Category: Movies

“Cookoo Cavaliers” (1940) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Cookoo Cavaliers (1940)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Ewart Adamson

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are unsuccessful fish salesmen, so they decide to buy a saloon.  The only (well, first) problem is they bought a salon.  A hair salon in Mexico!  The boys decide that they’d make great hairdressers.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The boys get some laughs trying to sell their smelly old fish.  The real chuckles come when they open their hair salon.  Imagine mani/pedis, mud packs, hair creams and more administered by Larry, Curly and Moe!

Cookoo Cavaliers earns 4 of 5 stars.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022) / Z-View

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All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Director:  Edward Berger

Screenplay: Ian Stokell, Lesley Paterson, Edward Berger based on the novel  All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Stars: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Paul Bäumer (Krammerer) is about to graduate high school when he and his classmates hear a rousing patriotic speech about joining the service.  Paul and his friends enlist thinking that the war will be over soon and they’ll come back heroes.  They will learn how wrong they are… if they survive.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

All Quiet on the Western Front is based on Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel of the same name.  Written in 1929, it was banned when the Nazis took over Germany.  All Quiet on the Western Front has been adapted three times.  Twice for feature films and once for television.  It’s a timeless story about the harsh realities of war.

This 2022 adaptation is excellent.  It won National Review awards as one of the Top Five Foreign Language Films and for Best Adapted Screenplay.  It won for Best Makeup and Hairstyling as well as Best Visual Effects in the European Film Awards.

All Quiet on the Western Front contains powerful, tense scenes of war that are heightened by quiet moments before and after the carnage.  There are scenes that will stay with you.  For me, one of the most telling is when the new recruits are unknowingly given uniforms taken off dead soldiers.  The bullet holes having been sewn together by scores of women at sewing machines.

It’s also a sad comment when young soldiers on both sides are in the elements with little to eat, fighting the weather as well as each other. Meanwhile diplomats and high ranking soldiers are getting the best food and amenities as they argue the terms of surrender.  Then when an agreement to end the war at 11:00 is reached, one power-hungry commander orders his soldiers to make a last minute attack that will cost many, many lives but have no positive outcome to the war.

If I was to nitpick, I might say that All Quiet on the Western Front was a bit long, but not long enough to kill my enjoyment of it.

All Quiet on the Western Front earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Punch Drunks” (1934) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Punch Drunks (1934)

Director:  Lou Breslow

Screenplay: Jack Cluett, story by Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Jerry Howard

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Dorothy Granger

Tagline:  A Columbia 2 Reel Broadway Comedy

The Plot…

Moe discovers that any time Curly hears “Pop Goes the Weasel” he gains super strength and becomes violent.  With Larry on the violin and Moe as fight manager, Curly becomes a professional boxer known as K.O. Stradivarius.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Punch Drunks contains several firsts…

  • Punch Drunks is the first and only Three Stooges film selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
  • It contains the first time Curly exclaims his famous “Woo-woo-woo!”
  • Punch Drunks also features the first time Curly used his catch-phrase he’s a “victim of soycumstance!”
  • It is the first time Larry plays the violin (which he would go on to do in 8 other shorts)
  • Punch Drunks contains an obscene gesture – during introductions for the fight, an audience member can be seen “shooting a bird”

Punch Drunks is one of the Three Stooges most beloved shorts.  Punch Drunks contains funny gags, but it doesn’t resonate with me as well as some of their other shorts.  I like Punch Drunks, but feel it lags a bit when Larry has his two “running” scenes. I expected more laughs from Curly’s big fight. I think Punch Drunks is good, but most folks feel it is one of the boys’ best.  Your mileage may vary.

Punch Drunks earns 3 of 5 stars.

“The Price We Pay” starring Emile Hirsh & Stephen Dorff – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The Price We Pay trailer looked like a typical crime movie until, well, check it out and see for yourself.  I like crime and I like horror.  Deal me in.

From the director of Midnight Meat Train comes this gripping thriller starring Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) and Stephen Dorff (Blade). After an intense holdup at a pawnshop, Grace is taken hostage by the thieves. Forced to take refuge at a remote farmhouse late at night, they discover a secret dungeon with evidence of sadistic violence—and when “Grandfather” comes home, all hell breaks loose. Can Grace muster the courage to escape the gut-wrenching fates that befall her criminal companions?

The Price We Pay – in select theaters, on digital and on demand 1/13/23! Starring Stephen Dorff (Cody), Emile Hirsch (Alex), Gigi Zumbado (Grace), Tyler Sanders (Danny), Erika Ervin (Jodi), Jesse Kinser (John), Sabina Mach (Carly), and Vernon Wells (The Doctor).

“Little Dixie” starring Frank Grillo & Eric Dane – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I’m a Frank Grillo and Eric Dane fan.  The two of them in a gritty crime film has my attention and it’s directed at Little Dixie.  Deal me in.

Frank Grillo (The Purge franchise) and Eric Dane (Euphoria) star in this action-packed revenge thriller. When a deal goes wrong between a corrupt Governor and a ruthless drug lord, ex-Special Forces Operative Doc (Grillo) is caught in the crosshairs. Now, with his family in danger, Doc must take down the Mexican drug cartel and do whatever it takes to protect the one good thing in his life – his young daughter, “Little Dixie”.

Featuring: Frank Grillo, Eric Dane, Beau Knapp, Annabeth Gish, Peter Greene, Thomas Dekker, Mercedes Mason, Maurice Compte

“Half Shot Shooters” (1936) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Half Shot Shooters (1936)

Director:  Jack White

Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Stanley Blystone and Vernon Dent

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

As the last battle of World War I rages, Sgt. MacGillicuddy (Blystone) finds the Stooges (Moe, Larry and Curly) sleeping.  When the war ends, the Sarge gives the boys a beating for being cowards.  After the Stooges are discharged they see Sgt. MacGillicuddy on the street.  They thank him and show the medals they received for being wounded in action!  Moe, Larry and Curly then give the Sarge a taste of his own medicine.

17 years later… The boys are tricked into re-enlisting!  Want to guess who their commanding Sargent will be?  Yep, good ole Sgt. MacGillicuddy.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Half Shot Shooters is one of the most violent of all the Stooges shorts.  Usually we get eye-pokes, punches, slaps and the like, but no real damage is shown.  In this one Moe gets a broken arm, the boys are made deaf by the Sargent and it ends with the Stooges being killed!  Of course, the violence is not graphic but at the time was considered too intense for kids.  Half Shot Shooters was actually banned in Holland!

Half Shot Shooters marks the first appearance of Vernon Dent.  Dent would go one to appear in 60 Stooges’ shorts!

Half Shot Shooters earns 3 of 5 stars.

RIP: Stephen “tWitch” Boss

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Stephen “tWitch” Boss died yesterday the result of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 40.

Stephen Boss was a dancer, choreographer, actor, television producer, and dj.  Mr. Boss got the nickname “tWitch” when he was a child and couldn’t sit still.  After graduating high school, “tWitch” studied Dance Performance at Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Alabama, and Chapman University.

2003 was the year that Stephen Boss began to be noticed.  He was a semifinalist on MTV’s The Wade Robson Project and runner-up on Star Search.  Mr. Boss began to choreograph dance routines for other artists.

“tWitch” was on So You Think You Can Dance in 2007, but was cut before reaching the Top 20.  He returned in 2008 and was the runner up.  A dance choreographed by Mia Michaels that “tWitch” performed with Katee Shean that season was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Choreography.  “tWitch” and Katee Shean were brought back the following season to perform the Emmy nominated dance again.  So You Think You Can Dance invited “tWitch” back in seasons 7 – 9 as an All Star dancer.  In Season 12 he was named as the “Captain” of “Team Street”.  In Season 22, Mr. Boss was named as a permanent judge on So You Think You Can Dance.

Stephen Boss’ dancing ability and charismatic personality brought him to the attention of Hollywood.  His first role was in Blades of Glory.  Mr. Boss would go on to have a career as an actor in both television and feature films.

Some of Mr. Boss’ feature film appearances include: Blades of Glory; Hairspray (2007); Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming; Step Up 3D; Dead in 5 Heartbeats; Step Up All In; Magic Mike XXL and Ghostbusters (2016);

Some of Mr. Boss’ television appearances include: Bones; Touch; Drop Dead Diva (2 episodes); Famous in Love (2 episodes); Modern Family and The Ellen DeGeneres Show (101 episodes; in 2020, Ellen DeGeneres named Twitch a Co-Executive Producer).

I first became aware of Stephen “tWitch” Boss from his appearances on So You Think You Can Dance.  He was the total package: charismatic, talented, humble and always upbeat.  I enjoyed seeing his success as he repeatedly returned to So You Think You Can Dance.  It was even nicer to see “tWitch” getting roles in movies and television.  He was the type of celebrity that I felt would be easy to sit and talk with.  It’s heartbreaking to think that he’s gone.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ family, friends and fans.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

“Cash and Carry” (1937) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Cash and Carry (1937)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman, Elwood Ullman from a story by Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Sonny Bupp

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Curly) return to their shack in the dump only to find a young boy inside doing his homework.  Moe tells the boy to leave.  The little fellow says he’s sorry and starts to pack his school work.  The Stooges see the boy is wearing a leg brace.  The boy’s older sister says, that they didn’t think anyone lived in the shack.  She’s saving her money to get her brother an operation to fix his leg.  They tell the girl and boy they can stay.

The Stooges then head out to raise $500 for the operation.  They buy a “treasure map” from a couple of shysters. The map leads the boys to a deserted house next to the US Treasury.  Curly finds an “X” marked on a wall… What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Cash and Carry is one of the most sentimental of all the Stooges’ shorts.  If a handicapped, polite little orphan who needs a leg surgery doesn’t tug your heart strings, you may be missing a ticker.  Having a cameo by President Roosevelt is a nice touch.  ; )

Cash and Carry earns 4 of 5 stars.

RIP: Stuart Margolin

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Stuart Margolin died yesterday from natural causes.  He was 82. Although best known for his re-occurring role as Angel on The Rockford Files, Stuart Margolin was also a writer, director and singer/songwriter!

Mr. Margolin’s professional acting career began with a re-occurring role in 1961’s The Gertrude Berg Show.  After that role Stuart Margolin continued acting on television and in feature films for the rest of his career.  He earned  two Emmy Awards (1979 and 1980) for playing Angel Martin opposite James Garner on The Rockford Files.

Some of Stuart Margolin’s feature film appearances include: Women of the Prehistoric Planet; Kelly’s Heroes; The Stone Killer; Death Wish; Futureworld; Days of Heaven and SOB.

Some of Stuart Margolin’s television appearances include: The Gertrude Berg Show (3 episodes); Ensign O’Toole (4 episodes); Burkes’ Law; The Fugitive; Ben Casey; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Branded; Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats; Ironside; Occasional Wife (3 episodes); The Virginian; The Monkees; Bewitched; The F.B.I.; Judd for the Defense; That Girl (3 episodes), It Takes a Thief (3 episodes); Land of the Giants; My World and Welcome To It (2 episodes); Nichols (24 episodes); The Partridge Family (2 episodes); Love American Style (29 episodes); The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Cannon; Gunsmoke (3 episodes); MASH (2 episodes); Rhoda (2 episodes); The Rockford Files (37 episodes); Bret Maverick (8 episodes); The Fall Guy; Magnum PI; Hill Street Blues (2 episodes); Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (3 episodes); Matlock (2 episodes); The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A.; The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise; The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits…; The Rockford Files: Godfather Knows Best; The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play; The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime; The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda; The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds… It Leads; Touched By An Angel (2 episodes); Beggars and Choosers (4 episodes); These Arms of Mine (3 episodes); Tom Stone (26 episodes); Intelligence (3 episodes); Saturday Night Live; 30 Rock; NCIS and The X-Files.

Stuart Margolin was also writer.  Some of his credits include: The Ballad of Andy Crocker; A Man, a Woman and a Bank; an episode of the mini-series Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride and What the Night Can Do.

Mr. Margolin was also an accomplished director.  Some of his credits include: Love American Style; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Phyllis; Wonder Woman (2 episodes); The Rockford Files (2 episodes); The Love Boat (7 episodes); Bret Maverick (2 episodes); Hart to Hart; Magnum PI; The Glitter Dome (tv movie); Crazy Like a Fox (3 episodes); Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (6 episode mini-series); Quantum Leap; North of 60 (4 episodes); Lonesome Dove: The Series; The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play; The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds… It Leads; Promised Land (8 episodes); Beggars and Choosers (5 episodes); These Arms of Mine (3 episodes); Touched by an Angel (11 episodes); Tom Stone (6 episodes) and Intelligence (3 episodes).

Stuart Margolin was also a singer/songwriter.  Mr. Margolin often co-wrote with singer/songwriter Jerry Riopelle.  Songs co-written by Stuart Margolin appeared on albums by Jerry Riopelle, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and R.B. Greaves.

I don’t know when I first saw Stuart Margolin’s acting.  It’s hard to pinpoint because he appeared on so many shows that I watched as a kid.  I knew his face before I knew his name.  Stuart Margolin and James Garner must have loved working together.  I sure enjoyed their interactions which began on the tv series Nichols.  It only lasted one season but paved the way for The Rockford Files.

I knew that Stuart Margolin was a prolific actor, but didn’t realize until today how many wonderful shows/movies he directed.  And who knew he was a singer/songwriter?  What a brilliant career!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stuart Margolin’s family, friends and fans.

“The Great Diamond Robbery” (1954) starring Red Skelton / Z-View

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The Great Diamond Robbery (1954)

Director:  Robert Z. Leonard

Screenplay: László Vadnay, Martin Rackin, George Oppenheimer

Stars: Red Skelton, Cara Williams, James Whitmore, Kurt Kasznar, George Mathews, Harry Bellaver, Steven Geray and Larry J. Blake 

Tagline: A NEW Uproarious Role in the Career of the World’s Funniest Man

The Plot…

Ambrose C. Park (Skelton) as found on a park bench when he was a tiny baby.  No one ever came to claim him. Now Ambrose is a diamond cutter who dreams of having a family.  He’s searched for his family for years with no luck.

A shyster lawyer named Mr. Remlick (Whitmore) plans to swindle Ambrose out of a few thousand dollars. Remlock pulls together scam artists to play Ambrose’s mother, father and sister.  Their plan goes sideways when hard core thugs learn of a diamond worth two million dollars sitting in a safe where Ambrose works.  The thugs take over the scam and plan to kill anyone that gets in their way!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Great Diamond Robbery is the type of light-hearted, sweet film that isn’t made any more. Red Skeleton is perfect as the naive diamond-cutter who wants a family.  Cara Williams plays his love interest and this is the first film I’ve seen with her.  I want to see more.  The actors playing the scammers and gangsters are well cast.

The Great Diamond Robbery was Red Skeleton’s last film while under contract to MGM.  It contains one of Red’s more subdued performances and I enjoyed it.

The Great Diamond Robbery earns 4 of 5 stars.

RIP: Pedro Miguel Arce

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Pedro Miguel Arce died on December 9, 2022 after a short battle with cancer.  Pedro Arce played football and college.  After graduating college Mr. Arce was working as a bouncer when he was discovered by an agent.  Throughout his career Pedro Arce acted in both television and feature films.

Some of Pedro Arce’s feature film appearances include: Fall: The Price of Silence; Land of the Dead; Step Brothers and Polar.

Some of Pedro Arce’s television appearances include: Street Time (3 episodes); CSI: Miami; How I Met Your Mother; Las Vegas; The Transporter; The Strain (4 episodes); True Detective (2 episodes); Gangland Undercover (2 episodes); The Ballad of Hugo Sánchez (4 episodes); Warigami (2 episodes); Coroner (3 episodes) and Diggstown (3 episodes).

I first saw Pedro Miguel Arce in George Romero’s Land of the Dead.  My favorite role that he appeared in was as Felix on The Strain.  Pedro Arce always made an impression no matter the size of his role.  It’s sad that he was taken at such a young age.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Pedro Miguel Arce’s family, friends and fans.

“Cactus Makes Perfect” (1942) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman, Monte Collins

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Ernie Adams and Vernon Dent

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Curly) are brothers out to make their fortune.  They buy a bogus gold mine map and end up finding gold. Little do the Stooges know, two crooks are waiting to rob them!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Catus Makes Perfect is a fairly generic Stooges short.  Still any outing with Curly is worth a look!

Cactus Makes Perfect earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Spooks” (1953) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Spooks (1953)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Norma Randall, Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy

Tagline: Hollywood’s First Comedy Featurette in 3-D

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Shemp) are private detectives hired to find a kidnapped woman.  The trail leads to a spooky house where the woman is being held hostage by a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, and a gorilla…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

If Spooks reminds you of Dopey Dicks it should. Both contain the same elements: a spooky old mansion full of hidden passages, a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, a woman in distress and the Three Stooges. Spooks kicks it up a notch by adding a gorilla and a release in 3D!

Spooks earns 5 of 5 stars.