Month: September 2022

SUMMARY:         RUNNING TIME: 15:48 Min. (Black & White)

Produced and directed by Jules White off Felix Adler’s script, this Three Stooges comedy is a series rarity — specifically, Moe, Larry, & Shemp are enemies.  Lecherous pet shop owner Larry schemes to pit a married Moe against Shemp, so he can make romantic advances upon both Moe’s less-than-adoring wife, Belle, and Shemp’s patient fiancée, Millie. 

To advance his philandering, Larry concocts a ruse where Shemp is hired to sell (and even model) undergarments to Belle, and then tips off a jealous, gun-packing Moe.  The same applies to Millie, who shows up to confront Belle for stealing Shemp from her.  The question becomes: does Larry’s sleazy conniving succeed?     

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Shemp: Shemp Howard

Belle: Mary Ainslee

Millie: Angela Stevens

Miss Lapdale (Larry’s Secretary): Theila Darin

Waiter: Johnny Kascier

Stooge Stand-Ins/Stunt Doubles: Harold Breen, Charlie Cross, & Johnny Kascier

Note: The Joe Besser-era Stooges remade this storyline as 1959’s “Triple Crossed.”

REVIEW:

Aside from the intriguing notion of Larry playing a villain, “He Cooked His Goose” deserves credit for trying something more sophisticated with the Stooges.  Somewhat reminiscent of their ‘Niagara Falls’ routine (with Curly), the Stooges come off well, as Larry gleefully manipulates his romantic competition.  Seeing Larry finally get the spotlight role while Moe plays a pathetically naïve husband is indeed a treat. 

The only detriment is this farce’s shortened running time, as more gags could have been added to screenwriter Felix Adler’s terrific premise.     

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                5½ Stars

SUMMARY:      RUNNING TIME: 17:00 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Edward Bernds off Jack White’s script, this Three Stooges comedy gleefully spoofs Grade-B Westerns.  Arriving in sparse Dead Man’s Gulch, prospectors Larry, Moe, and Curly discover that the town is sore need of another new sheriff.  That year alone, local outlaw Badlands Blackie and his baddies have offed several town sheriffs (they’re not even counting deputies, anymore). 

Blackie is now demanding that local blacksmith Nell marry him by sundown, or she’ll never see her abducted father again. Stepping in, Curly becomes the town’s new lawman and even Nell’s fiancé, provided he can save her father.  With Moe and Larry & Moe as his deputies, Curly first practices his sharpshooting skills. 

Meanwhile, Blackie & Co. proceed with his insistence that Nell marry him immediately.  The Stooges manage to thwart the shotgun wedding the first time.  Yet, it’s up to the Stooges to intervene at Blackie’s saloon hideout by sundown to save Nell from forced nuptials and the town itself from his reign of terror.

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Jerry “Curly” Howard

Nell: Christine McIntyre

Badlands Blackie: Dick Curtis

Trigger: Ethan Laidlaw

Quirt: Blackie Whiteford

Judge Blake: Victor Travers

Young Boy (Judge Blake’s Son): Uncredited

Justice of the Peace: Si Jenks

Town Elder: Hank Bell

Nell’s Father: Elmo Lincoln (cameo)

Bartender: Joe Garcio

Townsmen: Steve Clark, Slim Gaut, Budd Fine, & George Morrell

Saloon Patrons: Uncredited

Saloon Maids: Uncredited

Note: Lincoln was the first cinematic Tarzan, having appearing as the character in 1918’s Tarzan of the Apes.

REVIEW:

Practically a live-action cartoon, “The Three Troubledoers” does relatively well blending B-Western gunplay with Looney Tunes and Dudley Do-Right-style antics.  Though there are some slow spots in the script, Curly’s bungled training and the shootout gags prove solid fun (including a makeshift bazooka).  Curly gets the bulk of the laughs, but Moe & Larry still make a few worthwhile contributions, i.e. the sped-up bicycle-for-three sequence prior to the big rescue. 

Even if this episode isn’t the best of the Stooges’ Westerns, there’s sufficient laughs to make it worth sitting through.     

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                 6 Stars

SUMMARY:         RUNNING TIME: 17:30 Min. (Black & White)

Produced and directed by Jules White off Elwood Ullman’s script, this Stooges comedy is told in flashback by defendant Moe, who is on the witness stand facing assault charges.  Already a nervous wreck, a convalescing Moe is convinced by his musician roommates, Larry & Curly, to go on a camping trip for fresh air and relaxation. 

Yet, a nosy bear cub keeps poking around their cabin, so the trio decides to go bear hunting.  More specifically, Moe sends his pals after the bear while he stresses over stressing out.  As it’s revealed, Curly & Larry are the ones pressing charges against an ax-wielding Moe. 

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Jerry “Curly” Howard

Judge: Vernon Dent

Bailiff: Paul Kruger

Courtroom Spectators: Al Thompson, Johnny Kascier, & Eddie Laughton

Additional Courtroom Spectators: Uncredited

Bear: Uncredited

REVIEW:

While Larry and Curly share scenes tag-teaming gags, a low-key Moe holds up his end, too.  Still, the bear swipes the best “Idiots Deluxe” material away from the Stooges.  Aside from the dubious visual of Moe chasing after his friends with an axe, “Idiots Deluxe” supplies watchable Stooge entertainment. 

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                  5 Stars

SUMMARY:       RUNNING TIME: 16:00 Min. (Black & White)

Directed by Del Lord, Columbia Pictures staff writer Felix Adler scripted this 1942 horseracing comedy.  Third-rate horseracing form scalpers Moe, Larry, & Curly are chased off by a cop into a vacant lot where a homeless Mrs. Blake and her young daughter now live among their displaced household possessions. Evidently, the Stooges invite themselves to move in with them. 

Sympathetic to their new friends, Curly swipes the little girl’s piggy bank and convinces the Stooges they can help by making a big score at the racetrack.  Naively conned into believing a ‘talking horse,’ Curly’s unlikely bet draws some big money at an upcoming race. 

Yet, upon being conned yet again, the Stooges now possess another ‘talking’ horse and evidently move into the horse’s stable.  Attempting to feed their new pet through a makeshift blowgun (don’t ask), Curly suffers a bizarre medical mishap.  A surprise twist occurs at a veterinarian’s office just before this episode ends.   

Moe: Moe Howard

Larry: Larry Fine

Curly: Jerry “Curly” Howard

Mrs. Blake: Ruth Skinner

Mrs. Blake’s Daughter: Sharyn Moffett

Joe the Crooked Ventriloquist: Stanley Blystone

Joe’s Confederate: Jack Gardner

Street Cop: Bud Jamison

Irate Motorist: Vernon Dent

Racetrack Gate Attendant: Heinie Conklin

Racetrack Announcer: Lew Davis

Racetrack Pay Window Clerk: Bert Young

Racetrack Customer: Suzanne Ridgeway

Veterinarian Wheaton Chambers

Veterinarian’s Aide: Joe Garcio

Seabasket (Voice): Billy Bletcher

2^nd Horse (Voice): Uncredited

Motorists: Uncredited

Racetrack Attendees: Uncredited

Note: Again impersonating journalists, the Stooges re-use a gag previously used in 1935’s “Three Little Beers.”

REVIEW:

“Even as I.O.U.,” ironically, isn’t, as one fragmented sub-plot is left bookended and unresolved by another.  With reliable help from Bud Jamison and Vernon Dent, the Stooges initially deliver the goods making their escape from the police.  Yet, once the awkward makeshift family subplot kicks in (i.e. a meal together), only some vintage Curly-isms keeps this episode afloat. 

Moe & Larry are curiously given so little to do, as Felix Adler’s script makes it ‘The Curly Show,’ mostly fending for himself.   Conveniently enough, the mother and daughter are forgotten (and not even referenced again) once the Stooges have stolen the little girl’s piggy bank.

Reverting back to a racetrack caper, “Even As I.O.U.” predictably resorts to somehow watchable Mr. Ed-style humor (predating that TV show by nearly twenty years).  The unfixable problem, however, comes with an utterly surreal finale.  Nutty, off-the-wall humor can be terrific when it’s smartly played, but Adler’s twist finish is so ridiculous that viewers will likely feel their time has just been squandered. 

As far as terrific Curly gags go, “Even as I.O.U.” enjoys its moments, but there’s not nearly enough of them to justify the ultra-stupid ending.     

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:               5 Stars