Simply A Masterpiece

good back-story, and good acting

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Red Skelton takes a leaf out of Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers' book and plays three generations in Watch The Birdie. Red plays the grandfather, father, and son who own a camera shop.During the course of the film Red comes to the attention of the beautiful Arlene Dahl who has inherited a construction company from her father. The last project her father was on is a site that rival construction company owner Leon Ames wants very badly and is not above chicanery to get it.The other woman in Red's life is Ann Miller who while she doesn't dance a step uses that figure to full advantage. Jane Russell had nothing on Miller for being a full figure gal. Miller is a beauty contest winner and her character is drawn from the one who chased Jules Munshin in On The Town.There's a very funny sequence with Red and Dick Wessel as the two try to change clothes in a small dressing room with Skelton having a cold and sneezing all over the place. The climax chase scene with the bad guys chasing Skelton and Dahl is also well staged.Fans of Red Skelton will like Watch The Birdie.

According to IMDb, "Watch the Birdie" is a remake of the old Buster Keaton film "The Cameraman". While the newer film did borrow a few bits, the plot is so different that I wouldn't consider it a remake at all. This is great, because I hate remakes and both films are a lot of fun.Red Skelton plays Rusty Cammeron--a nice schnook who works at his family's camera store. Like "The Cameraman", Rusty decides to make money by taking newsreel shots and selling them for bit bucks--exactly like in the Keaton film. However, this portion of the film doesn't last long at all and in the process he ends up meeting Lucia Corlane (Arlene Dahl) and he is instantly smitten. However, she's rich and successful and he's just a bit of an idiot--a very nice and likable idiot, nevertheless.While working for Lucia, he's filming the groundbreaking on her company's big housing project. However, unintentionally, he films her trusted adviser making an underhanded deal to destroy the company! When Rusty and Lucia discover this, they rush to the police with the film--with the baddies in hot pursuit.As I watched this film, I was surprised by my wife's reaction. She just thought Red was cute and very, very likable. In fact, she liked him so much, she was willing to forgive the few missteps the film took (such as having Lucia TELL the baddies that she's on her way to the police....who is THAT dumb?!?!). I would agree but do think the high-speed (or not so high-speed) chase did go on a bit long and because of this, I give the film a still respectable 7. Pleasant and worth seeing.By the way, when everyone is viewing the film Rusty took from the roof of his truck, the camera angle is all wrong--like it was filmed about 5 feet lower. I am surprised they didn't notice this discrepancy. Also, make sure you watch all the movie--even the opening credits. It's rather funny listening to Skelton walking about the cast and crew as the credits roll.

Remake of Buster Keaton's 1928 success "The Cameraman" features Red Skelton at his most amiable, playing a salesman in his family's camera store (Cammeron & Son & Son) who helps the heiress of a major construction company thwart her crooked partner, who's planning on driving her out of business. The plot isn't taken at all seriously; instead, the film is comprised mainly of comic vignettes, some hilarious, with Skelton also playing his own father and wily grandfather. Gets off to a wonderful start, but loses steam along the way despite slapstick climax. The cramped dressing room bit has hardly any relation to the story yet remains a laugh-out-loud highlight, and Ann Miller is a hoot as a beauty contest winner who's always getting slugged. Skelton has some wonderful scenes, double takes, and pratfalls--and, as usual, he's quietly charming while attempting to win over the girl of his dreams. **1/2 from ****

---and see him in three roles in this B / W comedy of his. His first is the lead role of Rusty a bumbling photographer who is trying to save the family business; his father a rather old fashioned and quiet guy that might be Rusty one day if not for his Grandfather (the third role), a playboy a heart, who shows Rusty how to handle a woman properly. The special shots of the three of them and even two of the same characters are great and there is no blurring screen or noticeable break in the film.This film may be only for Skelton fans, of which I am not really one, but I did found a lot of the routines here funny (especially a scene in a Dr.'s change room) and did laugh out loud at some of Skelton's delivery and timing. The girls are great - Arlene Dahl and Ann Miller. They have their share of gags, though Miller is quite far the funniest of the pair. Some tributes to old movies are obvious, especially in the final chase scene. The only scene people might find objectionable today is where Grandpa tells Rusty how to handle and keep a woman by showing him old Clark Gable and Robert Taylor movies.This is great preservation of a moment in cinema history.