I DOOD IT

I Dood It
MGM, 1943, B/W, 102 minutes, ***
Released September, 1943

Slapstick musical-comedy, directed by Vincente Minnelli and based on Buster Keaton's "Spite Marriage," stars Red Skelton as a hapless taylor's apprentice whose dream girl (Eleanor Powell) agrees to marry him only after her beau jilts her. With Sam Levene, Lena Horne, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra; songs include "Star Eyes," "Taking a Chance on Love," "One O'Clock Jump."

Even though it's a Minnelli film, it's not quite up to MGM's usual standards. It seems a little disjointed, as though it were hastily done or made with a small budget. Still, it's a fun film saved mostly by Skelton's comical sequences and Eleanor Powell's fantastic Rope Dance. Jimmy Dorsey's "One O'Clock Jump" is a standout, as is "Star Eyes."

Produced by: Jack Cummings
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Screen Play by: Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy
Musical Direction: Georgie Stoll
Song Score: Lew Brown, Ralph Freed and Sammy Fain
Dance Direction: Bobby Connolly
Musical Presentation: Merrill Pye
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associate: Jack Martin Smith
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Helen Conway
Costume Supervision: Irene
Associate: Sharaff
Men's Costumes by: Gile Steele
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: Ray June
Film Editor: Robert J. Kern

Cast: Red Skelton [Joseph Rivington Reynolds], Eleanor Powell [Constance "Connie" Shaw], Richard Ainley [Larry West], Patricia Dane [Suretta Brenton], Sam Levene [Ed Jackson], Thurston Hall [Kenneth Lawlor], Lena Horne [Herself], Hazel Scott [Herself], John Hodiak [Roy Hartwood], Butterfly McQueen [Annette], Marjorie Gateson [Mrs. Spelvin], Andrew Tombes [Mr. Spelvin], Morris Ankrum [Brinker], Charles Judels [Stage Manager], Helen O'Connell, Bob Eberly, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra [Themselves], Additional Cast: Tommy Dorsey [Cameo], Joe Yule [Stage Doorman]

Musical Program: [0:00] One O'Clock Jump (played by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra behind titles); [0:05] So Long, Sarah Jane (Title Card Reads: "USO BAZARR / Miss Constance Shaw / in her / Western Rope Dance / assisted by / Bob Eberly / and / Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra" (sung by Bob Eberly and Chorus with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Western Rope Dance by Eleanor Powell and Chorus); [0:19] Star Eyes (instrumental arrangement played by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, comedy dance by Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton); [0:32] Star Eyes (sung by Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra); [0:50] Skelton comedy sequnce: trying to put sleeping Eleanor Powell on the bed; [1:04] Hola E Pae (Skelton dream sequence, sung by Chorus, danced by Eleanor Powell in grass skirt - this film footage was lifted from the film Honolulu); [1:10] Taking a Chance on Love (played by Hazel Scott at the piano); [1:12] Jericho (sung and danced by Lena Horne, Hazel Scott and Chorus, Hazel Scott on piano); [1:25] comedy sequence: Skelton fills in for Hodiak in the play; [1:40] Swinging the Jinx Away / Anchors Aweigh (Finale Production Number: instrumental arrangement danced by Eleanor Powell and Chorus dressed as Navy Band, all on battleship set; Chorus sings an excerpt of "Anchors Aweigh")