Storyline

Aubrey Filmore (Red Skelton) is a bumbling bellboy in a Missouri town who pesters the Union officers there; he desperately wants to be a spy for the North in the American Civil War. When Filmore accidentally waylays an infamous Confederate spy known as "The Grey Spider" and is mistaken for him by the Rebels, the Union brass see it as an opportunity for real espionage - and though Filmore is a coward as well as a fool, his real motivation for derring-do is a sweet Southern girl named Sallyann, whom he will see again behind Southern lines.—Gary Dickerson

Plot Keywords

firing squad, farce, dog, physical comedy, haystack, doghouse, bloodhound, bellhop, secret door, reference to abraham lincoln, guerilla, slapstick comedy, spy, secret service, hotel, american civil war, face slap, dentist, battle, impostor

Short Review

There were some jokes that worked but this film was not able to hit all the jokes in my mind. I think that they tried some of the jokes way too much like Red Skelton's character consistently tripping throughout the film being clumsy. I don't think those worked in the film after a while because it happened far too much. So much so that it became predictable and a characteristic rather than funny. Red Skelton's character after a while became annoying and the only characters I enjoyed were anyone but Red Skelton. It is not a movie I would recommend but it does have some interesting jokes that I do believe did work such as a joke written by Buster Keaton which is Red Skelton march with one flag facing the Confederates and the other side the Union and stops a temporary fire until the wind blows. I think this film missed the moral and the risk element. If there was a sense of the danger by a loss I think that this film would have been made it's marks better but there was no sadness or seriousness of the ramifications of what was going on. It was just all jokes. Because of that this film missed on it's message.I also felt like this film ended too conveniently by having the War just end the way it did just seemed unrealistic. There was no sense that the Union or Confederates were is severe danger from low supplies or dirtiness, hunger. It all seemed like they were both on equal footing besides medical supplies and wounded men by the Confederacy and the Union low on cotton supplies.

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership

2. Apple iTunes : Track Price: 8.99, Track Rental Price: 2.99, Collection Price: 8.99,