Month: October 2020

SUMMARY:                           Running Time: 17 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Jack White (under the pseudonym of Preston Black), this Three Stooges sitcom stars Moe, Larry, & Curly as dim-witted exterminators drumming up some much-needed business by providing the pests!  Ordered by their exasperated boss, A. Mouser, to infest potential clients’ homes, the Stooges raid debutante Beulah Berlap’s mansion during a glamorous party. 

Gleefully letting loose moths, mice, and ants inside, the Stooges conveniently show up moments later to ‘save’ Mrs. Berlap from enormous social embarrassment.  Yet, the Stooges are hard-pressed to undo the high society havoc they’ve wreaked among the stuck-up guests. 

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

Beulah Berlap: Clara Kimball Young

Clara: Isabelle LaMal

Maid: Helen Martinez

Eleanor: Anne O’Neil

A. Mouser: Harrison Greene

Mouser’s Secretary: Hilda Title

Professor Repulso: Bud Jamison

Gawkins: Vesey O’Davoren Lord Stoke Pogis: Douglas Gerrard

Party Guests: Bobby Burns; Althea Henley; James C. Morton; Phyllis Crane; Harry Semels; etc. 

REVIEW:

Make no mistake: aside from the Stooges’ dubious on-screen ethics, Ants in the Pantry is practically a live-action Looney Tunes.  Even better is that this premise ages remarkably well.  Perhaps it isn’t a mere coincidence that at least two of this episode’s best jokes (i.e. Curly ‘cutting’ a deck of cards and the misidentification of a skunk) would be lifted years later by Bugs Bunny.  Still, the Stooges’ high society hijinks (including a few gross-out gags – watch out for that ‘poppy seed’ cake!) offer hilarious slapstick at all the right moments.

In limited screen time, guest stars Clara Kimball Young and Isabelle LaMal are terrific as the snooty yet kind Beulah & Clara.  As a sultry maid, Helen Martinez shares a fun gag with Moe & Curly while dodging Moe’s amorous advances.  Reliable role players (i.e. Bud Jamison; James C. Morton; and Harry Semels) appear in non-speaking cameos, though Bobby Burns’ squirming impromptu dance (after a mouse scurries down his shirt collar) is a hoot to watch. 

As a wacky misadventure featuring vintage Stooge mayhem, Ants in the Pantry deservedly rates among the trio’s all-time best.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 9 Stars

Note: For more Three Stooges high society havoc from 1935-36, try Hoi Polloi and Slippery Silks.

SUMMARY:                           Running Time: 17 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Del Lord, this early Three Stooges sitcom stars Moe, Larry, & Curly as new hires at a brewery. Almost immediately, these bumbling beer deliverymen go gaga over the prospect of cash prizes in their company’s upcoming annual golf tournament.  Despite having no idea how golf is actually played, the boys rationalize they’re shoo-ins to win  … that is, with a little practice first. 

Thanks to fate, their next delivery run takes them to the golf course their incensed boss belongs to.  Seeking to polish their golf swings, the trio invades the Rancho Golf Club with disastrous whack-a-mole results.  Not only facing the wrath of irate golfers, their truck’s badly loaded cargo is saving the Stooges another barrel-rolling surprise.  

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

A. Panther: Bud Jamison

Traffic Cop: George Magrill

Tiny: Jack Lipson 

Golf Course Girls: Althea Henley, Eve Reynolds, & Ninette Crawford

Cement Paver: William Irving

Groundskeepers/Gardeners: Charles Dorety & Harry Semels

Desk Clerks: Jack Kenney & Eddie Laughton

Golfers: Lew Davis, Frank Terry, John Tyrell, Larry Wheat, Arthur Thalasso, & Frank Mills, etc. 

Caddy: George Gray

REVIEW:

Imagine Caddyshack for 1935!  While Three Little Beers is best known for the Stooges’ golf-themed merchandising, this episode holds up surprisingly well.  In addition to the usual slaps, smacks, and pokes, each Stooge shines in their solo scenes running amok.  Larry, Curly, & Moe are definitely on being off their game, so to speak. 

Viewers will likely catch some primitive bluescreen action thrown in, too – i.e. Curly’s laundry scene and Moe’s barrel-rolling gag.  While the script is   amusing vs. LOL hilarious, the kid-friendly humor spoofing golf etiquette makes Three Little Beers a delightful hole-in-one with all fans.  This Stooges misadventure further makes an ideal lead-in to fun-and-games with Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase on a movie night.        

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:       8 Stars

SUMMARY:                           Running Time: 17 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Del Lord, Felix Adler’s script lifts Pygmalion (though unacknowledged).  Two snooty professors make a $10,000.00 bet – does heredity really trump environment or is it vice-versa?  Recruiting bumbling rubbish workers Larry, Curly, & Moe, Professor Nichols has two months to somehow polish them into debonair gentlemen for a swanky high society party.  Chaos ensues.    

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

Professor Nichols: Robert Graves

Mrs. Richmond: Grace Goodall

Professor Richards: Harry Holman

Dance Instructor: Geneva Mitchell

Nichols’ Daughters: Betty McMahon & Phyllis Crane

Dance Partner: Blanche Payson

Duchess: Kathryn “Kitty” McHugh

Butler: Bud Jamison

Party Guests: James C. Morton, William J. Irving, Arthur Rankin, Celeste Edwards, Mary Dees, Robert McKenzie, Harriett DeBussman, Gail Arnold, Don Roberts, Billy Mann, & George B. French 

REVIEW:

Predating 1964’s My Fair Lady (and Trading Places by nearly a half-century) think of Hoi Polloi as ‘My Fair Stooge!’  While the premise is all too familiar, the Stooges spin it like any contemporary fairy tale spoof.  The inspired gags work largely because the Stooges are in their prime. 

Yet, it’s awkward to see Moe preemptively slap around Larry & Curly too much, as if whacking either of his pals for no reason is actually funny. Moe’s stated goal of utilizing ‘corrective behavior’ before whatever mischief they cause is frankly among this episode’s few misfires.  The other cringe-worthy gag is a mutual slap-fest between Curly and his abrasive female dance partner.  Despite some lapses in good taste, the Stooges mostly shine, and, during individual moments, Larry & Curly score far more solo laughs than Moe does.  

As this series is prone to do, the script relies on a formulaic last chuckle.  This stock gag works well enough for Hoi Polloi, but it would be recycled too often as an abrupt finisher for later Stooge adventures.  Unlike its middling remakes, the hilarity powering Hoi Polloi makes for a terrific joyride with the Stooges.

Note: Curly’s last Stooge film would be a 1946 re-make of Hoi Polloi entitled Half-Wit’s Holiday.    

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:           7 Stars

Note: Besides a potential double-feature with 1983’s Trading Places, Hoi Polloi also serves up a Stooges’ high-society hat trick of 1935-36, along with Ants in the Pantry, and Slippery Silks.  

SUMMARY:           Running Time: 16:00 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Jack White (under the pseudonym of Preston Black), this Three Stooges sitcom is among the four of its 190 two-reel Columbia Pictures comedies in the public domain.  The others are: 1947’s Brideless Groom and Sing a Song of Six Pants; and 1949’s Malice in the Palace.  All four titles are also available elsewhere in a colorized format.    

Playing small-time nightclub jazz musicians, the Stooges are the star defense witnesses in Black Bottom Café dancer Gail Tempest’s high-profile murder trial. She is accused of killing local bigwig Kirk Robin.  Once sworn in to testify, a befuddled Curly doesn’t grasp courtroom etiquette, so Larry & Moe butt in to help. 

Despite the staff’s best efforts, the courtroom can’t contain the chaos that the Stooges rapidly unleash.  Between harassing the hapless court clerk and re-enacting the supposed murder scene, the Stooges ensure that slapstick justice is ultimately served.    

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

Defense Counsel: Bud Jamison

Prosecutor: Harry Semels

Judge: Edward LeSaint

Gail Tempest: Suzanne Kaaren

Court Clerk: James C. Morton

Court Baliff: Al Thompson

Flirting Juror: Louise Carver

Trivia Notes: Moe & Curly’s father, Sol Horwitz, is seated in the front row laughing with other extras in the courtroom’s public gallery.  One gag’s camera effect is evidently goofed: watch as an errant pistol shot blows past Moe & Larry — the Stooges’ boutonnieres inexplicably drop off from their suit jackets in reverse order.

REVIEW:

For an absolute gem in the Stooges’ prime, this zany courtroom calamity fits the bill.  Not only are Moe & Larry on their game, Curly’s unique wackiness spells out why he is a comedy icon.  Impressively, Disorder holds up well today as a timeless spoof of Hollywood’s infatuation with legal melodramas. 

Regular Stooge foils Bud Jamison, Harry Semels, and James C. Morton are given choice moments to shine coping with the trio’s mayhem.  Morton’s incensed court clerk, for instance, gets hilarious bits being repeatedly harassed by the Stooges.  Edward LeSaint is spot-on as a no-nonsense judge – his uneasy squirming, as the Stooges obnoxiously re-enact Moe’s version of the crime scene, is the episode’s most subtle humor.  Throwing in a tap dance routine for good measure, Suzanne Kaaren adds glamor to this courtroom calamity.  

Accordingly, the anything-goes Disorder in the Court might be the best legal laugh-fest ever made.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 10 Stars

SUMMARY:          Running Time: 17:00 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Del Lord, this Three Stooges sitcom stars Moe, Larry, & Curly as self-involved vagabonds expecting to hit Hollywood as instant movie star sensations, utterly oblivious to their lack of talent. After arriving in town as freight train stowaways, the Stooges sneak into a posh studio lot. The besieged boss mistakenly assumes the Stooges are the new company executives sent to replace him. 

Taking advantage of their unexpected luck, the Stooges impose their obnoxious will on a romantic melodrama being filmed.  Once the Stooges’ ruse is discovered, a wild studio lot chase ensues.       

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

Cecil Z. Swinehardt: Harry Semels

Fuller Rath: Bud Jamison

Actress: Mildred Harris

Actor: Kenneth Harlan

Script Girl: Hilda Title

Studio Guard: Heinie Conklin

REVIEW:

Let’s consider it a bad case of irony.  A can’t-miss prospect re: spoofing pretentious Hollywood film-making promptly misfires in Movie Maniacs.  It’s an early instance where the Stooges are sabotaged by a mediocre script – case in point: their boxcar sequence is a total bore.  Far too many of this episode’s half-hearted gags elicit, at most, a faint chuckle.  Curly scores a great punchline or two, but that’s the limit.  Even a potentially wild finish (i.e. how might the Stooges get their comeuppance) is abruptly cut short, not leaving an inspired gag enough time to work.      

The Stooges repeatedly struck comedic gold in 1936 (i.e. Disorder in the Court and Ants in the Pantry) at Columbia Pictures.  Unfortunately, Movie Maniacs goes down as a weak swing-and-a miss.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:       3½ Stars

SUMMARY:    Running Time: Approx. 18:00 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Jack White (under the pseudonym of Preston Black), the story is supplied by Ewart Adamson.  Ruining an ultra-pricey Chinese wooden box, inept carpenters Larry, Moe, & Curly hastily flee their woodworking job.  The police are already after the Stooges – as they’re the lost heirs to an uncle’s high-society French fashion salon. 

Indulging their newfound careers as snooty dress designers, the Stooges bumble-and-stumble their way into a chaotic fashion show.  It gets gooey fast when payback time shifts into a cream puff melee!  

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

Morgan Morgan: Vernon Dent

Mrs. Morgan Morgan: Symona Boniface

Shop Manager: Eddie Laughton

Romani: William J. Irving

Cops: Bert Young & Blackie Whiteford

Bureau Officer: Jack Lipson

Dress Customer: Elinor Vanderveer

Model Assistants: Hilda Title & Gertrude Messenger

Mrs. Morgan’s Friend: June Gittelson

Models: Loretta Andrews, Mary Lou Dix, & Gale Arnold

Mrs. Morgan’s Associates: Beatrice Blinn, Elaine Waters, Beatrice Curtis, & Martha Tibbetts

REVIEW:

The Stooges’ woodshop hijinks don’t add much to the story, but this segment is still amusing. Destined to be a long-time Stooge foil, Vernon Dent’s guest spot is the woodshop’s best asset.  Despite the script’s contrivances, the shift towards dress shop gags spoofing pretentious high fashion deliver vintage Stooge mayhem. 

The only caveat are a pair of nasty scissors-related gags that should be condemned as utterly tasteless.  Also, Curly’s unprovoked fat joke late in the game aimed at a female customer comes off as unnecessarily cruel rather than funny.  Yet, the screwball cream puff-fest is worth waiting for, as Curly’s zany facial reactions deliver dynamite laughs.  

As this series is prone to do, the script abruptly resorts to a familiar last chuckle.  Let’s just say this same formulaic gag is used, for instance, in an earlier Stooge high society hijinks caper: 1935’s “Hoi Polloi.”  Despite a clunky finish, “Slippery Silks” still rates among the better efforts from the Stooges during that era.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars

Note: For a Three Stooges high-society hat trick of 1935-36, try also watching “Hoi Polloi,” and “Ants in the Pantry.” 

SUMMARY:          Running Time: 19:00 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Jules White, this Three Stooges sitcom stars Moe, Larry, & Curly as unemployed vaudevillians eager to score wartime stage work with high-powered talent agent Manny Weeks.  The Stooges’ moral support comes from three glamorous dancing girls, who are their upstairs neighbors and, most improbably, instant girlfriends. 

Fate steps in when a shipyard morale talent show’s headliner is suddenly unavailable. It’s up to the Stooges and the acrobatic dancing trio to save the program. 

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Curly Howard

Mary: LaVerne Thompson

Flo: Lindsay Bourquin

Shirley: Betty Phares

Manny Weeks: Johnny Tyrrell

Skit Actor (as Army Lt.): Lynton Brent

Weeks’ Secretary: Judy Malcolm

REVIEW:

The Stooges’ mildly amusing ‘Niagara Falls’ routine didn’t make the final cut of a 1943 Columbia film entitled Good Luck, Mr. Yates — only to be incessantly recycled here inside a flimsy script. Even for long-time fans, it’s a chore watching the middle-aged Stooges coast on fumes, as their tired antics aren’t even close to their best material. 

Case in point: some wartime jabs at Hitler and the Japanese (in a race-baiting gesture) might have been meant as patriotic, but, aside from Larry & Curly’s amusing belly bumping, their audition scene ages poorly. Frankly, the ladies’ reaction of skepticism midway through is this sequence’s most credible moment. 

Later on, the Stooges’ weak ‘At the Front’ skit delivers a single good bit re: Curly being ‘volunteered’ for a suicide mission.  As this episode drags on, it’s no surprise that the lethargic Stooges desperately need help keeping Gents Without Cents afloat. That brings to mind there’s a silly bathtub gag early on in the girls’ apartment that is neither funny nor makes any sense whatsoever.  

Kudos for making this episode even watchable goes to vibrant guest stars Betty Phares, LaVerne Thompson, & Lindsay Bourquin. Their welcome energy upstage the Stooges seemingly at every turn. Even with their choreographed drills filling up screen time, the Phares-Thompson-Bourqin team still only mitigates sheer boredom so much when the Stooges are off their game.  Worse yet, by contriving these far-younger showgirls as instant love interests, an utter lack of romantic chemistry with Larry, Curly, & Moe comes off as icky as it sounds. 

Beyond a nice wrap-up, Gents Without Cents only shines when its exuberant leading ladies (in their sole Stooges gig) light up the screen.    

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars