Many Stooge Shorts

Merry Mavericks: 

(Short # 133 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

This is a Shemp remake of a Curly short; the original was 1943's Phony Express, which probably helps indicate to the reader that both were set in the Wild West. Like in the original, a pair of bankers use a “wanted for vagrancy” poster of the Stooges and proclaim them as new lawmen of the ironically-named Peaceful Gulch in an attempt to fool Red Morgan and his gang of ruffians.

There are humorous moments throughout—for example, the newspaper said they'd “clean up the town” so when the trio wish to sweep the saloon in order to work for a paycheck... the expected misunderstanding. What was strange: there was an inept cowboy hero role that was previously played by Jock Mahoney but instead was portrayed by someone else (Paul Campbell) who even resembled Mahoney-like I said, peculiar.

That said, this was a short I enjoyed more than many Stooge fans, at least judging by ratings elsewhere. This is not a shot-for-shot remake; the second half takes place at a spooky old house where the Stooges guard the money that Morgan's gang is after; they dress up in horror outfits (including a beheaded “Indian Chief”) and while not the best concerning the Stooges and that trope, it was still fine. No, what entertained me were some little moments along with plenty of amusing one-liners.

What killed me was Moe telling Larry not to be scared; he responded that he was apprehensive. Moe demanded an explanation for the word he didn't know. Larry's response? “'Apprehensive' is 'scared' with a college education.” I have to give Merry Mavericks a good rating for that alone.

The Tooth Will Out: 

(Short # 134 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

In my only review for Sunday (I elected to do other things this weekend) I explain how this short was built around a deleted scene from the previous short. Yes, even in this realm there were sometimes deleted scenes. The last one-Merry Mavericks-featured a hysterical scene involving Shemp’s attempts at dentistry gone wrong but there was no room to include that in Mavericks. Instead of never using what was filmed, they built The Tooth Will Out around that footage.

The Stooges are shown as being too inept to work at jobs involving dishes; the expected happens. They literally run into a dentistry school to avoid Emil Sitka from murdering them w/ a meat cleaver (he was the second employer to fire them due to their clumsiness; as a gag, the first time he ran down the street, he cursed as if he was a Rob Zombie character!) and because it was that era’s version of a diploma factory, this was how goofballs like them graduated.

After wackiness involving such items as dentures, they are not so subtlety encouraged to go out West; now came in the deleted footage from Merry Mavericks. That includes the last time that longtime foil Dick Curtis ever appeared in a Stooge short. Their attempts to do dental work on him and another character (portrayed by the greatly-named Slim Gaut) is incredibly loud & chaotic; you can imagine what occurs when Shemp accidentally picks up a book named The Amateur Carpenter. Why was that in a dentist’s office? Who cares!

Despite a conclusion best described as “abrupt,” The Tooth Will Out was still a solid effort which entertained me both for the original footage and the new set-up they created to get us there.

Hula-La-La: 

(Short # 135 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

As silly as you’d expect from “the Stooges are choreographers at a movie studio and they are forced to visit a South Seas island that the studio purchased to teach the cannibalistic headhunting natives to dance for an upcoming film.” The idea of white people purchasing an island full of natives is an ugly reminder of colonialism but Hula was too goofy to be offended by… although this wasn’t the first time that the Stooges visited a Polynesian paradise and the natives worship a Shivu-like figure.

Despite all that and the expected “white people cosplaying as natives” still common in Hollywood-at least Kenneth MacDonald was still able to be an entertaining villain-laughs were to be had. The tropical set was fine and there were chuckles between the one-liners and the presence of an alligator. The highlight: Shivu attacks both Moe (acting like his brother Curly) and Larry as they attempt to steal World War II grenades in a crate left over by American troops. For this being the only Stooge short directed by longtime producer Hugh McCollum: not too shabby although not one of the most memorable efforts either.

What earned the biggest laugh from me: looking online and discovering that the actress who portrayed this Shivu figure was billed as… LEI ALOHA, no lie. They only had a few credits; apparently, they had a bit part in John Ford’s The Hurricane. Lei Aloha sounds like the name that J.K. Rowling would give a Hawaiian character!

Pest Man Wins: 

(Short # 136 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

Another Shemp short that is a remake of one years earlier during the Curly era. In this case, it was 1936’s Ants in the Pantry, where the trio have the blue-collar jobs of “pest exterminators” and they plant pests in a mansion for the purpose of earning a paycheck. Pantry was one viewed often as a kid as it was on a VHS tape my parents purchased for me. The stock footage from Ants that was used here was instantly recognizable to my eyes.

While there are lines and scenes that are copied, Pest isn’t a shot-for-shot remake. Pest was riotous with the changes made to make it fit Shemp instead of Curly and the inclusion of a pie fight which was mostly stock footage from other shorts. Instead of feeling hackneyed, this combination was still appealing to me. Funny one-liners and the appearances of such supporting players like Vernon Dent and Emil Sitka is always an asset.

A Missed Fortune: 

(Short # 137 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

Yep, yet another Shemp remake of a Curly short… in this case, 1938’s Healthy, Wealthy, and Dumb. That featured Curly winning money in a contest and the boys live the high life, only to experience complications… especially those darn taxes. The plot is rather similar in A Missed Fortune; the beginning is still Howard, Fine, & Howard eating hotcakes and a mishap happens concerning glue, although the routine is changed a bit and the contest Shemp wins is different.

They still visit the Hotel Costa Plente and wreck the room. This includes the inevitability of them and the audience learning that something both fragile and costly is near them, which has been seen by me plenty of times this year. There’s still the trio of gold-digging women who have a monkey named Darwin, there are similar or even the same jokes, and a bit of stock footage from Dumb.

The uncomfortable truth is that for the rest of my run of viewing these Stooge shorts, there will be remakes of the Curly era, later Shemp efforts that remake early Shemp efforts (complete with some or a lot of stock footage), and then there’s the Joe Besser era which has more remakes plus some bizarre entries featuring talking horses or aliens… I’ll still rate those fairly and through a mix of good & bad, I’ll still miss doing these once I complete the final 60+ shorts.

Listen, Judge: 

(Short # 138 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

This took elements of three different Curly shorts; they had a run-in w/ Vernon Dent, causing anger on his part and of course in the finale he unexpectedly meets them again, causing disaster as they attempt to prepare dinner. That is taken from 1941’s An Ache in Every Stake. Here, Dent is the titular judge; they have the blue-collar job of “handymen” and they run out of the courtroom after a mishap involving a stolen chicken. That’s from A Plumbing We Will Go.

They then wander around a fancy neighborhood & discover a house whose doorbell is out of order. That is as destructive as when they attempted the same task in 1943’s They Stooge to Conga. Some moments are copied but they usually are modified a bit so this effort did not seem like a needless retread. Combining those two old plots with a plot point from a third was also interesting, even if Ache. Conga, & Plumbing are even better than Judge. They even subvert a gag sometimes used through their history. The new moments include a great moment involving electrocution.

Besides Emil Sitka as the chef who quits due to frustration w/ Moe, John Hamilton had a small role. Hamilton had roles big and small in Hollywood for like 20 years by this point, usually as a judge, cop, or attorney. Hardcore fans of 50’s television will know him as Perry White in the George Reeves Superman TV show my father watched as a kid.