave Sharpe and Bud Wolfe, bounce and tumble like the Keystone Kops. And what really sells the chase is Heinz Roemheld's dizzy, pizzicato scoring. It is perfectly punctuated and wraps the entire finale up into a three-ring circus act. It is very interesting to compare the chase finale in FULLER BRUSH MAN to the chase finale in THE YELLOW CAB MAN. The latter sequence was scored by MGM cartoon music maestro Scott Bradley. But for some unconscionable reason, Bradley's music was completely dropped from the finale. Talked about a scotched opportunity. Never mind. See THE FULLER BRUSH MAN. It's Red's best.