With No Disrespect to 'I Love Lucy...'

I recently saw a 1951 Red Skelton film called "Excuse My Dust." In it, Red plays an early twentieth-century inventor named Joe Belden* who puts together one of the first "horseless carriages," and then is challenged to a race between car and horse by the villain, played by MacDonlad Carey**

Talk about nostalgia! This is a very sweet, gentle film. Few people realize that as a younger man Red was actually quite handsome. He sings a song to his co-star (Sally Forrest) called "Spring Has Sprung," or something very much like that. It is sung in that inimitable and charming Skelton way -- never overdone, always with that touch of humility that he brought to all his movie roles. This is a "feel-good" film, made long before that term was even invented. As far as I am concerned, it is a must-see.



*Something else about Red's roles: his character's names were believable. In "I Dood It," a gem that is all but forgotten, he is Joe Reynolds, a pants-presser madly in love with stage actress Eleanor Powell, who he eventually marries. In "The Fox" films (a short-lived but hilarious comedy/mystery series ) he is Wally Benton. In "The Great Diamond Robbery" he is Waldo, a square but loveable character who inadvertantly gets involved with diamond thieves. I bring this point up because it is so easy these days for a screenwriter to attach just any old name to a character. In "Shall We Dance" Richard Gere's name is "John Clark." A little more imagination on the part of the screenwriter could have come up with a more symbolic name, such as "John Loveless" (which he was,) or John Pater ("father" in latin, which he also was.)

The worst example of "pick-a-name-out-of-a-hat" syndrome occurs in a monster film called "It Came From Beneath the Sea" (1955.) Kenneth Tobey (who I had the pleasure of meeting) plays "Pete Marshall" and Donald Curtis is "John Carter." Come on, now!


**Carey was far too good-looking for this part. Also, that magnificent voice of his had me believing that in no way could he ever portray anything but a hero. Yet, fine actor that he was, he did a good job as Red's rival.