SUMMARY: Running Time: 17:00 Min. (Black & White)
Directed by Jules White, this 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; 1947’s Brideless Groom; and 1949’s Malice in the Palace. All four titles are also available elsewhere in a colorized format.
As inept owners of the downtown Pip Boys tailor shop, the Stooges need a financial miracle to avoid imminent foreclosure. Inadvertently, they deprive ace mobster Terry Hargan of a safe combination for his next heist. The Stooges soon encounter an irritated cop pursuing Hargan and even the thief’s conniving girlfriend.
Ironically deeming Moe, Shemp, and Larry as ‘no-good crooks,’ hard-nosed hypocrite Hargan and two cronies try shaking down the Stooges. At stake is the reward money the Stooges desperately covet, assuming they can turn Hargen over to the police.
Moe: Moe Howard
Larry: Larry Fine
Shemp: Shemp Howard
Terry Hargan: Harold Brauer
Plain Clothes Cop: Vernon Dent
Hargan’s Thug # 1: Cy Schindell
Hargan’s Thug # 2: Johnny Kascier
Customer: Phil Arnold
Flossie (Hargan’s Girlfriend): Virginia Hunter
REVIEW:
This short’s best moment belongs to guest star Virginia Hunter. Ever so subtly, her sheepish facial reaction to an incensed ‘Hargan’ blaming the Stooges for swiping his money roll is LOL funny. The runner-up is Shemp’s inspired antics feuding with an uncooperative pair of slacks and an ironing board. With regular Stooge foil Vernon Dent, Shemp also enjoys an amusing exchange re: the gruff cop’s tailored ‘mess’ of a suit.
Yet, what hampers Sing a Song of Six Pants are some excessively cruel slapstick gags. For instance, Moe abuses Shemp’s head with a broom handle and then later cracks his nose with a pair of fabric scissors. In a violent finale, a double-teamed Hargan goon is tortured by a steam-press ironing board and a sizzling hand-held iron.
Considering what naughty ideas that impressionable kids might get from these sadistic stunts, the director’s judgment is questionable. Despite a reliance on mean-spiritedness, Sing a Song of Six Pants rates among the funnier Stooge tales of the Shemp era (1946-1955).
BRIAN’S 10-STAR RATING: 6½ Stars
