These are also the first four shorts released in 1938:
Termites of 1938:
(Short # 28 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)
A funny installment-although the plot conceit is rather unfortunate. Now, I don’t mean the idea that a mistake happened where a rich lady accidentally hires the Stooges from the Acme Exterminating Company instead of the Acme Escort Bureau to escort her to a fancy soiree… no, it’s that the mistake occurs because the rich lady asks the Black maid Mandy (Etta McDaniel, sister to Hattie) to dial the phone number and because she is stupid/illiterate, the wrong number is dialed from the phonebook.
Those are some awful implications by 2025 standards. After that regrettable moment, the rest of the short is delightful. The trio are unsuccessful at killing a mouse. Believe it or not, bringing out a miniature cannon to use in a Rube Goldberg device and Curly playing the piccolo like he’s the Pied Piper was not a success. At the party, the rich folk still think they are “college men” from Ivy League schools; the general plot description sounds like Ants in the Pantry… in practice, there are distinct differences.
Different in general is that during a hysterical dinner scene involving all the guests, incidental orchestra music is played (a rarity in this universe) as the Stooges act in an uncouth manner & the guests, they foolishly mimic their actions. Technically that song was diegetic as a small orchestra is shown in the next scene to be playing the song. The trio then pantomime playing a song themselves-according to a Stooges fan site, that song is called “Frederic March”; no, really. In addition, during that performance, there’s literally a Milli Vanilli moment!
There are pests present, requiring the trio to use their skills; the result is bedlam. Thus, after an unfortunate opening minute, the short (its name is a spoof of films w/ names like “Gold Diggers of 1935”) is quite humorous.
Wee Wee Monsieur:
(Short # 29 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)
Not their strongest effort from 1938, yet still quite amusing . The title reveals that the Stooges are in “Paris… somewhere in France.” They are starving artists (literally) who are in hot water w/ their landlord for the little matter of rent being 8 months past due. They also run afoul of a Parisian police officer who looks like Inspector Clouseau; they run into a French Foreign Legion office, thinking it’s just like the American Legion. It’s not.
Once in the desert, their captain (named Gorgonzola!) is kidnapped by “Arabs”… IRL, white guys as Arabs. Wee Wee Monsieur is a wacky good time. Bicycle horns are heard at random times, for reasons that are lost to time as to the correlation between France and the honking of those horns. Only in the beginning do you hear the trio speak French but it was still a treat. Curly’s painting would have been Picasso proud. There are amusing moments throughout, along with some inspired decisions…
For example, the trio sneak into the Arab palace by… dressing like Santa Claus?! It’s not established that it was that time of the year so the absurd visual had to be the punchline. For certain, it’s easy to guess what the intent was behind the boys dressing like harem girls. If you understand that times were different then and entertainment thought it OK to have ethnic roles played by white dudes… I found this to be pretty good.
Tassels in the Air:
(Short # 30 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)
A nice debut in the director’s chair for Charley Chase. The silent film actor was an associate producer for a few previous Stooge shorts before directing a quintet of them. The other four weren’t as great as this and in fact at least one was mediocre but Tassels in the Air was a gem.
The gags were a-plenty as the gang once again had blue-collar jobs: this time, painters. Nouveau riche lady Maggie Smirch desires the famous interior decorator Omay to work on her house for social status. The Stooges are painting in the building where Omay’s office is and due to the boys being victims of circumstances that involve (among other things) Pig Latin-of course Curly is confused by it-Maggie hires them by accident.
This is yet another case where Curly goes bonkers via an external source—in this case, tassels. This was only part of a burgoo stew of gags; just from painting a table are several sidesplitting moments. There’s even a running gag involving Maggie’s blue-collar husband Bud Jamison sarcastically being told by Moe to “create spotted paint” and he attempts to do so. They made fun of everyone in this one, not just the rich.
From playing checkers using paint cans on a checkerboard floor and acres of humorous dialogue to Curly being “um-day in any language” and the comedy that was mined just from painting a table purportedly from Louis XVI… this short painted quite the pretty picture.
Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb:
(Short # 31 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)
Taxes in the United States were even a b**** in the late 30’s. The first few minutes are the trio eating breakfast & playing poker at the same time, using pancakes in the place of poker chips. Several laughs came from a can of glue being mistaken from a can of maple syrup. Via a radio announcement, the boys hear that Curly won $50,000 in a contest to create a jingle for… “The Coffin Nail Cigarette Company”! The perfect name for a company that sells cigarettes… they live it up in a penthouse at the Hotel Costa Plente, then discover how much money Curly will receive after taxes.
Healthy, Wealthy & Dumb was entertaining throughout. There were a nice variety of gags & jokes, along with puns like the ones listed already. They also run into a trio of gold diggers who want to marry the Stooges. Randomly, the dames possess a capuchin monkey—amazingly named DARWIN. It was the source of the funniest jokes, whether it be the monkey’s name or the havoc it caused once the Stooges see it… Larry’s line “Ow! My pants bit me!” is riotous in context.
As an aside, earlier in the month, a Letterboxd mutual commented how the Stooges were rarely shown on television in his European country of origin; physical media releases in said country are about as common as hen’s teeth. At least all 190 shorts are available on the brand’s official YouTube channel (Three Stooges +) but I do understand why people would be envious I have all of them on DVD.
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