The Fuller Brush Man (1948)

You won't be disappointed!

Wonderful character development!

A Major Disappointment

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

I've seen most of Red Skelton's films, so I can safely say that this is one of his better films. It's not his best, mostly because his character was goofy but not as sweet as likable as he was in some of his other pictures...plus the end seem to go on a bit long. Still, it's enjoyable and you could do a lot worse!When the film begins, Red (Red Skelton) is a total loser who wants to marry his sweetie (Janet Blair). However, she is a realist and knows that Red can't hold a job...and their marriage would be doomed. When he fired from yet another job, he decides he wants to become a Fuller Brush man...selling brushes door to door. Oddly, about a third of the way into the movie, the plot changes dramatically---and Red is pulled into a murder mystery. And, to make it worse, the cops think he's the most likely suspect. Can he, with the help of his girl, manage to find out what really happened and prove his innocence?This film is pleasant and fun. As I mentioned above, the ending was a bit of a disappointment as Red's fight with the baddies took very long--too long. It was full of stunts and folks getting bonked on the head. I would have preferred one or two less bonks! Still, it is a lot better than many of his films with MGM where the studio insisted on placing this comic in musicals--which wasted his many talents.

You like films that make you laugh so much that your stomach hurts? Then, this is your film. Red Skelton, on loan to Columbia from MGM, strikes gold. As the title suggests, he's a salesman selling brushes, but it is not all sugar and cream for him. His girlfriend Janet Blair's supposed male friend (Don McGuire) gives Skelton the opportunity to sell brushes, setting him up to fail so he can move in on Blair. Skelton and Blair get involved in murder with hysterical results.The movie is overabundant with hysterically funny gags straight out of vaudeville, and it is amazing how many of them work. The initial selling sequences are filled with gags straight out of the classic shorts that influenced the first wave of television sitcoms. Skelton hysterically deals with a rascally kid with a speech impediment, a temperamental actress out to vamp him (Adele Jergens), and finally, the gardeners of the man who had him fired from his job who ends up becoming the unfortunate murder victim. A hysterical sequence in Skelton's kitchen (straight out of the state room sequence from "A Night at the Opera") follows with a group of suspects and of course, a riotously funny finale in a warehouse.Like its even more outrageous follow-up, "The Fuller Brush Girl", the film was headway for a funny redhead to move into greater success on television.

Wow, this movie wore me out. It was almost non-stop slapstick action....actually too much; it could have used some lulls. Still, there were tons of funny moments.Red Skeleton, in the starring role, provides most of the laughs with some corny-but-great lines and wonderful slapstick sight gags. Red, himself, must have been exhausted making this film.My favorite parts were in the beginning when he gives door-to-door selling a chance. His mentor and nemesis "Keenan" (Don McGuire), sets him up with the worst houses on the block and poor Red takes a verbal and physical beating, even from a little kid! It's actually painful to see such a nice guy, such an Innocent human being, get treated so poorly by everyone. He can't catch a break, including making points with his wannabe girlfriend "Ann" (Janet Blair). The break comes, of course, at the end and after a lot of chaos when Red inadvertently becomes involved in a murder and has to clear his name. You know Red, somehow, is going to pull through a ton of messy situations, even though it looks bad for him at least a hundred times!This film, and "The Fuller Brush Girl" with Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert, have never been put on DVDs and that's a shame. It would make a nice double-feature disc.By the way, when was the last time anyone saw a Fuller Brush man at their doorstep?

Red Skelton could entertain you just with his funny faces, clown like slap-stick pratfalls and knock=about comedy. He was at his best in this fast-action b/w feature that also had in a role as a henchman, great little stunt man, Dave Sharpe. (Watch the wonderful knocks and tumbles during the chase and fight scenes at the end..)And who indeed is the killer of this murder-mystery plot woven into the gags and bang-up routines? Many of the younger movie fans today will understand why Red was a favorite of so many back in the 4O's movies and then later on radio and then on TV,after viewing this one...