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Excuse My Dust [Red Skelton]

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Excuse My Dust (1951) starring Red Skelton, Sally Forrest, MacDonald Carey, William Demarest
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Excuse My Dust  (1951) starring Red Skelton, Sally Forrest, MacDonald Carey, William Demarest

William Demarest as the grumpy father of Red's girlfriend in Excuse My Dust

Buy from Amazon.com Excuse My Dust is a musical vehicle for Red Skelton, set in 1895, that deals with the issues of progress and the resistance to it.   It stars  Red Skelton as Joe Belden, a young inventor who’s determined to build a “horseless carriage”.  This complicates things, since he’s in love with Liz Bullitt (Sally Forrest), whose father (played by  William Demarest, best remembered for his role of Uncle Charlie on  My Three Sons) runs the local livery stable, and sees the €œhorseless carriage € as a threat to his livelihood.

MacDonald Carey as the romantic rivaal in Excuse My Dust

Joe Belden/Red Skelton has a  rival for her affections in the obnoxious Cyrus Random, Jr. (MacDonald Carey), who undermines his efforts at every turn.  Random goes so far as to buy his own “horseless carriage”.  So he can compete with Joe in an upcoming race with a $5,000.00 prize.  The money that Joe wants to use to open a “gasmobile” factory and be financially able to start a family.

Monica Lewis as the romantic rival in Excuse My Dust

Another fly in the ointment is Daisy Lou Shultzer (Monica Lewis), who has just returned from two weeks in Paris, and sets her eyes on Joe as well.

Review

Excuse My Dust, starring Red Skelton, Sally Forrest, William Demerest

Red Skelton  is as funny as usual, with several funny scenes (specifically when the  local fire department tries to put out his barn fire, and the final car race.) However, there are also way too many musical numbers.  At one point while watching the movie to review, I said out loud “Not  another  musical number!” In my humble opinion, a good musical has each number being an essential part of the story.  Without the number, the story can’t be told as well.

Unfortunately, in  Excuse My Dust, there are several numbers that could be cut entirely from the film, and their loss wouldn’t be noticed.   The most notable example would be an extended dream sequence where Sally Forrest dances in 1950’s fashion.   This is a pity, since Red Skelton and musicals typically go well together, such as  Three Little Words  and  DuBarry was a Lady.

In conclusion

Sally Forrest and Red Skelton couritng in Excuse My Dust

It should be mentioned that the romantic undertone is actually the best part of the film.  Red/Joe alternately feuds with his girlfriend and makes up.  And William Demarest is a delight as the grumpy father. There’s also an underlying story of Jazz music, with a wonderful musical number “Lorelei Brown” that was very enjoyable. I enjoyed watching  Excuse My Dust, but I’ll admit to using the fast-forward button on my remote on at least one musical number. I only rate it 2 clowns out of 5.

Musical numbers from  Excuse My Dust

  • I’d Like to Take You Out Dreaming. Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Performed by Macdonald Carey and Chorus.
  • Lorelei Brown. Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Performed by Monica Lewis and Chorus, introduced by Herbert Anderson and Sally Forrest.
  • Goin’ Steady. Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields.  Sung by Macdonald Carey, Monica Lewis, Sally Forrest, Red Skelton and Chorus.
  • Spring Has Sprung.  Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields.  Performed by Red Skelton and Sally Forrest (dubbed by Gloria Gray).
  • Get a Horse.  Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields.  Performed by Macdonald Carey, William Demarest and Chorus.
  • That’s for Children.  Music by Arthur Schwartz, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields.  Performed by Monica Lewis, Red Skelton and Chorus.

Editorial review of Excuse My Dust – Red Skelton movie review, courtesy of  Amazon.com

Sally Forrest in Excuse My Dust

There’s nothing more volatile than an idea in small-town 1895 America, especially for eager inventor Joe Belden. He’s making a horseless carriage that runs on an explosive cleaning fluid called gasoline – a €œgas-o-mobile. € Why, it’s enough to make John Q. Citizen flip his straw boater! Red Skelton portrays Joe, taking the wheel in a Technicolor(r) musical comedy that has him wooing the  daughter (Sally Forrest) of the man most threatened by Joe’s invention: the local livery master (William Demarest). But there’s happiness all around at the end of the road, and getting there is great fun because the horseless carriage-race finale “is a frantically funny affair…[with] a lot of old Keystone contrivances” (Bosley Crowther, The New York Times).

Trivia for Excuse My Dust

  • The original “Morgan” automobile in  The Magnificent Ambersons  was also used in this film.
  • The automobile is the 1892 Philion Road Carriage. It is currently on display at the National Automobile Museum, The Harrah Collection in Reno, Nevada.

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