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Red Skelton Whistling Collection

DVD

Warner Archive

1941, 42, 43 / 1:33:1 / 78, 74, 87 Min.

Starring Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford

Written by Robert MacGunigle, Nat Perrin

Cinematography by Sidney Wagner, Clyde De Vinnam, Lester White

Directed by S. Sylvan Simon

One night in 1950 during an especially frenetic episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour, Jerry Lewis stepped away from Dean Martin to address the camera point blank – “You get the idea – I’m supposed to be a 9-year-old kid.” Hardly a revelation – especially to Red Skelton, the reigning king of prepubescent horseplay.

That reign was begun in 1923 and fueled by broadly played gags that were both leering and infantile – like a burlesque version of The Bad Seed. One of Skelton’s most grating characters was a wisecracking brat called the “mean widdle kid” – wearing short pants and lace collar while delivering grown-up one-liners in baby talk he was a less feral version of Joe Besser’s...

Is it a classic? Well, not exactly, but it’s also not a typical disappointing ’40s Z-picture. Screenwriter Leigh Brackett pens a nice twist on the Dracula motif, and actor John Abbott is genuinely impressive as what is surely the most low-key vampire on the books. Plus a sexy dance from Adele Mara!

The Vampire’s Ghost

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 59 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart, Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan, Adele Mara, Roy Barcroft, Martin Wilkins, Zack Williams.

Cinematography: Robert Pittack, Ellis Thackery

Special Effects: Howard and Theodore Lydecker

Written by John K. Butler, Leigh Brackett, story by Brackett

Associate Producer: Rudolph E. Abel

Directed by Lesley Selander

When Republic dabbled in genre work away from their serials and westerns, the result was often embarrassing. One horror title due for an upward bump in...

The Lady Confesses

Written by Irwin Franklyn and Helen Martin

Directed by Sam Newfield

U.S.A., 1945

Vicki McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) is resting at home one night, awaiting the return of her husband to be, Larry Craig (Hugh Beaumont), when who should appear at her door but Larry’s believed to be deceased former wife Norma (Barbara Slater). Stern in composure and unimpressed by Vicki, she storms off, warning the shell-shocked fiancée that no one else can have her husband. All the while Larry is hanging out at a club owned by Lucky Brandon (Edmund MacDonald), getting drunk silly. The evening grows ever more complicated when Norma’s body is later discovered in her apartment. The recently departed caused quite a stir during the few hours when she made her presence known, and now her demise is about to further stir the pot, especially with police captain Brown (Emmett Vogan...

Veterans Day movies on TCM: From 'The Sullivans' to 'Patton' (photo: George C. Scott in 'Patton') This evening, Turner Classic Movies is presenting five war or war-related films in celebration of Veterans Day. For those outside the United States, Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day, which takes place in late May. (Scroll down to check out TCM's Veterans Day movie schedule.) It's good to be aware that in the last century alone, the U.S. has been involved in more than a dozen armed conflicts, from World War I to the invasion of Iraq, not including direct or indirect military interventions in countries as disparate as Iran, Guatemala, and Chile. As to be expected in a society that reveres people in uniform, American war movies have almost invariably glorified American soldiers even in those rare instances when they have dared to criticize the military establishment.