Red Skelton

Rudolph searches for Happy, the Baby New Year.

This is the third and last film in a series of wacky comedies about ace radio detective Wally Benton. He finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while being a suspect himself.

Sheer, utter madness is the order of the day in this laugh riot on wheels that features one of America's all-time favorite funnymen, Red Skelton. In a story ranging from the weird to the whimsical, Skelton plays "Red," an accident-prone inventor of safety gadgets (no one can bump his head any funnier) who winds up driving a cab to prove the worth of his latest brainchild, Elastiglass. But while he is falling in love with the cab company's claims adjuster (Gloria De Haven), a crooked lawyer (Edward Arnold) and a phony psychiatrist (Walter Slezak) are plotting to steal his secret formula. One attempt results in a hilarious truth-serum sequence that sends Red back to the playpen and his famous "mean widdle kid" characterization. Climaxed by a frenzied free-for-all chase inside a home-show exposition - complete with a rotating house-of-the-future gone berserk - The Yellow Cab Man features Red Skelton's broad brand of comedy at its wacky best.

Not one, not two, but three Red Skeltons zig-zag through this madcap adventure and turn Watch the Birdie into a real treat! The crown prince of clownery flusters his way through high jinks involving three beautiful women and two suave crooks, making this story of a bumbling photographer one picture-perfect film. Trying to raise enough money to save his camera store from foreclosure, Rusty Cameron (Skelton) rents a newsreel camera and goes hunting for a story. Encouraged by his father (also played by Skelton) and teased by his grandfather (Skelton again!), Rusty plunges forward and nearly drowns in the harbor. Rescued by a beautiful and lonely heiress (Arlene Dahl) and tempted by the gorgeous Ann Miller, Rusty lands in the middle of a villainous plot that has just the right touches of romance and pratfalls – with Rusty, of course, saving the girl and the day!

Red Skelton’s zany, unexpected and classically hilarious performances are celebrated in this compilation of the legendary comedian’s farewell specials.

A nightclub owner in Panama takes on Nazi spies.

Audiences always roared with delight when Red Skelton went one-on-one with post-war life in The Yellow Cab Man, The Fuller Brush Man and other films. In Half a Hero, the legendary comic took on a slice of 20th-century Americana that still resonates today: the suburbs. Red plays Ben Dobson, a magazine writer whose boss approves of Ben because he lives in a cramped Manhattan apartment instead of "the slums of tomorrow": the 'burbs. So, of course, when Ben movies his family to a sprawling housing development, he struggles (hilariously_ to keep the fact a secret. Jean Hagen, a year after her iconic portrayal of the itsy-voiced screen siren in Singin' in the Rain, plays Ben's long-suffering wife, and singer Polly Bergen makes a guest appearance with a torrid nightclub-scene rendition of "Love."

Red Skelton was already a presence on early TV, brining creations like Clem Kadiddlehopper and Freddie the Freeloader into millions of living rooms, when he made his last film for MGM, the studio that had been his movie home since 1940. The beloved funnyman portrays diamond cutter Ambrose C. Park (the middle initials stands for "Central") in The Great Diamond Robbery. Park is eager to demonstrate his talent to his employer by working on the rare Blue Goddess diamond. It's a delicate task. One mistake and the gem will be worthless. Two mistakes: it'll be worthlesser! But Park confidently takes on the job, accompanied by criminals who have convinced him they're his long-lose family and who secretly aim to steal the diamond after it's cut. Will Park find out he's being hoodwinked before it's too late? Most certainly. And that's when the antic finale begins...

Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen and Red Skelton star in this musical biography based on the lives and career of one of the United States' greatest songwriting teams--Three Little Words.

Ship Ahoy, a patriotic musical comedy of the WWII era, swings to the tempo of its big-band times. Eleanor Powell plays a leggy lead dancer on a cruise ship who is asked to transport a mine to Puerto Rico. Neither she nor her pulp-fiction-author beau (Red Skelton) knows she's actually working for spies –who got the idea from one of his potboiler novels! The supporting cast includes Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz) and Virginia O'Brien (Till the Clouds Roll By). All of the festivities are set to the swing of Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra featuring a very young Frank Sinatra as vocalist.

Mistaken identity complicates a polo player’s romance with a bathing suit designer.

Esther Williams dazzles the eye and Red Skelton tickles the funny bone while playing a down-and-out carnival sideshow team mistaken for a pair of multimillionaires at a Texas resort.

This classic vaudeville-like comedy program features entertaining guests and the witty antics of the beloved Milton "Mr. Television" Berle.

Married songwriters almost split up while putting on a big show.

Alan Drake disobeys orders to abandon his aircraft and hit the silk. This doesn’t sit well with the tightly knit squad.