Watch the Birdie (1950 film)

Last updated

Watch the Birdie
Watch the Birdie (1950 film).jpg
Directed by Jack Donohue
Written byMarshall Neilan Jr.
Ivan Tors
Devery Freeman
Harry Ruskin
Produced byHarry Ruskin
Starring Red Skelton
Arlene Dahl
Ann Miller
Cinematography Paul Vogel
Edited byJohn Faure
Robert Watts
Ferris Webster
Music by George Stoll
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 11, 1950 (1950-12-11)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$996,000 [1]
Box office$1,844,000 [1]

Watch the Birdie is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Jack Donohue and starring Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl and Ann Miller.

Contents

Plot

Rusty Cammeron is a clumsy photographer in debt who owns a shop with his father and grandfather. After speaking with a customer, Rusty hatches a plan to try to take candid pictures of the rich and famous.

While attempting to photograph heiress Lucia Corlane, Rusty loses his expensive camera. Lucia feels somewhat responsible for the mishap and likes Rusty. She arranges for him to take pictures and film of her business interest, a new housing subdivision called Lucky Vista. Rusty fumbles the assignment but unknowingly films Lucia's estate's manager Grantland Farns and a banker named Shanway discussing their stake in Lucky Vista and how they are going to swindle Lucia.

Rusty snaps publicity photos of the glamorous Miss Lucky Vista, a woman who has been paid by Farns and Shanway to stage a compromising situation with Rusty for Lucia to witness.

Rusty realizes that he has the incriminating film evidence and rushes to rescue Lucia from the crooks and to redeem himself. Rusty and Lucia are chased as they try to reach the police station. On the way, they decide to get married.

Cast

Production

Red Skelton plays the roles of three generations: the central character, his father and his grandfather. Parts of the film were inspired by the 1928 comedy The Cameraman by Buster Keaton, who was at that point in his career working as a gagman at MGM and advising Skelton. [2]

Clips of the 1940 film Boom Town and the 1941 film Johnny Eager are shown in the film.

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,318,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $526,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $218,000. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Skelton</span> American comedian (1913–1997)

Richard Red Skelton was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlene Dahl</span> American actress (1925–2021)

Arlene Carol Dahl was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era.

That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Jenkins</span> American actor (1900–1974)

Allen Curtis Jenkins was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television.

<i>Girl Happy</i> 1965 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Boris Sagal

Girl Happy is a 1965 American musical romantic comedy and beach party film starring Elvis Presley in his eighteenth feature. The movie won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category Top Musical of 1965. It featured the song "Puppet on a String", which reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and in Canada, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Forrest</span> American actress (1928–2013)

Sally Forrest, was an American film, stage and TV actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She studied dance from a young age and shortly out of high school was signed to a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Three Little Words</i> (film) 1950 American musical film directed by Richard Thorpe

Three Little Words is a 1950 American musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby. It stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar and Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen and Arlene Dahl as their wives, with Debbie Reynolds in a small but notable role as singer Helen Kane and Gloria DeHaven as her own mother, Mrs. Carter DeHaven. The film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was written by Academy-Award-winning screenwriter George Wells, directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Jack Cummings. Harry Ruby served as a consultant on the project, and he appears in a cameo role as a baseball catcher. The third in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers, it was preceded by Till the Clouds Roll By and Words and Music and followed by Deep in My Heart.

<i>I Dood It</i> 1943 musical-comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli

I Dood It is a 1943 American musical-comedy film starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay is by Fred Saidy and Sig Herzig and the film features Richard Ainley, Patricia Dane, Lena Horne, and Hazel Scott. John Hodiak plays a villain in this production, just his third movie role. Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra provide musical interludes.

<i>The Cameraman</i> 1928 film

The Cameraman is a 1928 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Edward Sedgwick and an uncredited Buster Keaton. The picture stars Keaton and Marceline Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Hatton</span> American actor

Raymond William Hatton was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Sylvan Simon</span> American film director

S. Sylvan Simon was an American stage/film director and producer. He directed numerous Hollywood films in the late 1930s to 1940s, and was the producer of Born Yesterday (1950).

<i>Spite Marriage</i> 1929 film

Spite Marriage is a 1929 American silent comedy film co-directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick and starring Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last silent film, although he had wanted it to be a "talkie" or full sound film. While the production has no recorded dialogue, it does feature an accompanying synchronized score and recorded laughter, applause and other sound effects in some scenes. Keaton later wrote gags for some up-and-coming MGM stars like Red Skelton, and from this film recycled many gags, some shot-for-shot, for Skelton's 1943 film I Dood It.

The Fuller Brush Man is a 1948 American comedy film starring Red Skelton as a door-to-door salesman for the Fuller Brush Company who becomes a murder suspect.

<i>The Women</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by George Cukor

The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's 1936 play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code for it to be released.

<i>Ambush</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Sam Wood

Ambush is a 1950 American Western film directed by Sam Wood and starring Robert Taylor, John Hodiak and Arlene Dahl. The plot is based on the serial story Ambush by Luke Short in The Saturday Evening Post. It is also the first MGM film in the 1950s'.

<i>Texas Carnival</i> 1951 musical film by Charles Walters

Texas Carnival is a 1951 American Technicolor musical film directed by Charles Walters and starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton and Howard Keel.

<i>Du Barry Was a Lady</i> (film) 1943 American film directed by Roy Del Ruth

Du Barry Was a Lady is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name. Shot in Technicolor, the film was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Scene of the Crime</i> (1949 film) 1949 American film by Roy Rowland

Scene of the Crime is a 1949 film noir directed by Roy Rowland, starring Van Johnson, and featuring Gloria DeHaven, Arlene Dahl, and Tom Drake. The film's screenplay, by Charles Schnee, is based on a non-fiction article by John Bartlow Martin, "Smashing the Bookie Gang Marauders". It was the only property sold by Martin to be made into a film. Scene of the Crime was producer Harry Rapf's last film of his thirty-plus year career; he died of a heart attack a week after principal photography for the film began.

<i>The Bride Goes Wild</i> 1948 film by Norman Taurog

The Bride Goes Wild is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Taurog.

John Francis Donohue was an American film actor, screenwriter, director, producer, composer, and choreographer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. "Watch the Birdie". Turner Classic Movies.