You are here: Articles >Thanksgiving - a history

Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving across the United States of America, Much of the historical knowledge of this holiday has been largely ignored or forgotten -- so please give me a moment to share some interesting tidbits with you.

• Thanksgiving was a celebration of praise to God Almighty, thanking him for the bountiful harvest He had provided, as well as for His mercies on their journey, and for their continued safety. It was an expression of their freedom to worship Him as they pleased. Governor William Bradford invited Indian chief Massasoit and many of his people to this three-day feast. Squanto, the Pilgrim's translator and friend, was present as well -- this was in 1621.
• The pilgrims who had come to America left all behind them, including their financial fortune, in order to worship God as they saw fit, not as the Church of England demanded. They sacrificed all, in the name of freedom to worship God.
• The pilgrims had come to the new world to live freely, and worship God -- not to pillage gold, nor to steal from & kill the natives living there. Disney's politically-correct, factually-inaccurate Pocahontas movie couldn't have been more wrong if they had tried.
• The pilgrims were the world's first socialists! They initially tried a communal system, where everyone held the land in common, and all the products of their labor where divided equally amongst the community. It was an abject failure.
• William Bradford, governor, realized the failure of their communal enterprise, and assigned a plot of land to each family -- with the produce from that land belonging to that family. It was a rousing success, and the bounty from that harvest led to the first Thanksgiving feast.
• Three years after the Pilgrims' arrival and just two years after their first Thanksgiving, on November 29, 1623, Plymouth colony Gov. William Bradford made this official, politically incorrect, proclamation:
  
  "To all ye Pilgrims:
  
  Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat peas, beans, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience, now I proclaim that all ye Pilgrims … render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all his blessings."
  
  
• On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts unanimously voted to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving. Part of the proclamation read as follows:
  
  "... and that the Lord may behold us as a People offering Praise and thereby glorifying Him; the Council doth commend it to the Respective Ministers, Elders and people of this Jurisdiction; Solemnly and seriously to keep the same Beseeching that being perswaded by the mercies of God we may all, even this whole people offer up our bodies and soulds as a living and acceptable Service unto God by Jesus Christ."
  
  
• On November 1, 1777, the first official national recognition of Thanksgiving was given, declared by the Continental Congress after Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga. The defeat of Burgoyne and his army came following a grueling campaign that began with the British victory at Ticonderoga and America's leaders desired to express thanks to God for the victory.
• On October 3, 1789, George Washington, during his first year as president, set aside Thursday, November 26, as "A Day of Publick Thanksgiving anf Prayer." This official decree by the government determined that the day should "be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God." (so much for the "constitutional" separation of church and state)
• On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation distinguishing the fourth Tuesday of November as a national Thanksgiving holiday. President Lincoln also declared days of Thanksgiving for Sunday, April 13 – following the Union victory at Shiloh – and August 6, 1863, in recognition of the Union's success at Gettysburg.
  
  Mr. Lincoln's October 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation read, in part: "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 0 have voted so far

---

You are here: Blog >Call from Nebraska reporter

Last night I received, out of the blue, a telephone call from a newspaper reporter in Nebraska, who was trying to do an article on Don Burda’s memorial tomorrow (October 4, 2008).  He was looking for some anecdotes, etc. about Don Burda / Homer.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t help him, as I never had the pleasure of knowing Don personally.

Consider this a reminder - if you’re in the area, Don Burda’s memorial service will take place at 1 PM on October 4th at his hometown church, United Methodist Church, in Friend, Nebraska.  And if you’re not in the area, be sure to remember to pray for Don’s wife Dee and his daughter—the world has lost one of the great clowns, but they’ve lost their husband and father.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 0 have voted so far

---

You are here: Blog >I need to learn Spanish

For the past 3 years, my wife and I have been fortunate to clown at the Willman Industries company picnic in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin.  In addition to “clowning around”, my wife spends the bulk of her time face painting the children there, while I make a lot of balloon animals.  A comment that my wife made on the way home was that, “I need to learn Spanish.”

Many of the people at the picnic are Spanish-speaking, and even though the vast majority of the adults are bi-lingual, many of the younger children aren’t—and in order to communicate, we either need to speak Spanish, pantomime, or both.  I know some Spanish from college, and know enough to communicate—clumsily—in Spanish.  For example, I absolutely never make balloon animals for children younger than the age of 3—it’s a choking hazard that could be fatal to a young child.  “¿El Niño es tres años, o no es tres años?” Probably not the best grammar, but it allows me to ask the parents if the child is 3 years old—holding up 3 fingers as I do so.

My wife’s right—there are enough Spanish-speaking children to make it a necessity—but that raises the question, where do we stop?  Do we need to learn Chinese? Hmong? French?  It depends on where you live, of course—and reinforces the need for clowns (and other children’s performers) to use the art of pantomime, in order to communicate without words.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 1 have voted so far

---

You are here: Laurel and Hardy Films >Night Owls - Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy in Night Owls (1930) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, James Finlayson

Night Owls is a funny short film that has Edgar Kennedy playing the part of an inept police officer, who’s on the verge of being fired by his police chief after a string of 42 unsolved burglaries have happened on his beat in the last week.  In order to get back in his chief’s good graces, Kennedy has the idea of staging a robbery of the chief’s house, which Kennedy will interrupt and arrest the ‘robbers’—but where will Kennedy find two fools to play the part of the burglars?

That same night, Kennedy comes upon a pair of vagrants, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, asleep on a park bench—and he coerces them into playing the part of the burglars.  The bulk of the film deals with Laurel and Hardy‘s attempt at breaking into the house, over and over ... and over.  Although there are some very funny moments—I laughed out loud at the ‘hat fight’ at the beginning of this, and the running joke of Oliver Hardy’s pants getting ripped every time Stan Laurel tries to help him over the wall, this simply takes too long.  Someone has said that it would have been twice as funny had it been half as long, and I have to agree.

Having said that, there are some very funny moments here—such as Stan and Ollie pretending to be meowing cats in the backyard, in order to cover up the noise they’ve been making, and having their regular foil, Jimmy Finlayson, throw a slipper out the window at the ‘cats’—only to have Stan throw it back!  Rather than stopping to think about how a cat could throw a slipper, Fin throws something else out the window—literally breaking the glass.

Eventually, Stan and Ollie make it into the house, trying to be quiet—and failing miserably, culminating in accidentally turning on the chief’s player piano, and comically trying to turn it off—eventually shoving a bear skin rug into the piano.  Eventually, the chief rouses himself out of bed to investigate, just as Stan and Ollie have fled and Officer Kennedy having come in—leaving the chief to wrongly accuse Kennedy of being the burglar!

A funny short film, although not one of their funniest—still recommended viewing.

Trivia for Laurel and Hardy’s Night Owls

• The Spanish language version of this film, “Ladrones”, became the very first talkie in Spanish ever shown in Argentina when its exhibitor, Max Glücksmann, presented it in the city of Mar del Plata in February, 1930.
• When Laurel and Hardy toured British music halls in the 1950s, Stan Laurel reworked the plot of this short into a stage sketch titled “A Spot of Trouble”.
• This was Edgar Kennedy’s final supporting role in a Laurel and Hardy film at the Roach film studio; he would not appear with the team again until Air Raid Wardens, released 13 years later.
• It was the first film to use their celebrated theme tune, the ‘ku-ku’ song, written by Marvin Hatley.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 1 have voted so far

---

You are here: History >Homer / Don Burda - last walkaround

(from Richard Snowberg)

Dear Clown Camp Family Members,

We have lost a member of our family. With sorrow I am writing to tell you that Don Burda passed away this morning (Thursday, September 11) at 5:15 AM. I have spoken with his daughter, Denise, and she was able to share with me the arrangements that have so far been determined. Don will have a 1 PM service on October 4th at his hometown church, United Methodist Church, in Friend, Nebraska. A private family burial service will follow. A larger Celebration of Life event will take place in Los Altos, California on his birthday, November 8th. This service will take place in the Burda’s current church, Los Altos United Methodist Church, at 655 Magdalena Avenue. This 11 AM gathering, will be a casual dress event, with attendees welcomed - if they wish, to dress in their clown wardrobe. The pastor has proposed a clown processional to begin this service. Following the service, there will be a luncheon served, at which time an open mike will be available for attendees to share memories and stories of
Don’s life. The family is requesting no flowers, but is in the process of selecting memorial funds that friends can gift in Don’s memory. I will have
further information within, perhaps, a few more days.

Denise shared the fact that her mother, Dee, is doing well and was pleased that their entire family was together the last hours of Don’s life. They were
thinking of their many clown friends, and difficulties in making rapid plans, when they decided on hosting a celebration of life event down the road in
November. I know that they hope that at least many of Don’s Californian friends will be able to attend this life celebration.

Because November 8th is the date for our World Clown Association midyear meeting in Denver, I will be unable to attend this gathering. However Jan and I have decided to change some of our plans and will make a surprise appearance in Friend, Nebraska for the funeral service.

Please keep Dee and the family in your prayers and thoughts.

Rich

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 6 have voted so far

---

You are here: History >Don Burda, Homer the happy hobo - inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame

Don Burda, Homer the happy hobo

Don Burda, Homer the happy hobo (1935 - Present)

Don Burda grew up in the small town of Friend, Nebraska, and married his high school sweetheart, Delores (better known as ‘Dee’), in 1956. In 1960, he moved to California to pursue a theatrical career, and during a period of 15 years was cast in thirty-eight stage productions. But a phone call in 1970 changed the course of his life.

In 1970, a children’s theater troupe asked Don to play the role of a clown, and he fell in love with the art of clowning. By 1972, he had created his character, Homer, a happy tramp clown.

For the past 31 years-together with his wife and assistant "Dee" have performed in over 10,000 performances, on television, in theaters, at trade shows, corporate events and private parties. In that time, Homer has won twenty-three first and second place awards in clown and character make-up, skits and balloon sculpturing, and in 1995 received the prestigious honor of being inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame. The Burdas have been instructors at the UW-La Crosse Clown Camp® since 1986, and also lecture frequently on the Art of Clowning. For the last four years has conducted Clown Encounters, weekend conferences taught by Don and Leon "Buttons" McBryde. Don is the author of the popular balloon sculpture book, Homer’s Rubber Bubbles.

After a prolonged illness, Don Burda has passed away on September 11, 2008.  He is survived by his wife Dee and his daughter, Denise.

Quotes from Don Burda:

• "The appeal of the clown is that he’s in a little world of his own and everything happens to him. And they go on. No matter what happens to the clown, he always goes on."

• "I realized what this clown character had done—It had such an impact on people. I had to pursue it. I still did theater for a while, then switched to my own clowning business. I changed the whole direction of my career. It’s still theater but it’s a new character that I created."

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 1 have voted so far

---

You are here: Blog >Don Burda / Homer in poor health

Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 8:58 AM
Subject: Burda’s Struggles Continue

Dear Friends in Clowning,
One of our dearest Clown Camp® clown couples is really struggling. Both Don and Dee Burda have been in and out of hospitals during this past month. Regrettably this isn’t something new. And while Don had been moved from a hospital to a rehab/skilled nursing facility in Sunnyvale, on Tuesday night he ended up in the hospital ER with kidney problems. He is still at the hospital, and according to daughter Denise, was doing better yesterday. When he is able to be released from the hospital, he will move back to the rehab facility.

Denise is now living full time with her mother, as Dee herself is struggling mightily. She tries to get to the hospital each day, but herself is having additional new problems herself. Denise suggested that rather than friends sending cards to either Don’s hospital or nursing home facility, it would be best to send them to their home at: 1408 Knowlton Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94087. This way Dee will be able to read all of the hoped for cards and letters, as well as take them to Don.

I want to attempt to join you in creating a landslide of cards, letters, etc. to the Burdas. They have meant so much to so many of us, that I know you will want to take part in this overture of love and understanding.

Thanks for joining us in seeing that the Burda’s are not forgotten. Please feel free to pass this information on to any others that Don or Dee have touched.
Best clown wishes,
Rich

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 6 have voted so far

---

You are here: Skits >Tithe skit

What’s a ‘tithee’? free clown skit

(A skit for 2 or more speaking clowns - two clowns enter, with one or both of them holding a clipboard and pencil - preferably clown-sized)

Clown 1: I’m so excited!
Clown 2: Me too!  I’ve always wanted to do clown ministry at (name of local church)
Clown 1: Yes!  And now, all we have to do is finish out this questionnaire.  Let’s see ... name?
Clown 2: Yes, I have a name.
Clown 1: (writing) Good!  The next thing is, birth date?
Clown 2: I don’t know.
Clown 1: (does a take, reacts to the audience) You don’t know your birthday?
Clown 2: Well, I was pretty young at the time.
Clown 1: (scribbling) Well, we’ll have to come back to that later.  Where were you born?
Clown 2: In the hospital.
Clown 1: Hospital?
Clown 2: I wanted to be near my mother.
Clown 1: (scribbling) Okay. The next question is, do you tithee? (intentionally mispronouncing ‘tithe’)

Clown 2: Tithee?
Clown 1: That’s what it says here, ‘tithee’.
Clown 2: (light goes on—possibly literally, if you have a light-up light bulb prop) Oh, I know!  It’s like that old gospel song, ‘Nearer my God tithee’!
Clown 1: (to the audience) That just doesn’t sound right.
(at this point, either a third clown—probably a whiteface—or ‘normal’ minister walks by, and tries to straighten them out)
Minister: Fellows, that’s not what ‘tithe’ means.
Clown 1: What does it mean, then?
Minister: Well, technically, it means one tenth.
Clown 2: Tenth?
Clown 1: If you’re tense (speaking with a lisp, so that ‘tense’ sounds like ‘tenth’), you should relax!
Clown 2: Right! (the clowns try to demonstrate stretching, etc.—anything ‘clownish’ that would work with your clown character dealing with relaxing)
Minister: No, no, that’s not it, fellows.  Have a seat, and let me explain what God’s ‘tithe’ means.  (at this point, the minister/whiteface would explain to the congregation / kids church/ etc. what the tithe is, and what God expects from us)

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 6 have voted so far

---

You are here: I Love Lucy >Lucy’s mother writes her a letter

Lucy’s mother, Mrs. McGillicuddy, has written the following letter to Lucy Ricardo—enclosed in a letter she sent to Ethel Mertz, since she couldn’t remember her daughter’s married name!

“Dear Lucy,

How are you and Mickey?  I couldn’t find your address, so I’m sending this letter to Ethel Mertz.  If you don’t get it, please let me know as I have made a copy of it.  The copy is enclosed.

As a matter of fact, if you have read this far, you must have received this letter, so tear up the copy and thank Ethel for me.

After hearing the good news about you going West, I got to thinking how I’ve never been any further west than Youngstown, Ohio, and this seems like a golden opportunity for me to get to California.  I rented my house to a lovely couple, and have bought a whole new wardrobe for the trip.

Sorry I didn’t tell you I was going with you sooner, but you know how it is when you’re planning a long trip, some little detail is liable to slip your mind. 

Sincerely yours,

Mrs. McGillicuddy”

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 1 have voted so far

---

You are here: Clowning Tutorial >Warm ups and cool downs at clown performances

One of the basics about clown performances that often bet overlooked is the need for warm up exercises beforehand, and cool down exercises afterward.  Athletes know about the need for both warm up and cool down exercises - and we don’t typically think of ourselves as athletes, but a clown performance can be just as physically demanding.  When clowning, we tend to use muscles that we forgot that we had—and those muscles tend to remind us of that fact afterwards.  In addition, there tends to be a lot of bending, stooping down to the children’s height, etc.—and if our muscles aren’t ready for that, they’ll hurt afterward.

In order to prevent that, we need to do warm up exercises before we clown, and the same muscle-loosening exercises after, in order to cool down.  Basics include standing upright, feet apart, and stretching your arms above your head, bringing them down to shoulder height (making a ‘T’ shape), rolling your neck around, bending at the hips and again rotating your torso around in a circle, bending at the knees, etc.  If you’ve somehow managed to get past Physical Education in high school without learning how to do warm up exercises, you can read all about it at How Stuff Works.

Something that we tend to forget is the need to again loosen those same muscles after a performance - the cool down exercises.  Fail to do that, and your muscles will lock up just like mine did yesterday.  As Ben Franklin is purported to have said, you have to learn from the mistakes of others, since you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 0 have voted so far

---

You are here: Lucille Ball > I Love Lucy > I Love Lucy season 3 >Ricky Watches the Baby - I Love Lucy

Ricky Watches the Baby - I Love Lucy season 3, episode 80, originally aired January 18, 1954

Ricky Watches the Baby is a very funny, and very good episode of I Love Lucy.  With Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) having the week off from work, Lucy (Lucille Ball) drops several ‘subtle’ hints that he should spend some time with his son, Little Ricky.  Ricky surprises her by agreeing, and when it’s time for Little Ricky to be put to bed, Ricky tucks him in and tells an absolutely hilarious bilingual version of Little Red Riding Hood—the highlight of the episode.  Due to Lucy’s skill as a very skilled clown, people tend to underestimate Desi Arnaz’ comedy skills—but as he proves here, he’s a very gifted comedian and clown in his own right.

The next morning, Lucy is supposed to be able to sleep in, but a wonderful game of ‘gotcha’ occurs, as she goes to check on Little Ricky, only to hear Ricky taking care of him—so she goes back to bed.  But then she thinks about what she just heard, dashes back into the kitchen, only to realize that she only heard part of what Ricky was saying.  Later, however, when overprotective momma Lucy is supposed to go shopping with Ethel (Vivian Vance), she’s reluctant to cut the apron strings and comes back to the apartment, to find Little Ricky wandering in the hall, all alone (having ‘escaped’ when his godfather Fred (William Frawley) came to visit with Ricky and watch the fights on TV).  Lucy and Ethel decide to teach the boys a lesson, with Lucy and Ethel taking Little Ricky to the Mertzes’ apartment, where Lucy calls and asks to talk to Little Ricky—which is when Ricky and Fred realize that the little boy is missing!

Lucy comes in because she wants to kiss Little Ricky goodbye before she ‘leaves’ - as Ricky tries to stall while Fred looks for the missing Little Ricky.  Fred finds him upstairs in his apartment, and sneaks him out while Ethel’s back is turned, and while Ricky and Lucy are engaged in talking Fred sneaks Little Ricky into his crib.  When Lucy finally storms into the nursery, her “Aha!” turns into a “Huh?” and Ricky is puzzled as well (although he doesn’t confess anything to Lucy), and Ethel bursts in (having noticed that Little Ricky is ‘missing’) shouting “Lucy, I can’t find him!” Find who? Ethel, seeing Little Ricky in the crib tries to cover by saying that she can’t find her husband Fred—who’s been hiding behind the door ever since putting the little boy back in his crib, and now pops out with “Here I am!”

It’s a very funny episode, with a nice reversal at the end - Ricky Watches the Baby is available on the I Love Lucy season 3 DVD collection.

Funny quotes from Ricky Watches the Baby - I Love Lucy

[after Fred hears for the first time that Ricky has a week off from the club]
Fred Mertz (William Frawley): Ethel, why didn’t you tell me Ricky had a week off?
Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance): [surprised] What? Lucy, why didn’t you tell me Ricky had a week off?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): [to Ricky] Why didn’t you tell me Ricky had a week off?

---

Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): There’s a gentleman who lives in the neighborhood who’s just dying to meet you. He’s heard a lot about you and I think it’s high time you two got together.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): Who’s that?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): His name is Ricky Ricardo Junior.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): You mean little Ricky?
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Oh, then you have heard of him?

---

[Ricky announces that he’ll take care of Little Ricky during his week off]
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): You mean everything?
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): Yeah. All day--everything.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): That means getting up at 6:00.
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): So? That’s not so tough.
Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): I don’t know if you know this working nights and all, but there’s a 6:00 in the morning, too.

---

Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball): Did you know we were there the whole time?
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz): Not the whole time; at first, I thought it was mice, but I never heard mice giggle before.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 5 have voted so far

---

You are here: Reviews > Red Skelton reviews >The Great Diamond Robbery | Red Skelton | Cara Williams

The Great Diamond Robbery (1953) starring Red Skelton, Cara Williams

In The Great Diamond Robbery, Red Skelton plays Ambrose C. Park, a jewel cutter who was abandoned on a park bench as an infant (hence his name—Ambrose Central Park).  He is looking for his family, thinking that finding them will fill the void in his life.  He eats his lunch in Central Park every day across from the bench where he was left as an infant, in hopes that his parents will come by—to no avail.  In his work life he is a jewel cutter, working for a rich man who has sunk his entire fortune of $2 million dollars (in 1953, a large fortune) into the purchase of a single gem - the ‘blue goddess’ (similar to the Hope diamond) - which is too expensive to sell, so he plans to have a great jewel cutter cut it in two, so that each half is more easily sold—but despite Ambrose having worked for him for twenty years, he doesn’t trust Ambrose to do the job.

Ambrose celebrates his ‘birthday’ at a diner where where brings along a birthday cake—since he has no friends to celebrate with.  The man behind the counter surprises him, however, with a foreign bottle of wine made from prunes - ‘prune juice’ - and he’s soon a stewed prune, who becomes arrested for being drunk and disorderly.  This leads to his being represented by a shyster lawyer named Mr. Remlick (played by a young James Whitmore), who begins to try and fleece poor Ambrose out of his life savings—in exchange for finding his ‘real’ family.

This leads to a an acquaintance of Remlick’s, Mr. Fargoh, who agrees to play the part of Ambrose’s father, and who coerces his girlfriend and her daughter to play the part of Ambrose’s mother (played very well by Dorothy Stickney) and his sister Maggie (played by Cara Williams).  This is where the plan begins to unravel, however, as “Mom” begins to legitimately care for her “son” Ambrose ("I leave him on a park bench, and he gives me earrings ...").  Also, unknown to the dishonest lawyer, Mr. Fargoh has brought in a much more successful, and more dangerous, criminal into the false family - “Uncle” Tony Medeli, who intends to use Ambrose to steal the diamond.

Along the way, Ambrose tries to rescue his “sister” from her job of dancing at a night club, and asks the family where they go to church?  Leading to a funny scene where the “fish out of water” family goes to church to maintain the appearance of a normal happy family, as well as to a conversation between Ambrose and Maggie, where they each reveal a little bit about themselves to each other—paving the way for the ending romantic conclusion.  After the attempt at having the strait-laced Ambrose steal the diamond fail, “Uncle Tony” and the rest of the family convince him to let them come along for the cutting of the diamond—after tying up “mother” and Maggie, who refuse to go along with hurting “their boy” Ambrose.  The ending is actually both comedic and dramatic, with a finale that’s cute and funny as well—ending up in the hospital delivery room, and “happily ever after.”

A funny movie, that oddly doesn’t have room for any of the unique things that we normally associate with Red Skelton.  Sadly, it’s not currently available on DVD—I was fortunate to see it on Turner Classic Movies.

Trivia about The Great Diamond Robbery starring Red Skelton, Cara Williams, James Whitmore

• This was Skelton’s last film for MGM. He had been under contract with the studio since 1940.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 0 have voted so far

---

You are here: News >Professional Clown foils burglary

(Sacramento, CA) A professional clown in full costume foiled two burglars when he pulled his fake pistol during an attempted robbery.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 1 have voted so far

---

You are here: News > Red Skelton >Come celebrate Red Skelton’s Birthday on July 18th at Clown Jam!

A note that I saw on groups.yahoo.com in the Caring_clowns group, and wanted to pass on:

Hello!
We have a great convention planned in beautiful Branson, Mo July 16-20. Scheduled are great classes, fun competitions, training for the kids and a great dinner and show for Saturday. Recently added is a fun “Hobo” dinner in honor of Red Skelton on Friday with a special guest speaker. The website is www.ClownJam.com and don’t forget the American Clown Idol contest, see you there!

Tom King & Steve Kissell

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 0 have voted so far

---

You are here: Reviews > Red Skelton reviews >Ship Ahoy | Red Skelton | Eleanor Powell

Ship Ahoy is the title of a 1942 musical-comedy motion picture produced by MGM. The film stars Eleanor Powell as Tallulah Winters, a dancing star who is hired to perform on an ocean liner. Before she leaves, she is recruited by what she believes is a branch of the American government and asked to smuggle a prototype explosive mine out of the country. In fact, she is unknowingly working for Nazi agents who have stolen the mine. Meanwhile, Merton Kibble (Red Skelton), a writer of pulp fiction adventure stories but suffering from severe writer’s block, is on the same ship and soon he finds himself embroiled in Tallulah’s real-life adventure. Also appearing in the film were Bert Lahr, Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, and Virginia O’Brien This was the first of two films in which Powell and Skelton co-starred. Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell next paired up in 1943’s I Dood It. In that film, they appeared with Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy’s brother.

Courtesy of YouTube, you can see Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell and Bert Lahr in the musical number I’ll Take Tallulah.

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.

You rated this page:

Excellent Good Average Not that good Poor  

Overall rating: 2 have voted so far

---

Most recent articles

• Thanksgiving - a history
• Call from Nebraska reporter
• I need to learn Spanish
• Night Owls - Laurel and Hardy
• Homer / Don Burda - last walkaround
• Don Burda, Homer the happy hobo - inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame
• Don Burda / Homer in poor health
• Tithe skit
• Lucy’s mother writes her a letter
• Warm ups and cool downs at clown performances
• Ricky Watches the Baby - I Love Lucy
• The Great Diamond Robbery | Red Skelton | Cara Williams
• Professional Clown foils burglary
• Come celebrate Red Skelton’s Birthday on July 18th at Clown Jam!
• Ship Ahoy | Red Skelton | Eleanor Powell

Most popular articles

1. Charlie Chaplin biography
2. Famous Clowns
3. How do I start Clowning? Clown make-up essentials
4. Free clown skits
5. Red Skelton biography
6. Emmett Kelly biography
7. Lyrics to Smile, composed by Charlie Chaplin
8. The unusual history of Bozo the Clown
9. Red Skelton's commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance
10. Lyrics to "Lydia the Tatooed Lady" sung by Groucho Marx

---

DONATIONS Keep clown-ministry.com alive: Mail checks, money orders, cash to: or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Tom Raymond 4501 Sentinel Pass Fitchburg, WI 53711 USA

clown-ministry home | articles | history | skits | miscellaneous | resources | site map | privacy policy

email

	Web clown-ministry.com

Members:
Login | Register | Member List

Join our Mailing List

---

---

---

Download Magic Tricks

---