I Dood It

Plot synopsis:
Bumbling hotel pants-presser Joseph Rivington Renolds (Red Skelton) is obsessed with Broadway performer Miss Constance 'Connie' Shaw (Eleanor Powell) and routinely "borrows" his customers' fancy clothes in order to follow her around town. The temperamental Connie, however, is oblivious to Joe, preferring the company of her fiancé, actor Larry West (Richard Ainley).One night, while Joe is at a nightclub wearing a customer's expensive tuxedo, Connie comes in and sees Larry kissing socialite Suretta Brenton (Patricia Dane). Enraged with jealousy, Connie sits at Joe's table and pretends to be his date. By chance, the tuxedo's owner, tourist Alfred Spelvin (Andrew Tombes), is sitting at the next table and recognizes his suit on Joe. Spelvin pursues him onto the dance floor, but is unable to catch the clumsy Joe, who flees the club.Later, Joe goes to see his sixty-fifth performance of Dixie Lou , a Civil War melodrama starring Connie and Larry. After the show, Kenneth 'Ken' Lawlor (Thurston Hall), the producer of Dixie Lou, brings Suretta to Connie's dressing room to discuss backing for Connie and Larry's next show. After the smug Suretta shows off a ruby bracelet that the ambitious Larry has bought for her, Connie is furious and storms out of her dressing room. On her way out, she runs into Joe and, seeing the smitten fan, gets an idea.Sometime later, Connie and Joe return to the nightclub, and seeing Larry, Suretta and Kenneth seated together, Connie introduces Joe as her new husband. Connie pretends that Joe owns gold mines, and she informs Kenneth about her husband's wealth. Kenneth immediately sets up a meeting with him.Connie and Joe then check into the honeymoon suite at the same hotel at which Joe works, and while Joe is out securing some champagne, Connie starts to write a farewell letter to him. Before she finishes, however, Larry calls and again infuriates her with his indifference.Connie is about to sneak off when Joe returns with the champagne. Unable to say goodbye to the love struck Joe, Connie decides to drug him instead and slips some of her sleeping pills into his champagne. Joe unwittingly switches the glasses, however, and Connie falls into a deep slumber. Joe has a heck of a time getting her up off the floor and over to bed. As he finally covers her up and kisses her goodnight on the cheek, the bed collapses. Joe goes out to sleep on the couch.The next morning, Joe delivers breakfast to Connie and when she wakes up and sees him, she screams. He runs out, but she comes out shortly after and apologizes.Kenneth arrives at the suite, with Larry and Suretta. Larry claims to want to invest in Kenneth's new show with Joe. Unknown to Kenneth, Joe and Connie, Suretta is aware of Joe's impersonation and calls for valet service.Joe's boss, tailor Ed Jackson (Sam Levene), responds to the valet call and when he sees Joe in the room, he angrily tells everyone there that Joe is a pants presser and works for him. Connie confesses that she had in fact married Joe.Feeling that he has nothing more to lose, Joe slugs the cocky Larry, then attempts suicide by asphyxiating himself with the valet service gas. However, the gas automatically shuts off after hours, and as the gas shuts off, Joe simply falls asleep and dreams about a dancing Connie.Joe is eventually awakened by Ed, who slaps him repeatedly and tells him he's fired. The blustery Ed at first criticizes Joe for thinking he could marry a famous performer like Connie, then changes his mind, deciding it's a personal insult to him and all other pants pressers. He insists that Joe assert himself and demand his conjugal rights. Pushed by Ed, Joe sneaks into the theater through the cellar and hides in a stage prop box as Hazel Scott, Lena Horn, and their background singers rehearse the song, Jericho.Joe gets tossed out of the theater, but accidentally falls into the old coal chute and down into the storage cellar. There, he bumps into actor Roy Hartwood (John Hodiak). Unknown to Joe, Roy is a Nazi saboteur and has been digging a hole in the theater wall so that he can plant a bomb and destroy some ordnance that are being stored next door. Roy is immediately suspicious of Joe, but once he realizes Joe doesn't know anything about his activities, he lets him go.Roy is ordered by his superiors to set off the bomb that night, so he asks Joe, who has bragged that he knows every line in the show backward and forward, to cover for him. Joe is reluctant, until he's reminded he gets to kiss Connie at the end of the first act. He dons Roy's stage beard and costume, nearly cutting his right ear with the scissor in the process. He does accidentally cut one of the straps of his t-shirt, but fixes that by gluing it to his skin.Mistaking Joe for Roy, one of Roy's Nazi cohorts slips Joe a message about a submarine rendezvous, but Joe fails to grasp its significance.Joe finishes preparing himself in costume by way overdoing it on some powder to make it appear as though his uniform is dust-covered.As the show starts, Joe stumbles and bumbles, knocking over stage props, sneezing from all the dust on his uniform, stepping on Connie's dress, and later pinning it to a wall with a prop sword. His performance enrages Connie and the stage crew, but Joe refuses to leave the stage.Joe is about to kiss Connie, when he suddenly understands the Nazi's message. He dashes offstage and becomes engaged in a protracted fight with Roy, starting in the cellar, continuing on stage, up in the rafters and back to the cellar.After knocking out Roy, Joe begins a frantic search for the bomb. Connie soon joins him and, impressed by his bravery, professes her love. Joe finally realizes a wire he kept tripping over was connected to the bomb. Moments before it is to explode, Joe defuses the bomb and then learns from the police that he will be rewarded for his efforts.Later, Joe becomes not only Connie's true husband but the co-producer of her next show as well.

Tags: romantic

Review:
It's full of laughs, music and Red Skelton.
I've never been a Red Skelton fan but when I saw this film on TCM I was hooked.
Between the music, the dancing, and slapstick I can't say which one was better.
No one seems to point out that his film is a remake of an earlier film Buster Keaton made for MGM titled "Spite Marriage", with many of the visual gags pulled directly from that earlier film with almost no changes.
If you liked this movie, you should seek out the earlier film; a lot of it is genuinely funny.
Red Skelton musical comedy that also happens to be Eleanor Powell's final leading role at MGM.
Skelton plays a loser totally obsessed with an actress (Powell).
Most of the better stuff is ripped off from an old Buster Keaton movie.
The highlights of the movie revolve around Eleanor Powell, including a classic lasso dancing number near the beginning of the film.
Also some nice musical numbers from Lena Horne and Hazel Scott.It's a watchable movie but nothing special.
I would suggest watching the first ten minutes or so for the Powell number and then fast-forwarding to whenever you see someone singing or dancing.
Then too, she's got the movie's comedic highpoint where Skelton has to bend her upside down and sideways while she's knocked out with sleeping pills.
On the other hand, Red's routines pick up slapstick momentum toward the end, but the first part has him do little more than wear a goofy grin.
As a Skelton fan, I don't think it's the comedian's best showcase.On the whole, the 100-minutes amounts to a rather unwieldy package, with a few over-stretched routines and an awkward Nazi subplot.
Judging from the screen environs, I'll bet it was filmed in MGM's prop room with the lifts, props and catwalks all doing their part.Overall-- as another reviewer points out—it's more a movie of parts than a whole.
I understand it was a remake of a Buster Keaton silent feature,so the slapstick is pretty funny.
Also entertaining are Miss Powell's dance numbers (even if two of them were lifted from previous films) and the musical numbers by Hazel Scott and Lena Horne.
Red Skelton is his usual bumbling, confused,but lovable self.
Besides the whole "mistaken identity" plot,there is a subplot about Nazi saboteurs,which is just stupid and some really bad spoof of "Gone With the Wind" as the play that Powell's character is starring in.
You have to be a die-hard RED SKELTON fan to approve of his slapstick performance in I DOOD IT, but some of his routines just fall flat.
He and ELEANOR POWELL have to deal with a less than spectacular script in which he's mistaken for a wealthy man when he's actually a pants presser.
The gags that follow are weak, for the most part, but occasionally some bright bits of humor do crop up along the way.For comic timing, nothing beats the scene where Powell takes the sleep medicine by mistake and Skelton is unable to wake her up to either put her in a chair or on a bed.
The timing by both is impeccable and it's one of the film's best routines.Too bad her dance numbers aren't staged as well as that sequence which runs a little too long.
They're serviceable, but that's about all.Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra play some nice tunes, best of which is "Star Eyes" sung by Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell.
An "audition" scene featuring Hazel Scott at the piano and Lena Horne as vocalist on "Jericho" is a lively routine that gives the film a much needed musical highlight.But for both Skelton and Powell, this is one of their lesser efforts.
Come for Red Skelton, Stay for Eleanor Powell, Lena Horne, and Hazel Scott.
I generally find Red Skelton films entertaining, so I poured a glass of wine and tee'd up "I Dood It" on a quiet Sunday afternoon.Red Skelton was his usual great.
But one genius plus one genius equals some great comedy, so that was okay with me.However, I was really blown away by three performers I didn't know very well.
Check out her lasso dance near the beginning of the film.
And then later in the film comes Hazel Scott, a phenomenal jazz pianist who I'd never heard before.
Those scenes alone make the movie worth spending a little time on.There were a lot of musical numbers, too many in fact, and I have to admit I fast forwarded through the more tedious of them.
But there's enough gold in this film to make it an enjoyable, although certainly not classic, movie event..
A very weak Skelton film.
Red Skelton plays Joe Reynolds--a guy who is absolutely obsessed with the stage actress Connie Shaw (Eleanor Powell).
When he meets her finally, he doesn't realize that when she proposes marriage it isn't because she cares about him but because she is doing it to spite another man."I Dood It" is one of the weakest films that Red Skelton made for MGM and there are two huge strikes against it--and one smaller one.
First, it's a remake and the original (starring Buster Keaton) is a better film--though for Keaton standards it's also a weak effort.
Second, like too many of MGM's films, the studio insisted on inserting a lot of music into the film, as they really didn't seem to trust comedy.
Because of this, Skelton, who could be very funny, seems like an afterthought at times.
As for the smaller strike against the film, because it was made during WWII, they inserted a completely unnecessary subplot near the end about some evil-doer trying to blow things up to somehow aid the Axis.
It really made no sense and was obviously tossed in at the last minute.Note: To show how poor this movie is, the final musical number is recycled--taken from a Powell film ("Born to Dance") made seven years earlier..
Red Skelton was a hoot, and Eleanor Powell - even my 26-year-old son thought her dance numbers were 'impressive.' Our favorite of these dance numbers was the first one at the beginning of the movie, a cowboy production where Eleanor Powell danced with lariat-wielding cowhands, then roped a post several times in a row, showing admirable skill.
And, of course, more dancing and music, including appearances by Jimmy Dorsey.
If you like musical comedies of the thirties and forties, this is one of the best!.
I have this notion that the thirties was a great pressure cooker for movies, during which time all sorts of experiments were tried.
Out of that period came the genres we know today, plus the great invention of Noir, uniquely American.So I've been watching lots of 30s movies, not because they are good or particularly enjoyable.
It is a remake and "borrows" musical numbers from a couple films that really were made in the 30s.It is a spliced picture, three movies combined, something that was common in the 30's.One movie is a stage show.
Lots of variety here.A second movie is a comedic fold: a movie where all the players are involved in some way in a play (different than the earlier mentioned performances and more like "Gone with the Wind").
Red Skelton's technique was to perform a comedic motion (like rolling his eyes after getting bonked) in an exaggerated fashion and then abruptly stop before it finished and look at the audience with a big grin.
This movie has lots to enjoy - great wartime entertainment by some of the big names in music at that time, good if recycled comedy, and great dancing by Eleanor Powell.
It can never seem to figure out if it is a romantic comedy, a musical, or a movie about wartime sabotage, but it does grow on you.The comedy is mainly recycled from Buster Keaton's last silent film, "Spite Marriage", and in fact Buster was a gag writer on this film and most of Red's other movies for MGM.
Here Red Skelton plays Joe Reynolds, reprising Buster's part as a worker in a laundry enamored with stage actress Constance Shaw (Eleanor Powell).
Shaw marries Joe without knowing or caring what he does for a living, and there is the repeat of the "putting the unconscious bride to bed" scene that there was in Spite Marriage.
"Spite Marriage" had seafaring bootlegging gangsters as villains, which, of course, would have made no sense in 1943.There are some great numbers by Powell if you are a fan of her dancing - I am.
The disappointing part is that a couple of the numbers are lifted from other films.
The finale is lifted from 1936's "Born To Dance" and there is another number that was shot for the film "Honolulu".
Part of the reason for this is that the lasso number towards the beginning of the film was so difficult that Miss Powell knocked herself unconscious while performing it, and thus other numbers were substituted for the originals planned.Finally there are some great musical numbers by the Dorseys and "Jericho" performed by Lena Horne..
Relaxed and enjoyable musical comedy.
(There are some nefarious Nazis here with evil plans but forget them.) It's not Red Skelton's funniest comedy but he's still pretty amusing as his usual tall hick, with his goofy smile, falling over chairs, a pants-presser who impersonates someone else and gets rattled when threatened with exposure.The musical numbers are pretty well done and efficiently integrated into the plot -- direction by Vincent Minnelli.
Eleanor Powell is the major musical star and her tap dancing is so vigorous, and her body so limber and supple, and the tempo so fast, that just watching her spins for thirty seconds gave me chest pains.We are given an extended version of the song "Star Eyes".
The version in the film is of the period, with Helen O'Connell and Ray Eberle, with Jimmy Dorsey's orchestra.Some of the jokes may get by younger viewers -- that is, younger than about 60.
Red Skeleton is listening to a recording by Jimmy Dorsey at a shop window.
The man is Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy's brother, and the two were notorious rivals at the time.Someone pointed out in another comment that this was an updating of a Buster Keaton movie and I can believe it because Keaton's influence seems apparent in some scenes.
(Skeleton trying to lift the limp body of the unconscious Eleanor Powell and stretch it out on the bed.) Keaton was gag adviser on another Red Skeleton comedy, "A Southern Yankee", and turned some of the scenes (eg., a dentist's chair) into comic gems."Star Eyes" was nothing more than ordinary pop music at the time.
This is more a series of scenes than a cohesive movie.There are several scenes featuring black performers like Lena Horn, and Hazel Scott.
While their performances are amazing - they have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie.
IT is as if the movie is interrupted by a music video.Both Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell had very unique and distinctive talents - this script makes little use of their abilities.
There are a couple of scenes where Skelton mugs for the camera.
There are a couple of scenes where Powell dances - but these are add ons not related to the rest of the movie.
The final film is a series of independent scenes with far too little plot to propel the action.This is still worth seeing - especially for the performance of Hazel Scott and Lena Horn.
But do not expect this to be like other "Classic MGM Musicals of the period".
If you adore Red Skelton...
If you adore Eleanor Powell...
just pure fun watching some of the best talent Hollywood ever had.Lena Horne, Hazel Scott, Jimmy Dorsey, Bob Eberly, Helen O'Connell for the music.
Eleanor Powell's magnificent dancing, Red Skelton's brilliant slapstick and his heart-felt sweetness.
Then there's the rest of the cast - Thurston Hall, Sam Levene, John Hodiak, and Richard Ainley as Larry West, for whom this would be his last picture.The plot has its nuttier moments, none of it meant to be taken seriously.
There are jewels to glitter and shine and, if they were fakes, they were great fakes.The plot gives Red Skelton plenty of opportunity to do what he did best.
Skelton Never Got A Great Film.
When I saw that Vincente Minnelli was the director here, I thought, well Skelton at least got a little more support here with Eleanor Powell and a lot of staging.
While there is a story, it not only was done before, but the film still does not make a comfortable fit for Red. Skelton would not hit his stride until television.This is a war time production, obvious from the themes.
Butterfly walks a poodle near Skelton when he is sitting defeated in a park.The plot has Skelton chasing a show girl, as a pants presser chasing her by going to every one of her live shows.
The plot is not as important as the music and dancing it turns out with Red doing some comic relief.You gotta love Powell and Lena Horne who are great.
This same year he is directing an all black cast in "Cabin In The Sky" and it appears he literally borrows some of the cast from that picture to make cameos lat in this picture.As a fan of Red, am glad I finally caught this one.
So far, the scripts for Red in his films are lacking and this one is not an exception.
At least here, he got an A-List Director and cast along with Jimmy Dorseys Orchestra..
In Vincente Minnelli's third film MGM gave him the disparate talents of Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton to work with.
The result was I Dood It and while Powell's career was only a few more films, Red's got going into high gear after this went into release.Powell is a Broadway star and Red is a love struck fan who has seen 65 performances of her in some Civil War drama from the same seat.
In this case a glamorous dancing star like Eleanor Powell.
There's hope for all of us and a lot of Hope for Red as well in this film.
Coming for specialty numbers are jazz pianist Hazel Scott and the great Lena Horne.
Not to mention Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra with singers Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly who were at the height of their popularity when I Dood It came out.
Thurston Hall plays Powell's producer, Richard Ainley her insufferable leading man and John Hodiak in one of his earliest films was a Nazi spy and saboteur.
Well this was 1943 and film audiences were reminded those Nazis were everywhere.Red's fans and Eleanor's fans will get their money's worth with I Dood It..
Only the musical number by the fabulous Dorsey band as well as the playing of Ms. Scott and wonderful singing by Lena Horne are about the only 2 saving graces of this rather silly film.The trouble here is the far too many sub-plots.
We have Red Skelton pursuing entertainer Eleanor Powell.
Instead, we have John Hodiak as a player in a show who is really a Nazi saboteur ready to blow up the theater area which is next to some important valuables.Some of the Skelton-Powell skits are way overdone.While we may have needed films like this in war-time, some of this is just too silly to imagine..
While there is a definite art deco look to the mediocre musical comedy "I Dood It", it is a minor credit in the list of masterpieces by the great Vincent Minnelli, a sub-par entry in the credits of the great MGM musicals.
This comedy/farce has a star-struck dry cleaner (Red Skelton) so enamored of Broadway star Eleanor Powell that he follows her everywhere she goes.
But she finds she can't get rid of Skelton too easily, and he ends up saving the day when her co-star tries to rob a warehouse next to the theater in which they are appearing.Little thought was put into this musical for the poor Ms. Powell as it includes two numbers previously seen in two of her other movies.
A hula from "Honolulu" is lifted right out of that film, as is the final from "Born to Dance".
While Ms. Powell has aged well in the seven years since that film, she doesn't really look exactly like what she used to anymore, so don't be surprised when you find yourself shaking your head.
Her one dance number (a tricky rope tap dance) does stand out, as does Lena Horne's walk-on of "Jericho".
Skelton and Powell share a nightclub dance where he is trying to avoid the actual owner of the suit that ends up comical due to his paranoia over being exposed.
Another highlight is the "wedding night" scene where a passed out Powell (having taken a sleeping potion) keeps falling out of bed and Skelton tries different acrobatic ways to get her back in so she can "sleep it off".However, the play within the play (obviously a rip-off of "Gone With the Wind") is so bad it seems like something spoofed on "The Carol Burnett Show".
There is a funny bit of "Noises Off!" like humor with Skelton messing up when he ends up in one of the actor's costumes on stage then fights with the villain on a rising set-piece.
So while there are some really funny moments (influenced with the help of "Comedy Adviser" Buster Keaton) they are few and far between, and much of the film is ridiculous.Patricia Dane's horrendous character seems to have no motivation for her nastiness towards Powell, although Powell isn't the sweet ingénue here, destroying a dressing room in one scene in quite a show of temperament.
However, the presence of some wonderful character performers (Thurston Hall, Butterfly McQueen, Sam Levene, Marjorie Gateson) helps sustain the film from total boredom.
With his first contract film out of the way, Minnelli would go onto the artistic triumph of "Cabin in the Sky" before his true talents were revealed with a colorful musical called "Meet Me in St. Louis".