Whistling in Brooklyn ** (1943, Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Jean Rogers, Rags Ragland, Ray Collins, Henry O’Neill) – Classic Movie Review 12,351

Red Skelton again stars as bumbling radio detective Wally Benton, who is all set to marry his girlfriend Carol Lambert (Ann Rutherford) but he gets understandably slightly sidetracked when he is mistaken for the serial killer he is investigating. 

Director S Sylvan Simon’s 1943 MGM comedy mystery thriller second sequel Whistling in Brooklyn stars Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Jean Rogers, Rags Ragland, Ray Collins, and Henry O’Neill.

Red Skelton again stars as bumbling radio detective Wally Benton, who goes undercover in a baseball team to investigate a murder, in the third and last of his films as murder mystery star The Fox. Wally is all set to marry his girlfriend Carol Lambert (Ann Rutherford) but he gets understandably slightly sidetracked when he is mistaken for the serial killer he is investigating.

Fans of Red Skelton’s daft antics will be kept happy, while others will find comic compensation in the pleasing performances of the excellent MGM support cast, especially Ann Rutherford, better known as Mickey Rooney’s girl in the Andy Hardy series. Despite its serial killer theme, it is silly escapist nonsense for wartime audiences. It is amusing enough, with some witty bantering dialogue, but a step down from its two predecessors.

Also in the cast are William Frawley, Sam Levene, Arthur Space, Steve Geray, Robert Emmett O’Connor, Howard Freeman, and Tom Dillon.

It is written by Nat Perrin, Wilkie C Mahoney (additional dialogue) and Stanley Roberts (uncredited).

It follows Whistling in the Dark (1941) and Whistling in Dixie (1942).

The cast are Red Skelton as Wally Benton, Ann Rutherford as Carol Lambert, Jean Rogers as Jean Pringle, Rags Ragland as Chester Conway, Ray Collins as Grover Kendall, Henry O’Neill as Inspector Holcomb, William Frawley as Detective Ramsey, Sam Levene as Creeper, Arthur Space as Detective MacKenzie, Robert Emmett O’Connor as Detective Leo Finnigan, Steve Geray as Whitey, Howard Freeman as Steve Conlon, Mike Mazurki as thug, and Lillian Yarbo as Maid.

Leo Durocher, then the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, makes his screen debut as himself, while Dodgers superfan Hilda Chester also makes a brief appearance, as herself.

Canadian-born American actress Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) played Polly Benedict in the Andy Hardy series, and was one of Scarlett O’Hara’s sisters in Gone with the Wind (1939).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,351

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