Hit the gas, Joe!

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Movie
German title Hit the gas, Joe!
Original title Excuse my dust
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1951
length 84 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Roy Rowland
script Buster Keaton
Stephanie Nordli
George Wells
production Jack Cummings
music Paul Dunlap
Arthur Schwartz
camera Alfred Gilks
cut Cotton Warburton
occupation

Hit the gas, Joe! is an American comedy film from 1951 starring Red Skelton . It deals in an amusing way with the first human attempts at handling automobiles .

action

The United States just before the end of the 19th century. The lovable but somewhat clumsy tinkerer Joe Beldon lives in the small town of " Willow Falls " in New England , and is inspired by the idea of ​​building the first horseless means of transport for people.

His experiments with the " Gasomobil " he baptized were not crowned with success, however, and instead of being recognized, only earned him the mockery of the residents. To make matters worse, his future father-in-law Harvey, as the owner of a horse-drawn vehicle park, may lose his livelihood through Joe's invention. Only his girlfriend Lizzy and his best buddy Ben stand by his side.

When Joe finally takes an important step towards the completion of his mobile, misunderstandings about a young, manly lady lead Lizzy to believe that Joe has given her the pass and is leaving him.

In the end, there is only one way for Joe to get everything back on track: in a race between different bizarre motor vehicles in " Willow Falls ", Joe wants to be the first to cross the finish line with his invention and defeat his arch rival - the greasy Cyrus Random , which Lizzy has meanwhile been courting ...

useful information

  • The film is a loving homage to the days when mechanical means of transport were still in their infancy. In contrast to “ The daring men in their flying boxes ”, the focus here is not so much on the humor of slapstick and screwball comedies, but rather on a naive, carefree hero and the popular film form of the musical at the time .
  • Sally Forrest in the role of Lizzy was a well-known dancer at the time of shooting. For this reason, a dance scene that did not quite match the color of the time was added especially for her. Her vocal performances were dubbed by the singer Gloria Gray .
  • The Morgan, a car used in the film, can also be seen in the 1942 film " The Splendor of the Amberson House " .

Reviews

  • "A grotesque about the childhood days of the automobile in America: a rich comedy for comedian Skelton." - " Lexicon of International Films " (CD-ROM edition), Systhema, Munich 1997
  • "Comedian Skelton plays it with his usual grotesque motor skills and lots of slapstick punchlines." (Rating: 2 stars = average) - Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz in Lexicon "Films on TV" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 304
  • "Colored film grotesque (...). Moves between conscious kintopp and comical naivete. Quite amusing with Red Skelton." - 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 158

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