Watch the Birdie on AllMovie

Watch the Birdie is a remake of Buster Keaton's The Cameraman; in fact, Keaton served as technical advisor, though it seems that most of his advice went unheeded. Red Skelton stars as photo-shop proprietor Rusty Cameron, who dreams of becoming an ace cinematographer. This gets him mixed up with a gang of crooked land developers, headed by Grantland D. Farns (Leon Ames). Rusty's photographic aspirations also mess up his romantic life with Lucia Corlaine (Arlene Dahl), who just can't understand why Rusty spends so much time with contest winner "Miss Lucky Vista" (Ann Miller). The best scene involves Rusty Cameron's man-to-man talks with his father and grandfather -- both of whom are also played by Red Skelton. Revived material from The Cameraman includes the scene wherein Skelton shares a crackerbox dressing room with surly Dick Wessel. Watch the Birdie winds things up with a zany slapstick chase, capped by one of the most abrupt endings in motion-picture history.