Expected more

A Disappointing Continuation

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A Skelton movie is always good for at least a few laughs. Even when the storyline is pretty well hacked up, as it is here, some of his slapstick bits still register. Here he's an inept camera store-owner turned inept photographer, who gets involved with a housing developer (Dahl). Trouble is her housing project is being sabotaged by insiders. Skelton stumbles across their plot and now they're after him. So, will pa Skelton and grandpa Skelton get their youngest and his girl out of the stew, (Red in three roles!).I agree with others—this is a lesser Skelton vehicle. It never really gels. Instead, the narrative resembles beads of comedic bits strung along a choppy string. Nonetheless, there are some funny sketches—Red and a fat guy undressing in what amounts to a closet; Red photographing a bedecked doorman that he takes to be an admiral, et al. There's also some funny lines-- Red commenting on the opening credits, which is unlike anything I've seen. But the overall impression is that, except for the climactic chase, the bits could have been worked easily into his TV show instead of awkwardly strung out into a movie.(In passing—Note in one segment the extensive housing project under construction. In short, it's suburban housing opening up like blossoms in LA's post-war sunshine. Can clogged freeways be far behind.)

When I was a kid I used to get a big kick out of movies like this. Red Skelton is owner of a camera store who is in debt. He pulls some shenanigans to make some money and achieves only more debt. Arlene Dahl, a rich land developer, takes pity on him and quietly sends enough customers to the store to relieve him and see that he has a considerable profit as well. He loses that too. But in the process of failing, he succeeds in saving himself, the store, Arlene Dahl, and the day.Now, as I watch this from my now ancient, creaking frame, I mostly find it just silly. The slapstick and goofy expressions that once provoked a storm of laughter now just elicits a wince.There's no point in detailing the story or its weaknesses. You can find similar gags -- often better gags -- in Laurel and Hardy shorts or on the situation comedies of today.I don't mean to bomb it entirely. All of us were once under fifteen, or still are, and that audience might still find it rewarding, although I can't be sure.

Remake of Buster Keaton's 1928 success "The Cameraman" features Red Skelton at his most amiable, playing a salesman in his family's camera store (Cammeron & Son & Son) who helps the heiress of a major construction company thwart her crooked partner, who's planning on driving her out of business. The plot isn't taken at all seriously; instead, the film is comprised mainly of comic vignettes, some hilarious, with Skelton also playing his own father and wily grandfather. Gets off to a wonderful start, but loses steam along the way despite slapstick climax. The cramped dressing room bit has hardly any relation to the story yet remains a laugh-out-loud highlight, and Ann Miller is a hoot as a beauty contest winner who's always getting slugged. Skelton has some wonderful scenes, double takes, and pratfalls--and, as usual, he's quietly charming while attempting to win over the girl of his dreams. **1/2 from ****

---and see him in three roles in this B / W comedy of his. His first is the lead role of Rusty a bumbling photographer who is trying to save the family business; his father a rather old fashioned and quiet guy that might be Rusty one day if not for his Grandfather (the third role), a playboy a heart, who shows Rusty how to handle a woman properly. The special shots of the three of them and even two of the same characters are great and there is no blurring screen or noticeable break in the film.This film may be only for Skelton fans, of which I am not really one, but I did found a lot of the routines here funny (especially a scene in a Dr.'s change room) and did laugh out loud at some of Skelton's delivery and timing. The girls are great - Arlene Dahl and Ann Miller. They have their share of gags, though Miller is quite far the funniest of the pair. Some tributes to old movies are obvious, especially in the final chase scene. The only scene people might find objectionable today is where Grandpa tells Rusty how to handle and keep a woman by showing him old Clark Gable and Robert Taylor movies.This is great preservation of a moment in cinema history.