Product: Yellow Cab Man [VHS] (1950)
Rating: 5.0
Red drives the Yellow Cab...one of his best!
After the success of "A Southern Yankee", it was just a no-brainer to set up another collaboration between star Red Skelton and comedy legend Buster Keaton (the latter working as a gagman at MGM). They bore some delicious fruit with "The Yellow Cab Man" (1950). Here, Red plays a goof who invents some wacky but effective "safety" devices, the latest of which is "Elastiglass", an unbreakable glass material. To help promote his inventions, he agrees to drive a Yellow Cab for awhile, resulting in a new career that's far from perfect. This was yet another comedy that's practically Red from start to finish. From the opening credits of a bandaged Red in the hospital (the cast is cleverly displayed ON a cast..get it?) to a wild climax on a model home on a turntable spinning out of control, it's one inspired comic moment after another. In between are some memorable bits: Red's first day driving the cab, which disasterously & hilariously piles one laugh on top of another; and a flashback in which Red reprises his "mean widdle kid" character, using his gifts as a pantomimist.Naturally, there's a backdrop of menace as crooks--a lawyer & psychiatrist--try to steal the Elastiglass formula, and go as far as trying to frame Red for murder. I think the only flaw is that, for a comedy, it feels "cluttered", as if it needed to be simplified. Other than that, it's first rate in gags & story, and Red, as usual, gives 110%, so that's really what matters.Definitely one to add to the Skelton collection!