Sunday, July 4, 2010

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance for the Fourth of July

If you've never heard Red Skelton give his teacher's historical interpretation of The Pledge of Allegiance, you might enjoy this clip. A great entertainer, Red was one of our favorites of early television. I noticed quite a few films of this routine on YouTube, but most were prefaced with partisan remarks. This version, although a little shaky, comes without outside commentary.




Red Skelton In The Pledge Of Allegiance @ Yahoo! Video

Much of Red Skelton's humor is online or available on DVD. My favorite characters were Clem Kadiddlehopper and Freddie the Freeloader. For a written copy of the Pledge and for lots more information about this genius of comedy, visit the official website.

12 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

I had heard Of Red Skelton before, I enjoyed your post as usual.

Enjoy your self this 4th of July.

Yvonne.

JournoMich said...

My father loves Red Skelton, but I hadn't heard this. Thank you, Patricia. A first for me--a serious Red Skelton!

Michele
SouthernCityMysteries

Rebecca T. said...

I love Red Skelton, but hadn't heard this bit for a long time. What a great reminder on the 4th for what our pledge really means :) Thanks for posting it!

Mason Canyon said...

I remember as a young child watching Red Skelton with my Dad. That was his favorite program. I always enjoyed the show, but found was of his characters had a very sad side. Thanks for this reminder today. Hope you have a safe and Happy Fourth of July.

Mason
Thoughts in Progress

Jeanie said...

I well remember Red Skelton. I had seen this before, but not for a long time. Thanks for sharing it today.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Good morning, everyone, and a happy Independence Day, as we used to call it in the old days, to Americans everywhere.

We're experiencing a rare power outage in my neighborhood this morning, so I'm not sure when or how long I'll be online today.

BTW, this was my first experiment with putting a video clip on my blog. It was so easy, I cannot believe I haven't done it before. I know exactly what I'm going to post for tomorrow.

Jan Morrison said...

Happy Independence Day, Patricia! We always watched Red Skeleten in our house growing up. I like him a lot and this was very touching even for us non-americans...

Jemi Fraser said...

Red Skelton always comes across as kind and genuine - and of course hilarious.

This is such a heartfelt speech. As a Canadian I don't know the entire speech, but I've heard enough to know it quite well. I love this interpretation/explanation. Very nice.

Terry Odell said...

I recall watching the Red Skelton show many, many times. Thanks for sharing this serious and touching clip.

Ann Best said...

This takes me back to my childhood, too. I watched his show every week. Clem was my favorite.

How truly ironic this "sketch" is...

Ella said...

I loved him; He was an amazing talent!~ What a wonderful reminder; Great post~

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