I first saw this as a child and found it hilarious. It's still funny but probably less so, since I now know about rear projection and the use of stunt doubles.
Red Skelton is a bell boy in a St. Louis hotel during the Civil War. Circumstances force him to don a Confederate uniform, travel south, and impersonate a renowned Confederate spy, the "Gray Spider." The Union Army orders him to deliver fake battle plans to the Confederate generals and pass on instructions to a resident Union spy. The identifying phrase is, "It's so nice to be back among the magnolias again." Skelton's character, being a stupid coward, finds himself in an intricate web of false identities, bullets, threats, and the adoration of the lovely Arlene Dahl. Man, she is cute.
Some of the jokes are pretty crude. Skelton, having just been kissed by Dahl, salutes her and backs away in a daze, only to fall into a shell crater. Others are much more effective. Skelton is given those two messages, one to be handed to the Confederates, the other to his fellow spy. In order to remember where he's carrying each, he tries to memorize a bit of doggerel, something like, "the plan with the battle is in the boot with the buckle, the map is in the packet in the pocket of the jacket." Of course he chops it all up and mumbles hysterically to himself about buckled bagels. Danny Kaye did a repeat a few years later.
One of the jokes is inspired, probably by Buster Keaton. Skelton tries to escape his pursuers and rushes into a dentist's office where they pull two of his teeth. The entanglements become surreal.
It's far from a sophisticated comedy but it's funny as hell sometimes.
Red Skelton is a bell boy in a St. Louis hotel during the Civil War. Circumstances force him to don a Confederate uniform, travel south, and impersonate a renowned Confederate spy, the "Gray Spider." The Union Army orders him to deliver fake battle plans to the Confederate generals and pass on instructions to a resident Union spy. The identifying phrase is, "It's so nice to be back among the magnolias again." Skelton's character, being a stupid coward, finds himself in an intricate web of false identities, bullets, threats, and the adoration of the lovely Arlene Dahl. Man, she is cute.
Some of the jokes are pretty crude. Skelton, having just been kissed by Dahl, salutes her and backs away in a daze, only to fall into a shell crater. Others are much more effective. Skelton is given those two messages, one to be handed to the Confederates, the other to his fellow spy. In order to remember where he's carrying each, he tries to memorize a bit of doggerel, something like, "the plan with the battle is in the boot with the buckle, the map is in the packet in the pocket of the jacket." Of course he chops it all up and mumbles hysterically to himself about buckled bagels. Danny Kaye did a repeat a few years later.
One of the jokes is inspired, probably by Buster Keaton. Skelton tries to escape his pursuers and rushes into a dentist's office where they pull two of his teeth. The entanglements become surreal.
It's far from a sophisticated comedy but it's funny as hell sometimes.