Login
Vincente Minnelli went on the record to state that I Dood It was his weakest effort as a director, and I’m not going to argue with him on it. I Dood It mostly spins its wheels around Red Skelton’s mugging for the camera, occasionally pausing from that action to view Eleanor Powell tap dancing up a tornado, before diverting into a third act plot twist that is improbable, unnecessary, and over before it even gets going. To summarize, this film is a huge mess.
Red Skelton is a presence that I don’t mind in smaller doses. Having just watched a large chunk of Esther Williams work, I can safely say that I prefer him as a supporting player like in Neptune’s Daughter than as a lead like in Bathing Beauty. When he’s given something funny to play, he can turn it into gold, but he typically just mugs to the camera, playing towards the balcony in the adjoining theater, and making various strained vocal noises. A film like Du Barry Was a Lady keeps him as a part of the ensemble, and his comedic styling plays better for me. I Dood It rest entirely upon your tolerance for Skelton.
For a Minnelli film, I Dood It doesn’t contain much of his typically lavish and grandiose filmmaking and production work. Hired as a last minute replacement to punch up the film, Minnelli’s touch seems entirely devoured apart from two sequences. The first comes from Eleanor Powell in the very beginning of the film, and involves her tap dancing and leaping through a succession of more difficult rodeo rope tricks. It’s an astonishing feat, and it’s a shot of adrenaline that the film quickly loses. The other dance sequences from Powell are entertaining, but many of them are spliced in from one of her older films.
The second noteworthy part is a sequence a little over an hour into the film in which Hazel Scott and Lena Horne show up to tear the roof off the joint. Scott arrives early with a large entourage in tow and performs a fabulous instrumental number for everyone’s enjoyment. She’s a sensational, sophisticated vision, revealing an attractive smile as she pounds on the keys with masterful precision and style. In addition, once Horne shows up, with some lines to spout (which she does fine with, landing her laugh) in full diva mode complete with a fur draped over her shoulders, it’s off and running.
Here is a chance to watch a massive ensemble of extremely talented and under-utilized black talent do what they do best. “Jericho” proves that Minnelli brought out the best in Horne out of all of her film collaborators thus far; making her diamond-in-the-rough qualities displayed in The Duke Is Tops shine their brightest. She looks fabulous, filmed with great tenderness and care, and she and Scott play off each other well. The film gets a massive dose of energy that it desperately needed, but it’s a pity that the moment the song ends that they’re shoved off and we’re back to Red Skelton mugging through a sleepy series of comedic set-ups. “Jericho” is one of the two sequences that make I Dood It worth watching, even if you’ll be fighting the urge to fast-forward through so much of it.
