Excuse My Dust (1951 film)

82 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$1,789,000^[1]Box office$2,298,000^[1]

Excuse My Dust is a 1951 musical comedy film starring Red Skelton. It was directed by Roy Rowland and an uncredited Edward Sedgwick. It is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Bellamy Partridge.

Amateur inventor Joe Belden has his Indiana hometown in a tizzy over his new "horseless carriage" in 1895. It runs on gasoline, but the townspeople aren't impressed and only Joe's mom and his sweetheart Liz Bullitt are supportive.

Mechanical breakdowns make Joe even more unpopular with some, including Liz's father, who prefers his daughter's other suitor, Ivy Leaguer Cyrus Ransom, Jr.

A $5,000 first prize in a road race attracts newfangled contraptions from all over the land. Cy enters one himself that runs on ether and cheats in every way he can to drive Joe off the road. He succeeds, but Liz comes to the rescue and joins Joe all the way to the finish line—well, almost all the way.

• Red Skelton as Joe Belden
• Sally Forrest as Liz Bullitt (singing voice dubbed by Gloria Gray)
• Macdonald Carey as Cyrus Ransom, Jr.
• William Demarest as Harvey Bullitt
• Monica Lewis as Daisy Lou
• Raymond Walburn as Mayor Fred Haskell
• Jane Darwell as Mrs. Belden
• Lillian Bronson as Mrs. Matilda Bullitt
• Herbert Anderson as Ben Parrott
• Paul Harvey as Cyrus Random, Sr.
• Marjorie Wood as Mrs. Cyrus Random Sr.
• Lee Scott as Horace Antler
• Alex Gerry as Mr. Antler
• Jim Hayward as Nick Tosca
• Will Wright as Race judge

The film was an original script by George Wells. Van Johnson was at one stage intended to star.^[2]

• I'd Like to Take You Out Dreaming

Performed by Macdonald Carey and Male Chorus

• Lorelei Brown

Performed by Monica Lewis and Chorus, introduced by Herbert Anderson and Sally Forrest

• Goin' Steady

Sung by Macdonald Carey, Monica Lewis, Sally Forrest, Red Skelton and Chorus

• Spring Has Sprung

Performed by Red Skelton and Sally Forrest (dubbed by Gloria Gray)

• Get a Horse

Performed by Macdonald Carey, William Demarest and Chorus

• That's for Children

Performed by Monica Lewis, Red Skelton and Chorus

• Lorelei Brown (instrumental reprise)

Danced by Sally Forrest and Male Chorus, in French Apache style

• Spring Has Sprung (reprise)

Sung by Sally Forrest (dubbed by Gloria Gray)

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,645,000 in the US and Canada and $653,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $501,000.^[1]

• Excuse My Dust at IMDb
• Excuse My Dust at AllMovie
• Excuse My Dust at the TCM Movie Database
• Excuse My Dust at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films