Two More Three Stooges Shorts

First, We Want Our Mummy: 

(Short # 37 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Curly’s the star of this short which spoofs King Tut and his alleged curse once his tomb was found in 1922. In this case, an Egyptologist is missing so the trio are detectives that are hired by a museum to find both him and the tomb of King Rutentuten; no words on if he’s a funky tut… in the museum itself is a wacky gag or two plus the start of an onslaught of puns… e.g. Curly uttering, “I have an uncle in Cairo… he’s a Cairo-practor.” 

Once in Egypt Curly sees a mirage in a great routine then the boys literally fall into the tombs; this was an impressive set, full of hidden rooms, secret passageways, and foils that were or weren’t dressed in garb. While the Stooges did not spend much time beating each other up, it was irrelevant in this case between all the pithy bon mots, the antics in the desert, then attempting to avoid the villains in the catacombs.

The number of laughs throughout is why the rating is so high. In addition, this was the first instance of an occasional trend where a short would have Howard, Fine, & Howard interact w/ horror elements… typically someone dressed up as a ghoul, like the faux mummy presented here. While it was more prevalent during the Shemp era, a few Curly shorts featured those elements as well.

Second: A Ducking They Did Go: 

(Short # 38 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Nostalgia plays a role in my rating this rather highly. It was one of the shorts present on one of the three official VHS releases in the late 80’s that my parents purchased. Thus, there’s been fond memories for the majority of my life. Yeah, there isn’t too much slapping around or head-bonking done by Moe to his buddies; that was irrelevant in this case when the silly story entertained me. 

The boys are poor & starving, so they attempt to steal a watermelon, only for it to end up on the head of a cop after an errant throw. They escape & come across a duo who turn out to be peddling fake memberships to a duck-hunting club. Via circumstance, they sell memberships to the police and even the city’s mayor. Later at the hunting lodge, they are told by “Paul Revere” (Curly’s description of the old man holding a lantern) that “there haven’t been wild ducks here for years.”

The last portion is set on a nice indoor set w/ trees & a small water tank to represent the woods and a small pond. There’s both decoys and later legitimate ducks present. Laughs are had where Curly runs afoul of a particular mallard, a duck is on Moe’s back so Larry accident lands a bullseye on Moe’s hindquarters, Curly points a jammed shotgun at Moe’s face, etc. There’s funny dialogue as well.

It is awkward how it reuses the ending of A Pain in the Pullman for its ending and that denouement makes less sense here than it did there. Even so, A Ducking They Did Go will forever entertain me.