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
