A hapless bellboy in a St. Louis hotel near the end of the Civil War is recruited by the Union secret service to impersonate a notorious Confederate spy.A hapless bellboy in a St. Louis hotel near the end of the Civil War is recruited by the Union secret service to impersonate a notorious Confederate spy.A hapless bellboy in a St. Louis hotel near the end of the Civil War is recruited by the Union secret service to impersonate a notorious Confederate spy.
- Mr. Duncan
- (scenes deleted)
- Male Nurse
- (scenes deleted)
- Capt. Jeffreys
- (scenes deleted)
- Dr. Clayton
- (scenes deleted)
- Major
- (scenes deleted)
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaNo one could figure out a simple, yet funny way to get Aubrey out of the house when he was being held captive by the angry dog. Buster Keaton, employed by MGM as a roving gag man, was called to the set, looked at the set up, and came up with the idea of removing the door hinges and letting the dog in as Aubrey got out. The most famous gag in the movie took Keaton all of five minutes to devise. Buster also contributed other gags some of which he'd done himself years earlier.
- GoofsMention of prisoner exchange is mentioned by the colonel. Prison exchanges were stopped by Grant in 1864, the first union commander who realized the road to victory lay through attrition.
- Quotes
Col. Clifford M. Baker: The paper's in the pocket of the boot with the buckle. The map's in the packet in the pocket of the jacket. Understand?
Aubrey Filmore: Hmm?
Col. Clifford M. Baker: And if you get them mixed up, you're a dead goose.
Aubrey Filmore: Oh, well let's see now. The paper's in the pocket of the macket with a jacket, and the . . No, I see, the packet's in the . .
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
- SoundtracksOh! Susanna
(uncredited)
Composed by Stephen Foster (1848)
Instrumental version used as leitmotif under titles ad sung briefly by Skelton and Dahl.
Keaton's contributions to YANKEE include his suggestion to the producer that the opening scenes be toned down in order to make Red Skelton's character more sympathetic; the memorable two-sided flag gag (derived from a two-sided costume gag Keaton used in his silent days); some of the climactic chase sequence (a gag with a horse and a dress is lifted directly from Keaton's 1923 OUR HOSPITALITY); and, presumably, the acrobatic dentist sequence and, very likely, the astonishing scene involving a 19th century "lawn mower" and a land mine.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,482,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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