You are here: Reviews > Red Skelton reviews >Ship Ahoy | Red Skelton | Eleanor Powell
movie review of Ship Ahoy (1942) starring Red Skelton, Eleanor Power, Burt Lahr, Virginia Mayo
Ship Ahoy is a very funny musical-comedy-romance from MGM that begins with Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz) in one of his rare film appearances playing Skip Owens, who has fallen hopelessly in love with stage dancer Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien), who is about to leave for Manila along with the Tommy Dorsey band and the rest of her troupe, headlined by Tallulah Winters (Eleanor Powell). a talented dancer who is taken to see a government agent, who wants her to smuggle a magnetic mine to their people in Manila. The patriotic dancer agrees, and after she departs the audience learns that these “government agents” aren’t working for the United States government, but for the Axis powers (the film is set during World War II). The idea for having the beautiful dancer unwittingly smuggle the item was taken from a pulp magazine, written by Merton Kibble Red Skelton), a hypochondriac who is writing four different pulp novels simultaneously. He’s also the employer of Skip Owens, who takes an opportunity to make Red Skelton think that his doctor has ordered an ocean voyage for his health—which allows Skip Owens/Bert Lahr to follow the dancer he’s in love with on their voyage to Manila. Once on board the ship, Merton and Tallulah fall in love, leading to an excellent musical number I’ll Take Tallulah, as well as allowing her to demonstrate her ability to tap dance Morse code—which becomes crucial later on.
Once Tallulah overhears Merton and Skip talk about writing a fictional dancer out of one of the pulp stories, she mistakenly thinks that Merton is planning on throwing her over, and it turns into the traditional “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back” story, with spies capturing them, trying to recover the magnetic mine, and tap-dancing a message to the real U.S. government agents. It’s truly a delightful movie, with constant humor, nice dance scenes that are energetic enough to be entertaining but short enough not to distract from the overall story, and lots of character interaction. The verbal humor flies fast and furious, with both Bert Lahr and Red Skelton being very funny. Some of the outstanding scenes include the I’ll Take Tallulah dance routine, Red Skelton trying to move a suitcase containing the magnetic mine along the deck of the ship, a funny drunk scene where Red Skelton and Bert Lahr are trying to escape from the spies, and the comedy/romance between the two couples. Virginia O’Brien shines in her interactions with Bert Lahr. It’s one of my favorite Red Skelton films, and I hope it becomes one of yours as well. I rate it 4 clowns out of 5.
Ship Ahoy, Clockwise from Left,
Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Tommy Dorsey,
1942 Giclee Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
Editorial review of Ship Ahoy starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell—courtesy of Amazon.com
Miss Winters is a dancer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and is asked to secretly transport a prototype magnetic mine to Puerto Rico. She thinks that she is working for the US Government, but fails to see why she would be involved. The enemy agents got the plan from a pulp novel written by Kibble, who is also on the ship and falls for her. But then she overhears his new novel and believes that he is talking about her. So when they leave the boat, she ignores him, but somehow, the bags get switched and he gets the magnetic mine--which she must later retrieve. It is mainly a Tommy Dorsey showcase with Sinatra singing--Powell dancing--and a small plot.
Trivia for Ship Ahoy starring Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell, Bert Lahr
- The title was changed from I’ll Take Manila to Ship Ahoy because the Philippines had already fallen to the Japanese in the war. The ship destination was changed from Manila to Puerto Rico, and the song “I’ll Take Manila” was changed to “I’ll Take Tallulah”.
- One song I Fell In Love (With the Leader of the Band), by Jule Styne and Herb Magidson, was filmed but not used. The footage was used in The Great Morgan (1946).
- Frank Sinatra makes his film debut as a singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Also look quickly for Broadway star John Raitt as a young sailor.
Funny movie quotes fro Ship Ahoy starring Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell, Bert Lahr, Virginia O’Brien
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Let’s go where there’s soft lights and low music, and I’ll let myself go.
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): You can let yourself go right now.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): If you go to Puerto Rico, I’ll be devastated, like a ship without an udder.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): [kissing girl’s hand and begins to go up arm] Oh, sorry - its the salmon in me trying to run upstream.
Nurse: It’s time for your vitamin, Mr. Kibble.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): Which one this time?
Nurse: Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): I’ve taken so many of these I’m starting to peel.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): I’m a broken weed, chafe in the wind.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): [phone to doctor] He’s a hull of a man. [pause] No, hull, Hull!
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Your red corpuscles get full of sea air and they’re feelin’ hep. Why, they’re feelin’ so hep they drive your white corpuscles right out of your blood stream.
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): I’m looking for a name.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): How about Agnes, that’s a nice name.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Lady Turgot’s party—what a gay, mad caprice. I drank wine from your slipper; two quarts.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): I have every ailment known to man. A medical student can walk around me just once and earn a medical degree.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): You know, I once went 4 days and nights without sleeping.
Tallulah Winters (Eleanor Powell): What happened?
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): I fell flat on my face.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Hey babe, how about knockin’ off for a beaker of punch?
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): Might as well, there’s none in your dancing.
[at a masquerade ball]"Robin Hood”: Who am I to argue with Adam?
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): Oh I’m not Adam, I’m a cave man.
“Robin Hood’: You’re pretty pale for a cave man.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): I didn’t get out of my cave much.
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): Skippy, how about some wine?
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Wine? Your lips are nectar, your cheeks are burgandy, your eyes are port ... that left one’s a little starboard.
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): There’s sure Scotch in you.
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): Hey steward, do you know anything about radios?
Steward: Yes, miss, a little.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Then fix this one! [throws him the radio]
Fran Evans (Virginia O’Brien): Stop, Skip, don’t forget there’s a gentleman present.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Where? Oh, him.
Steward: What seems to be wrong with it?
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Nothing important ... nothing important [chuckles] it doesn’t play.
Steward: Maybe it’s your tubes.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Never mind about me, you fix the radio!
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Steward, bring us up a couple of pheasants and a bottle of champagne.
Steward: Yes, sir, what year?
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): This year; I ain’t gonna live forever, you know.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Look at me.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): That’s the most gruesome suggestion you’ve had yet.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): What is this?
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Napoleon Brandy.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): Can you take vitamins with it?
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Napoleon took Josephine with it!
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): You hear that? She’s not dancing, she’s tapping out a message.
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): My brandy wore off.
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): Say, this is an American sub!
Commander: Of course it is! Yom Ferson, commander-in-charge!
Merton Kibble (Red Skelton): Merton Kibble, officer in distress!
Skip Owens (Bert Lahr): Skipper Owens, tax payer in arrears!
You rated this page:
About the Author
Tom Raymond, aka. Raynbow the Clown, is a professional clown working out of Madison, Wisconsin, and is available for ministry events, conventions and conferences.Reviews • Red Skelton reviews • (0) Comments - what's your opinion?• Permalink
Most recent articles
- Ricky Loses His Temper | I Love Lucy
- I’ll Take Tallulah - song lyrics
- Hermie and Friends: Flo the Lyin’ Fly
- God’s Chisel - The Skit Guys
- The Magic Carpet, starring Lucille Ball
- The Yellow Cab Man, starring Red Skelton
- A Southern Yankee, starring Red Skelton
- Lured, starring Lucille Ball
- The Outlaws is Coming picture gallery | the Three Stooges
- The Outlaws is Coming | the Three Stooges
- The Fuller Brush Girl movie review
- Red Skelton Frogs poem
- Three Stooges Faces fine embroidered black hat
- Red Skelton inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame
- Saps at Sea, starring Laurel and Hardy
Most popular articles
- Charlie Chaplin biography
- True Meaning of Christmas (free clown skit)
- Clown types - the white face clown
- A Nativity Gift (free Christmas clown skit)
- Famous Clowns
- Charlie Chaplin film list
- Emmett Kelly biography
- Christmas Clown Skit
- Red Skelton biography
- Clown Types - whiteface, auguste and hobo clowns
- the August clown
Please link to clown-ministry.com!
<a href="http://www.clown-ministry.com/"> The history and performance of clowning at clown-ministry.com! </a>
clown-ministry home | articles | history | skits | miscellaneous | resources | site map | privacy policy
