Robert J. Maxwell I first saw this as a child and found it hilarious. It's still funny but probably less so, since I now know about rear projection and the use of stunt doubles.Red Skelton is a bell boy in a St. Louis hotel during the Civil War. Circumstances force him to don a Confederate uniform, travel south, and impersonate a renowned Confederate spy, the "Gray Spider." The Union Army orders him to deliver fake battle plans to the Confederate generals and pass on instructions to a resident Union spy. The identifying phrase is, "It's so nice to be back among the magnolias again." Skelton's character, being a stupid coward, finds himself in an intricate web of false identities, bullets, threats, and the adoration of the lovely Arlene Dahl. Man, she is cute.Some of the jokes are pretty crude. Skelton, having just been kissed by Dahl, salutes her and backs away in a daze, only to fall into a shell crater. Others are much more effective. Skelton is given those two messages, one to be handed to the Confederates, the other to his fellow spy. In order to remember where he's carrying each, he tries to memorize a bit of doggerel, something like, "the plan with the battle is in the boot with the buckle, the map is in the packet in the pocket of the jacket." Of course he chops it all up and mumbles hysterically to himself about buckled bagels. Danny Kaye did a repeat a few years later.One of the jokes is inspired, probably by Buster Keaton. Skelton tries to escape his pursuers and rushes into a dentist's office where they pull two of his teeth. The entanglements become surreal.It's far from a sophisticated comedy but it's funny as hell sometimes.

moonspinner55 St. Louis bellhop, anxious to get in on the action during the Civil War's final days, manages to nab himself a Southern spy nicknamed "The Grey Spider"; he switches places with the Spider and infiltrates the Confederate party, falling in love with a Belle along the way. Whether they were working with Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, or Red Skelton here, comedy masters Melvin Frank and Norman Panama (credited as the story writers, alongside screenwriter Harry Tugend) know how to pull off a great gag--whether it be verbal or visual--and manage to keep it going, in the manner of the great silent comedies. A double take can turn into a pratfall, which turns into a lot of pratfalls, which turns into slapstick chaos. No matter what your taste about physical shtick, Frank and Panama usually employ their prowess with bright efficiency, and "A Southern Yankee" has many laugh-out-loud sequences (the double-sided flag, the pine cone on the stump, and all the early business in the hotel). Director Edward Sedgwick maybe should have let Melvin Frank direct as well, as several of the nutty set-pieces (such as the dentist's office) look too much like staged gags. However, when the pacing grows cold there's always Skelton to rely on, and he's very funny and ingratiating throughout (particularly the way he says "Sallyann"). Amusing premise isn't just an excuse for the slapstick, but functions quite well on its own, and the costumes and battlefield sequences are rather impressive. **1/2 from ****

timniles I remember Red mostly from TV in the 50s. To my knowledge I had not seen even one of his films until this one a few years ago.I found it amusing and well worth the viewing time.It's also in something of a counterpoint to most of his TV sketch comedy which was too broad and pointless to me even as a child.One of the interesting features of this film was that it was set in the American Civil War and was mostly a comedy. The film was produced in the late 40s (I think) in a period when most - if not all - Civil War films were completely dramatic ("Gone with the Wind" had a few pointedly amusing lines from Rhett Butler but was a serious film.) The Civil War by then was some 80 years in the past, but the South was still very much the South, so to lampoon the South in any way (even if also the Union received comic dusting) would seem to me as quite a stretch by the producers. Like they were willing to write the South off their distribution lists.Bottom line, Red was much better than I can ever remember seeing him and that alone was worth it.

John Langbein (medrjel) Note to readers: This is "A Southern Yankee", not to be confused with the Bing Crosby classic "A Connetticuit Yankee in King Arthur's Court"(1949)."A Southern Yankee" is a good film, but I must be harsh in my critique, due to it being self-admittedly based on Buster Keaton's "The General". That said, this movie falls short. Mainly, this film lacks in how the story is played out and the gags used.At the same time, "A Southern Yankee" is not a bad movie. In fact, it is a very good movie. I think anyone who chooses to watch it will enjoy it. It is light hearted, and has a couple unique and funny sight gags. It's a good film for the family to sit down and enjoy together.Again, it may not be as great as "The General" (I must admit it's hard for any civil war comedy to climb out of the shadows of that movie), but it has dialog, and is fun. See "A Southern Yankee". I would also urge anyone to see "The General" for one of the best comedies of all time (and for comparisons sake).