Whistling in Dixie

1942 film by S. Sylvan Simon

December 1942 (1942-12)

Running time

74 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$388,000^[1]Box office$1,345,000^[1]

Whistling in Dixie is a 1942 American crime comedy film, the second of three starring Red Skelton as radio detective and amateur crime solver Wally Benton (also known as The Fox) and Ann Rutherford as his fiancée. The pair are called upon to solve a crime in the Southern United States. The film also re-introduces Rags Ragland, playing dual roles as twins, the mostly-reformed Chester, as well as his villainous brother from the first film. The film turns into a romantic comedy mystery, complete with death traps, corrupt politicians and lost gold, ending with a frenetic fight at the end between Wally Benton and both of Rags Ragland's characters.

The film is a sequel to Whistling in the Dark and is followed by Whistling in Brooklyn.

Plot

Cast

Red Skelton as Wally "The Fox" Benton
Ann Rutherford as Carol Lambert
George Bancroft as Sheriff Claude Stagg
Guy Kibbee as Judge George Lee
Diana Lewis as Ellamae Downs
Peter Whitney as Frank V. Bailie
Rags Ragland as Chester Conway
Celia Travers as Hattie Lee
Lucien Littlefield as Corporal Lucken
Louis Mason as Deputy Lem
Mark Daniels as Martin Gordon
Pierre Watkin as Doctor
Emmett Vogan as Radio Producer
Hobart Cavanaugh as Mr. Panky

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,066,000 in the US and Canada and $279,000 elsewhere, making a profit of $542,000.^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ "Top Grossers of the Season", Variety, 5 January 1944 p 54