SUMMARY: Running Time: 17:00 Min. (Black & White)
Directed by Edward Bernds, 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 Sing a Song of Six Pants; and 1949’s Malice in the Palace. All four titles are also available elsewhere in a colorized format.
Working as a vocal coach, music professor Shemp Howard has only a matter of hours to collect an unexpected half-million-dollar inheritance, provided that he abruptly gets married. Despite Moe & Larry’s help, Shemp strikes out with his outdated little black book of ex-girlfriends.
His only hope may be the doting Miss Dinklemeyer, who is also his talentless, eardrum-piercing client. Once Shemp’s ex-flames hear of his inheritance (and his impending nuptials), a melee ensues at the local justice-of-the-peace’s office.
Moe: Moe Howard
Larry: Larry Fine
Shemp: Shemp Howard
Ms. Lulu Hopkins: Christine McIntyre
Miss Dinklemeyer: Dee Green
J.O.P. J.M. Benton: Emil Sitka
Bellboy: Johnny Kascier
Passerby Girl: Bertha Priestley
Shemps’s Ex-Girlfriends: Doris Houck; Virginia Hunter; Alyn Lockwood; Nancy Saunders; & Judy Malcolm
Trivia Note: McIntyre doubles as the elegant operatic voice heard on the record player in Shemp’s office.
REVIEW:
Predictably, the script resorts to negative stereotyping of women (i.e. as conniving gold-diggers). Among these gags are backfiring retaliatory strikes by the Stooges after they’re aggressively bullied. Still, it’s a guilty pleasure to enjoy (i.e. Moe & Shemp’s phone booth skirmish; and the missing wedding ring sequence), as the Stooges get hilarious support from their guest stars.
Among them, Christine McIntyre’s lovely ‘Ms. Hopkins,’ transforms Shemp’s infatuation with his new neighbor into a comedic masterpiece of mistaken identity. Their sequence even includes a walloping haymaker that sends Shemp flying through a door and allegedly broke his nose for real – talk about realism for art’s sake.
Emil Sitka’s increasingly befuddled Justice-of-the-Peace is perhaps his best-known performance. Sitka gets his immortal line of “Hold hands, you lovebirds,” multiple times during the frenetic finale. His mortified reaction witnessing the Stooges vandalize his beloved piano is a vintage moment. Dee Green’s ditzy Miss Dinklemeyer is another delight. Green makes the most of her cartoony role, as does Doris Houck portraying the most domineering of Shemp’s greedy would-be brides.
Overcoming the story’s misogynistic elements, this ensemble cast ensures that Brideless Groom is among the best Stooge misadventures of the Shemp era (1946-1955).
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8 Stars
