A Southern Yankee

Plot

Hot on the heels of Columbia's The Fuller Brush Man, MGM released another Red Skelton gagfest, A Southern Yankee. Set during the Civil War, the film casts Skelton as bumbling bellboy Aubrey Filmore. Yearning to help the Northern cause by becoming an undercover spy, Aubrey succeeds beyond his wildest dreams when circumstances force him to pose as notorious Southern secret agent Major Drumman (George Coulouris), aka "The Grey Spider". Infiltrating rebel territory, our hero does his best (which is none too good) to intercept the Grey Spider's messages and smuggle them to the North. Along the way, he falls in love with pert Southern belle Sallyann Weatherby (Arlene Dahl). Many of the side-splitting gag routines were devised by Buster Keaton, notably the now-famous scene in which Aubrey gingerly walks across the battlefield between Northern and Southern lines carrying a two-sided flag -- the Northern Stars and Stripes on one side, the Southern Stars and Bars on the other -- a strategy that works until the wind suddenly changes! Though Edward Sedgwick is credited with the direction, Red Skelton later revealed that A Southern Yankee was actually directed by S. Sylvan Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cast

• Red Skelton - Aubrey Filmore
• Brian Donlevy - Curt Devlynn
• Arlene Dahl - Sallyann Weatharby
• George Coulouris - Maj. Jack Drumman
• Lloyd Gough - Capt. Steve Lorford

John Ireland - Capt. Jed Calbern; Minor Watson - Gen. Watkins; Charles Dingle - Col. Weatharby; Art Baker - Col. Clifford M. Baker; Reed Hadley - Fred Munsey; Arthur Space - Mark Haskins; Richard Alexander - Bartender; Stanley Andrews; Shelby Bacon; Lane Chandler; Cliff Clark - Dr. Cooper; Joyce Compton - Hortense Dobson; Harry Cording; Jeff Corey - Union Cavalry Sergeant; Sam Flint; Byron Foulger - Mr. Duncan; Christian J. Frank; Edward Gargan - Male Nurse; Frank S. Hagney - Horseman; Paul Harvey - Mr. Twitchell; Weldon Heyburn; Bill Kennedy - Lt. Sheve; James Logan - Man; Ian MacDonald; Kermit Maynard; Frank McGrath - Dispatch Rider; Wally Merrill - Confederate Soldier; John Merton; Howard Mitchell; Ralph Montgomery; Bert Moorhouse - Captain; Forbes Murray - Officer; David Newell - Sentry; Paul Newlan - Man with Saber; William "Bill" Phillips - Soldier; Addison Richards - Dr. Clayton; Carl Saxe - Sentry; David Sharpe - Confederate Officer; Ann Staunton - Nurse; Ralph Volkie; Pierre Watkin - Major; Dick Wessel; Henry Hall - Thaddeus Drumman; William Tannen; Allen Mathews; Victor Zimmerman; John Hilton - Orderly; Jack Lee; Susan Simon - Jenny; Dick Simmons - S.S. Man; Roger Moore

Credit

Randall Duell - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Irene Valles - Costume Designer, Edward Sedgwick - Director, Ben Lewis - Editor, David Snell - Composer (Music Score), Jack Dawn - Makeup, Ray June - Cinematographer, Paul Jones - Producer, Arthur Krams - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Warren Newcombe - Special Effects, Melvin Frank - Screen Story, Norman Panama - Screen Story, Harry Tugend - Screenwriter

Previous:	A Southern Maid (1933 Film), A Sound of Thunder (2005 Film)
Next:	A Spanish Romance (1908 Film), A Spanish Twist (1932 Film)