Back to the Woods

Another Stooge short from 1937: 

(Short # 23 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

“The Stooges as Pilgrims” is the gimmick here. Another gimmick is to sometimes hear everyone (including the leads) speak Olde English. In “Merrie Olde England” they were about to be sentenced by the judge to years in the hoosegow, until prosecutor Bud Jamison convinces him of the alternate punishment: moving them to “the colonies” (America) so they can help in the battle against “The Indians.” Back at the time people thought it was OK to have white dudes don redface, stereotypical Native American garb and do the “whooping Indian” bit, but boy has it aged like curdled milk by today’s standards.

Even then I did not hate the short and in fact there were aspects I did dig. They did some similar routines from previous efforts but it did not feel hackneyed. The funny wordplay extended beyond the language from a few centuries ago. There was even an amusing dance routine-a minuet, to be exact-for at least two minutes which delighted. The battle against "the Indians" did elicit some chuckles.

And, Ethelreda Leopold (an amazing name) appeared in almost a dozen of these but she got a rare speaking part as one of the trio of ladies the boys were interested in; as typical their names were a source of a chuckle (Faith, Hope & Charity). It was nice she was able to showcase her talents here. Note that the ending here is a clip lifted from the earlier short Whoops I’m an Indian; this was the first instance of what would happen often in the future.