SUMMARY: Running Time: 17 Min. (Black & White)
Directed by Jack White (under the pseudonym of Preston Black), this 1936 Three Stooges sitcom stars Moe, Larry, & Curly as dim-witted exterminators drumming up some much-needed business by providing the pests! Ordered by their exasperated boss, A. Mouser, to infest potential clients’ homes, the Stooges raid debutante Beulah Berlap’s mansion during a glamorous party.
Gleefully letting loose moths, mice, and ants inside, the Stooges conveniently show up moments later to ‘save’ Mrs. Berlap from enormous social embarrassment. Yet, the Stooges are hard-pressed to undo the high society havoc they’ve wreaked among the stuck-up guests.
Moe: Moe Howard
Larry: Larry Fine
Curly: Curly Howard
Beulah Berlap: Clara Kimball Young
Clara: Isabelle LaMal
Maid: Helen Martinez
Eleanor: Anne O’Neil
A. Mouser: Harrison Greene
Mouser’s Secretary: Hilda Title
Professor Repulso: Bud Jamison
Gawkins: Vesey O’Davoren Lord Stoke Pogis: Douglas Gerrard
Party Guests: Bobby Burns; Althea Henley; James C. Morton; Phyllis Crane; Harry Semels; etc.
REVIEW:
Make no mistake: aside from the Stooges’ dubious on-screen ethics, Ants in the Pantry is practically a live-action Looney Tunes. Even better is that this cringe-worthy premise ages remarkably well.
Perhaps it isn’t a mere coincidence that at least two of this episode’s best jokes (i.e. Curly ‘cutting’ a deck of cards and the misidentification of a skunk) would be lifted years later by Bugs Bunny. Still, the Stooges’ high society hijinks (including a few gross-out gags – watch out for that ‘poppy seed’ cake!) offer hilarious slapstick at all the right moments.
In limited screen time, guest stars Clara Kimball Young and Isabelle LaMal are terrific as the snooty yet kind Beulah & Clara. As a sultry maid, Helen Martinez shares a fun gag with Moe & Curly while dodging Moe’s amorous advances. Reliable role players (i.e. Bud Jamison; James C. Morton; and Harry Semels) appear in non-speaking cameos, though Bobby Burns’ squirming impromptu dance (after a mouse scurries down his shirt collar) is a hoot to watch.
As far as some comparison shopping, the 1951 remake with Shemp entitled The Pest Man Wins is mostly lukewarm. Replaying virtually the same story (aside from a new guest cast with different names), the Stooges aren’t nearly as energized in the rehash. Even a gooey pie fight finish mostly taken from 1947’s Half-Wit’s Holiday (which would be recycled a few times for other Stooge comedies) seems somewhat out-of-place.
Still, director Jules White’s Pest Man bests most other inferior Stooge remakes because of the audacity behind the 1936 original’s comedy gold. Case in point: along with Shemp-Moe-Larry’s impromptu dance routine, Vernon Dent (physically speaking, a mostly unlikely candidate) replicates Burns’ hilarious mouse-in-his-suit squirming. Even though most of Pest Man’s guest actors fall well short of Ants’ original supporting cast, the reliable Dent replaces both Burns and Bud Jamison – making such slapstick look easy. It’s just that Pest Man isn’t the complete package Ants (with Curly’s Stooges in their youthful prime) is – especially, in terms of originality.
For a wacky live-action cartoon serving up vintage Stooge mayhem, Ants in the Pantry deservedly rates among the trio’s all-time best.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 9 Stars
Notes: For more Three Stooges high society havoc from 1935-36, try Hoi Polloi and Slippery Silks. As far as Hollywood coincidences go, Ants director Jack White (aka Preston Black) was the older brother of the 1951 remake’s director, Jules White.
