SUMMARY: Running Time: 16:00 Min. (Black & White)
Directed by Jules White, this black-and-white Three Stooges sitcom is among the four of its 190 two-reel Columbia Pictures comedies in the public domain. The others are: 1936’s Disorder in the Court; and 1947’s Brideless Groom and Sing a Song of Six Pants. All four titles are also available elsewhere in a colorized format.
As low-rent restauranteurs somewhere in the Middle East, Moe, Larry, & Shemp bumble-and-stumble into a hush-hush conspiracy between their two ruffian customers. At stake is the fabled 100-carat ‘Rootin-Tootin’ Diamond. Disposing of these ruthless hoods, the Stooges use a stolen map to plot their own heist to rob the vile ‘Emir of Schmow’ of the diamond.
Assuming that they can infiltrate the gangster’s palace and elude the Schmow’s fearsome bodyguard, nabbing the gem for a big reward should be a cinch. Or will it?
Moe: Moe Howard
Larry: Larry Fine
Shemp: Shemp Howard
Schmow’s Bodyguard: Everett Brown
Emir of Schmow: Johnny Kascier
Palace Guard: Joe Palma
Hassan Ben Sober: Vernon Dent Haffadolla: Frank Lackteen
Ginnaromma: George J. Lewis
Note: Meant as a cameo, a near-unrecognizable Curly Howard’s footage as the Stooges’ chef was deemed unusable by Columbia Pictures. Re-working the kitchen sequence, Larry replaces Curly as the chef. The only known evidence left of a mustachioed (and much thinner) Curly’s almost-presence in this episode is a production still.
REVIEW:
In all fairness, Malice in the Palace rates as one of the Stooges’ best Shemp-era (1946-1955) shorts. Its most inspired element is a crass extended gag where Moe & Shemp are forced at knife-point to taste-test their suspicious customers’ meals. Larry’s distractions in the kitchen are perfectly synchronized to his buddies’ growing discomfort.
This extended gag sequence is followed by more well-played chuckles, including an ingenious idea where the Stooges’ map offers a potpourri of campy wordplay re: various fictitious countries and geographical locales. The joke, however, is near-sabotaged by the camera freeze-framing far too long on the map (so viewers can catch all the puns).
Despite this glitch, Malice in the Palace (including an impromptu game of leap-frog with the Schmow’s bodyguard) literally hits its targets often enough to make this jewel heist worth catching.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars
