Whistling in Brooklyn

Whistling in Brooklyn is a 1943 film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, and Jean Rogers. It is the third and last film starring Skelton as radio personality and amateur detective Wally "The Fox" Benton, following Whistling in the Dark and Whistling in Dixie. Leo Durocher, then-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, made his screen debut, playing himself, while Dodgers "superfan" Hilda Chester also made a brief appearance, playing herself.

Whistling in Brooklyn
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	S. Sylvan Simon
Written by	Nat Perrin Wilkie C. Mahoney (add. dialogue) Stanley Roberts (uncredited)
Produced by	George Haight
Starring	Red Skelton Ann Rutherford Jean Rogers
Cinematography	Lester White
Edited by	Ben Lewis
Music by	George Bassman
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	Loew's, Inc.
Release date	December 1943 (1943-12)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Wally prepares to marry his girlfriend, but gets sidetracked when he is mistaken for a serial killer.

Cast

• 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
• Lillian Yarbo as Maid (uncredited)
• Dorothy Wilson as Radio Quartette Member (uncredited)

Production

Filming at Ebbets Field took place in early April 1943, before the Dodgers’ season opener on 21 April. The several hundred extras were “shivering in their seats,” each paid $5.50 unless they had a line of dialogue—meaning $25 for a day’s work.^[1]

Reception

The New York Times wrote: “The high-jinks start when Red’s mutton-headed man Friday (Rags Ragland) tips off the police that The Fox [Skelton] is actually is the desperate criminal who brags about his crimes in the letters-to-the-editor column using the appellation ‘Constant Reader.’ Well, one complication leads to another and The Fox is being pursued both by the police and the real killer all over Brooklyn, through a vacant warehouse, Ebbets Field and finally down along the waterfront for a slam-bang slapstick climax in the galley of an abandoned ship. Some of the doings are mildly amusing, but most are just plain nonsense….Better luck next time, folks!”^[2]