A Southern Yankee (1948)

why would she want him?This is one of the few times I wish I could score a film 6.5. It's because I found "A Southern Yankee" enjoyable but not as good but far from great. I think the reason is that in Red Skelton's better comedies, you really like him. In this one, however, there's less emphasis on character development and more on pratfalls. Still, it's a nice little film that is worth seeing.When the film begins, Red is a bellboy at a hotel during the Civil War. However, through some ridiculous circumstances, he's able to capture a notorious Southern spy. He then is able to convince the spy's contact that HE is this spy. Can he somehow make it through this mission without being exposed? And, can be manage to somehow win the heart of a pretty Southern belle (Arlene Dahl)?I think Skelton falls down more in this film than his previous films put together--and this is not really a good thing. Pratfalls abound in this one and the ending is very weak--reasons it's not among the best of his films. Still, it's a reasonably agreeable way to spend about 90 minutes of your life.

This movie is about a hotel bell boy who wants to be a soldier in the Civil War (Red Skeleton's role). By sheer luck,he becomes a spy (Northern spy pretending to be a Southern). The flag carrying scene (I won't give it away anymore) is definitely one of the funniest scenes I have ever seen. My only critique is that the last part of the movie was not quite as humorous as the first part (at least in my opinion). However, this movie is definitely worth seeing.

Red Skelton is brilliant both physically and verbally. His tongue-twisting tour de force ("The map is in the packet of the pocket of the jacket...") predates and probably inspired Danny Kaye's similarly brilliant speech in "The Court Jester. If this is indeed a remake of the Buster Keaton classic, "The General," it certainly does honor to its predecessor.

Contrary to popular belief, A SOUTHERN YANKEE is NOT a remake of Buster Keaton's 1927 silent THE GENERAL. Both films take place during the American Civil War and include gags devised by Keaton -- other than that, there's little resemblance. (The only remake of THE GENERAL is Walt Disney's 1956 THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE.) YANKEE's story, by the writing team of Panama and Frank, was later recycled in part for THE COURT JESTER (1956, also by Panama and Frank -- and starring Danny Kaye).Keaton's contributions to YANKEE include his suggestion to the producer that the opening scenes be toned down in order to make Red Skelton's character more sympathetic; the memorable two-sided flag gag (derived from a two-sided costume gag Keaton used in his silent days); some of the climactic chase sequence (a gag with a horse and a dress is lifted directly from Keaton's 1923 OUR HOSPITALITY); and, presumably, the acrobatic dentist sequence and, very likely, the astonishing scene involving a 19th century "lawn mower" and a land mine.