Out West

(Short # 99 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Moe Howard passed away on May 4, 1975, a few months after Larry. The 50th anniversary of their deaths are worth mentioning here; they along with Shemp were rather amusing in this Wild West short.

The trio go out West as a cure for a bad vein Shemp has in his leg. Due to misunderstandings, a villain named Doc Barker believes the boys are referring to them possessing knowledge of a gold-bearing vein; the Stooges are none the wiser to his confusion. Meanwhile, Christine McIntyre asks them to free her love The Arizona Kid from confinement; of course, Barker has him in captivity.

The Arizona Kid was portrayed by Jacques O'Mahoney, known on screen as Jock Mahoney. He looks, talks, and acts like a 40's cowboy, making him swell for the role. He acted for years and even played Tarzan in the 60's. He was even Sally Field's stepfather when she was a kid. About that... in her memoir, she accuse him of behavior I won't specify, except that it will be triggering to some. Yeah, I won't be praising Mahoney from her on out in the other Stooge efforts he appeared in.

Returning to levity and merriment, this was a pretty good time between the puns, slapstick, witty banter, and routines, whether new or modified from the past. Wild West chestnuts like “a card game” and “attempting to break out of jail” are present. The fourth wall is even broken on one occasion. The next few Shemp shorts are even better.