Sony // 1940 // 396 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge Christopher Kulik // August 26th, 2008
Any resemblance between the characters in these pictures and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle!
Curly: My father died dancing...on the end of a rope! Nyuk, nyuk!!!
Sony continues to release all the original Stooge shorts in order to the satisfaction of many fans. Volume Three contains 23 films released from 1940-1942 on two discs:
Disc One
* "You Nazty Spy!" -- Moe is offered to be dictator
of Moronica, with Larry and Curly as his dumbbell aides. One of the Stooges'
most famous shorts is highlighted by Moe's Hitler-like mugging (sans
mustache?).(4/5)
* "Rockin' Through The Rockies" -- For the past
five months, the Stooges have been working as bodyguards for Nell's Belles. Now
stuck somewhere in the Rockies, they all must contend with scalpin'
Indians.(3/5)
* "A Plumbing We Will Go" -- The Stooges barely
escape jail for the second time (always a close shave!) due to their inability
to be law-abiding citizens. Somehow, they end up plumbers in a wealthy family's
home and wreaking waves of havoc.(5/5)
* "Nutty but Nice" --
Restaurant entertainers Moe, Larry, and Curly are called upon to cheer up little
Betty, whose father was recently kidnapped. When their "Lollypop"
anthem doesn't work, they are determined to find him by yodeling all over
town.(4/5)
"How High Is Up?" -- Now working as "minute
menders," the Stooges' illegal business practices force them to hide as
riveters...on the 97th floor of an incomplete skyscraper.(4/5)
*
"From Nurse to Worse" -- An acquaintance offers the Stooges a chance
to make a butt-load of money: buying insurance through him, and then declare one
of them as insane. Curly is the unanimous choice, as they use his doggish
demeanor to make the claim.(4/5)
* "No Census, No Feeling" --
The Stooges have been having a bad year running from the law, and here is no
exception. Luckily, they become census takers ("Are you married or
happy?"), drink alum punch while playing bridge, and compromising a
football game! One of the best shorts on this set.(5/5)
* "Cookoo
Cavaliers" -- With their fish business going nowhere, Moe, Larry, and Curly
decide to try their luck opening up a salon south of the border. Their first
client: a man who wants to turn four Senoritas into blondes.(2/5)
*
"Boobs in Arms" -- Now working as greeting card vendors, the Stooges
make a fool out of a disgruntled husband twice in one day. Imagine their
surprise when, after joining the U.S. Army, the same man happens to be their
drill sergeant!(5/5)
* "So Long, Mr. Chumps" -- When the Stooges
come across a cache of oil bonds, they be honest citizens and return them to the
rightful owner. Their reward is an unusual one: find an honest man with
"executive ability" and win $5000. The search lands them in prison,
however, when they promise a young wife to free her innocent husband.(3/5)
* "Dutiful but Dumb" -- Wacky photographers Moe, Larry, and Curly are
sent to the kingdom of Vulgaria...where it's illegal to own cameras. Moronic
short has one or two good laughs, but ends up being hopelessly uneven and
pointless.(1/5)
* "All the World's A Stooge" -- Seminal stooge
short has the three window washers doing some painful dental surgery. Later,
they pretend to be refugees to a wealthy wife...but end up infuriating the
husband!(5/5)
* "I'll Never Heil Again" -- Semi-sequel to
"You Nazty Spy!" has Moe returning as dictator of Moronica (now
complete with small mustache), and prepared to take over the world. However,
former King Herman 6-7/8 wants his country back, and sends his daughter to give
them a hidden explosive. Hilarious short, filled with visual gags, actually
surpasses its predecessor.(5/5)
Disc Two
* "An Ache in Every Stake" -- Ice deliverymen Moe,
Larry, and Curly agree to help a woman prepare a birthday meal for her upset
husband. Curly promises it will be the talk of the county, and he's no doubt
right. Highlight: Curly "shaving" some ice. (4/5)
* "In The
Sweet Pie and Pie" -- Three girls in a jam take their lawyer's advice and
marry three convicts on Death Row to collect a multi-million inheritance. When
the convicts are pardoned the next day, they go to their new home. But the girls
are so desperate to get rid of them they insist they become society gentleman
(sound familiar?).(4/5)
* "Some More of Samoa" -- The Stooges
are now working as tree surgeons and are no doubt the only ones in the country.
A cranky old man calls upon their help to examine a dying Puckerless Persimmon,
also the only one in the country. Insisting the tree needs to pucker up via a
mate, the trio travels to the isle of Rhum Boogie to get a new specimen but run
afoul of the cannibalistic natives.(5/5)
* "Loco Boy Makes Good"
-- Booted out for being eight months behind in rent, the Stooges plan to falsely
sue another hotel owner. Their first target is a sweet old lady who's threatened
with repossession; as compensation, the Stooges offer to renovate the place to
improve business.(4/5)
* "Cactus Makes Perfect" -- Using Curly's
"useless" invention (a gold collar button retriever), all three set
out in the desert to find a lost mine full of gold. Unfortunately, they also
have to deal with a couple of armed prospectors. Co-screenwriter Monte Collins
excels beautifully as "Ma Stooge."(5/5)
* "What's The
Matador?" -- Once again heading south of the border, the Stooges must put
on a bull show, but their suitcase is accidentally taken by a jealous
husband.(3/5)
* "Matri-Phony" -- During the Roman Empire (?),
the Stooges are pottery salesman who agree to hide a redhead from the evil
Emperor Octopus Grabus.(2/5)
* "Three Smart Saps" -- The Stooges
can't wait to get married to their girlfriends, but there's a huge problem. The
girls' father, who usually works as the prison warden, has been thrown in jail
by a crooked crook that is now using the jailhouse as a party palace of
debauchery. Moe, Larry, and Curly come to the rescue, but decide to have some
fun first.(5/5)
* "Even As IOU" -- On the run once again, the
Stooges must find a way to help a starving mother and little girl, who recently
lost their house. A rare short that starts out very funny, but then becomes lost
when the boys find themselves playing the ponies.(3/5)
* "Sock-A-Bye
Baby" -- A mother leaves a baby on the Stooges' doorstep, forcing them to
take on fatherly duties. A semi-remake of "Mutts To You," (without the
mutts), this short has early echoes of Three Men And A Baby.(4/5)
The Stooges joined Columbia in 1934; six years later, they're at their paramount. Since their comedy became an enjoyable antidote to the rising reality of war and Nazism, someone got the ingenious idea of turning our favorite bully Moe into Adolf Hitler. Released several months before Charles Chaplin's masterpiece The Great Dictator, "You Nazty Spy!" is credited as the very first time Hitler was played/parodied on the screen. Curly got to spoof Hermann Goering (as Field Marshal Herring) and Larry did a limping impersonation of Joseph Goebbels (as the Minister of Propaganda).
Both Moe and Larry considered "You Nazty Spy!" as their all-time favorite short. It's not surprising then that a follow-up (of sorts) would come along in 1941 as "I'll Never Heil Again." Even though Moe Hailstone and his two cohorts were eaten by lions at the end of the first film, their antics continue as they intend on taking over all lands outside of Moronica, including the island nation of Great Mitten. This short also contains one of Moe's best lines; after Curly rips off his mustache, Moe demands, "Give me back my personality." While both of these Nazi spoofs are worthy, the second one gets my vote as the superior one, largely because of the visual gags, which I won't dare reveal here.
Much of the rest of the shorts in this compilation feature one common element: the Stooges running from the law. Because of their vagrant hijinks, they usually would end up being chased by a police officer...and, more often than not, the cop was played by Bud Jamison, one of the regular co-stars. "A Plumbing We Will Go" is a perfect example, as they wind up in a house pretending to be plumbers in order to avoid prison; naturally, they know nothing about the profession. This is one of my absolute favorite shorts simply because it has one of the greatest visual jokes ever conceived and executed; if anything, it will make you think twice about going to see Niagara Falls.
Like Volume Two, this set has very few missteps. "How High is Up?" is another fondly remembered short, with Larry cooking rivets and wieners on a BBQ grill. "No Census, No Feeling" has an amazing three-act structure which pays off in spades, and "Boobs in Arms" was the first army comedy to be made in Hollywood after WW2 had started. This short has the justly famous basic training sequence, in which Moe, Larry, and Curly play "hippity hop at the barber shop," much to the dismay of their drill sergeant, who really wants to kill them. In a sad bit of irony, Richard Fiske (who plays the D.I.) was drafted soon after and was killed in action in 1944.
Also noted as a Stooge favorite is "All the World's a Stooge," in which the boys pretend to be refugees (orphaned kids). Richard Fiske (who did 12 shorts with the boys), appears here again as a pissed-off dentist, and Curly's "mammy" intro is a riot. "An Ache in Every Stake" has a memorable cooking scene, and "In The Sweet Pie and Pie" has one of the longest-running pie fights ever devoted to a Stooge short. Just one question: what was Larry doing in the suit of armor?
Sony's treatment of these priceless shorts is triumphant...for the most part. After delivering superb full frame transfers for Volumes 1 & 2, there are several films here which have their own isolated problems. "You Nazty Spy!" is the worst offender, with the black-and-white picture tinting itself to green once in awhile; some of the stock footage of later shorts is crudely inserted, though that's not entirely Sony's fault. I'm getting worried that the studio maybe rushing themselves on later collections, as the next one is due out in early October! The mono tracks are splendid again, retaining the "three blind mice" overtures and occasional musical numbers marvelously. No extras, once again.
Be prepared for footage recycled from older shorts. Thankfully, there are only two shorts here which are found guilty of this: "From Nurse to Worse" features the exact same hospital escape from "Dizzy Doctors," and "In the Sweet Pie and Pie" shamefully reuses the dance scene from "Hoi Polloi" with Geneva Mitchell (who by now was retired due to ill health). The Curly era would largely avoid this practice until he himself had his first stroke several years later, in which his energy had obviously been minimized.
The missteps on this set include "Cookoo Cavaliers," "Dutiful but Dumb," "Matri-Phony" and "Even as IOU." Of the two "south-of-the-border" comedies, "What's the Matador?" is way better than "Cookoo," which has few laughs and even fewer physical gags. Still, none are as bad as "Dutiful but Dumb" which reminded me of the equally painful (and strikingly similar) short "Saved by the Belle" (from Volume 2). "Matri-Phony" has its moments; still, like most of the period pieces, this one just feels too forced and protracted.
While I'm getting a little nervous over Sony's handling of the shorts -- considering the look of "You Nazty Spy!" -- they are still delivering the goods. Aside from "Spy," all of the shorts look as if they were fully restored; to fans, that's all that really matters.
Sony and the Stooges are found not guilty. Soitenly!
Review content copyright © 2008 Christopher Kulik; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2009 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 94
Audio: 98
Extras: 0
Acting: 100
Story: 90
Judgment: 94
Perp Profile
Studio: Sony
Video Formats:
* Full Frame
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono (English)
Subtitles:
* None
Running Time: 396 Minutes
Release Year: 1940
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* None
Accomplices
* IMDb: "You Nazty Spy!"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033281/combined
* IMDb: "Rockin' Thru The Rockies"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032995/combined
* IMDb: "A Plumbing We Will Go"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032917/combined
* IMDb: "Nutty But Nice"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032855/combined
* IMDb: "How High is Up?"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032611/combined
* IMDb: "From Nurse to Worse"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032496/combined
* IMDb: "No Census, No Feeling"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032845/combined
* IMDb: "Cookoo Cavaliers"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032371/combined
* IMDb: "Boobs in Arms"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0032270/
* IMDb: "So Long, Mr. Chumps"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034209/combined
* IMDb: "Dutiful But Dumb"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033565/combined
* IMDb: "All the World's A Stooge"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033325/combined
* IMDb: "An Ache in Every Stake"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033312/combined
* IMDb: "In The Sweet Pie and Pie"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033755/combined
* IMDb: "Some More of Samoa"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034216/combined
* IMDb: "Loco Boy Makes Good"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034987/
* IMDb: "Cactus Makes Perfect"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034563/combined
* IMDb: "What's the Matador?"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0035549/combined
* IMDb: "Matri-Phony"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0035047/combined
* IMDb: "Three Smart Saps"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0035436/combined
* IMDb: "Even As IOU"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034710/combined
* IMDb: "Sock-A-Bye Baby"
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0035351/combined