Category: Humor

Uncivil War Birds (1946)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde Buckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Theodore Lorch, Robert B. Williams and Blackie Whiteford.

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

The American Civil War has started.  The boys decide to join the fight.  Larry and Moe come back in Union uniforms, while Curly has signed up with the Confederacy!  Suddenly the war is raging around them and the Union Army controls the area… but just as quickly the Confederacy wins it back.  Our guys are going crazy trying to keep up with which side has the power and to protect the boy(s) in the wrong uniform!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Clyde Buckman recycled his Buster Keaton script Mooching Through Georgia adapting it for the Stooges.  Buckman would later re-work the story for The Abbott & Costello Show.

When an officer orders the soldiers with the command, “Forward march, you fools!” Curly doesn’t move.  The officer yells, “What’s the matter with you?”  Curly responds, “I’m no fool.”  The commander is exasperated and yells, “Forward march, you idiot!” Curly answers, “That’s different” and begins marching.

The boys, in an attempt to escape dress up in blackface and try to pose as minstrel singers. While blackface is not their proudest moment, it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence during that era.

Sadly, because of strokes, Curly’s career was coming to an end.  More of the funny bits and dialogue are given to Moe and Larry.  Still, Curly makes the most of what he is given.

Uncivil War Birds (1946) rates 4 of 5 stars.

A Gem of a Jam (1943)

Director:  Del Lord

Writer:  Del Lord

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Dudley Dickerson and Al Thompson.

Tagline:  Crammed with rib-tickling comedy!

The Plot…

The boys are night shift janitors working their way through a floor of offices.  They’re about to clean a doctor’s workspace when crooks on the run from the law bust in.  One of the gang members has been shot.  Thinking our boys are doctors, the crooks say if they don’t fix up their pal, it’s lights out for Larry, Curly and Moe.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Curl was injured when the gurney gag tilted too far and he busted his head requiring several stitches.

The boys accidentally drop the wounded crook out of the office building window.  Curly gets under the blanket and the boys act as if they are about to operate.  One of the thugs threatens that if any harm comes to their friend, he’ll shoot them.  Moe responds, “Don’t worry, when we get through with him he’ll be a different man.”

As the boys are running for their lives they hide in a dark storage room filled with creepy stuff.  Curly trips into a trough filled with plaster.  He’s covered from head to toe and looks scary.  Curly playing like a statue and his interactions with the night watchman (Dickerson), Larry & Moe and the crooks are classic!

A Gem of a Jam (1943) rates 5 of 5 stars.

“I Can Hardly Wait” (1943)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde Buckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bud Jamison, Adel Mara and Al Thompson.

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

The boys decide on a midnight snack before night-night.  While Larry and Moe share a single slice of ham and an egg, Curly gets the whole ham bone and the whole egg shell.  Sadly Curly breaks a tooth eating his meal. Now it’s up to Larry and Moe to fix Curly’s broken tooth.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

A classic Stooge sight gag that leads to slapstick appears in “I Can Hardly Wait” – the boys sleep in triple bunk beds with Curly on the top!

Of course everything Larry and Moe try to help ease the pain of Curly’s broken tooth fails.  Moe suddenly says, “I’ve got it!”  Curly replies, “Every time you got it, I get it.”

“I Can Hardly Wait” (1943) rates 5 of 5 stars.

Back from the Front (1943)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Jack White, Ewart Adamson

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison and Adele Mara.

Tagline:  Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and other human beings is a dirty shame.

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are merchant marines during World War II.  After some misadventures they end up on a German war ship!  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Moe disguises himself as Adolph Hitler (as he did in 1940’s You Nazty Spy and 1941’s I’ll Never Heil Again – I never get tired of this) and tells the German officers, “Use your heads and shoot out your brains.”  The commandant replies, “But mein Führer, we’re Nazis. We have no brains.”

The Nazi warship our guys sneak aboard is the the SS Schicklgruber.  “Schicklgruber” is Adolph Hitler’s father’s real last name.  He changed it to Hitler later in life.  The British often referred to Hitler as Schicklgruber for propaganda purposes and it is the only name the Stooges would use when referring to him.  “Schicklgruber” pops up in other Stooges shorts.

There’s a dog named Terry on the ship. This dog also played Toto in The Wizard Of Oz.

When the boys sneak aboard the Nazi warship, Moe says, “If we’re discovered, we’re lost.”  Curly responds, “You’re crazy. If we’re discovered, we’re found.”  NYUK-NYUK-NYUK.

Back from the Front (1943) rates 4 of 5 stars.

What’s the Matador? (1942)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Jules White, Saul Ward

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Suzanne Kaaren and Al Thompson.

Tagline: World’s Champion Bull Throwers!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are comedians headed to Mexico.  After a few chance encounters with a beautiful woman, and her very jealous husband, our boys are in for it.  Then when suitcases get mixed up, our guys decide to sneak into the woman’s house to get theirs.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

There’s a scene with Moe, Curly and Larry trying to get directions from a Mexican citizen that’s not typical Stooges’ humor, but is funny.

What’s the Matador? (1942) rates 4 of 5 stars.

Nutty But Nice (1940)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde BruckmanFelix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Lynton Brent,  Charles Dorety, Ned Glass, Ethelreda Leopold and Harry Wilson.

Tagline:  Calling all laugh lovers!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are bumbling waiters.  Their antics amuse two doctors having a meal.  The docs think that our boys might be able to bring a little girl out of her depression.  The girl’s father was kidnapped while delivering a huge sum of money.  When our guys are unable to change the girl’s mood, they vow to find her father.  After a few false starts our boys find her father.  To free him they will have to go against a rough group of gangsters.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The boys perform an extended scene in drag.  It didn’t bring the girls out of her depression, but it almost put me in one.  Our guys do NOT make good looking dames.

Saved by the Belle (1939) rates 3 of 5 stars.

Saved by the Belle (1939)

Director:  Charley Chase

Writer:  Searle Kramer, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent and Al Thompson.

Tagline:  Rings the bell for a laughing knockout!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are traveling salesmen in a South American country undergoing a civil war and prone to earthquakes.  How could it get any worse?  They’re trying to sell fur coats!  Our boys are jailed for trying to skip out of their hotel bill.  While in lockup, they are befriended by a revolutionary.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

When the boys are lined up to be shot, Curly thinks it is for a photograph.  He says, “I’m gonna send one home to Elaine”.  Elaine was Curly Howard’s wife at the time.

Saved by the Belle (1939) rates 3 of 5 stars.

Slippery Silks (1936)

Director:  Jack White

Writer:  Ewart Adamson

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Loretta Andrews, Symona Boniface, Vernon Dent and William Irving.

Tagline:   None.

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are carpenters who accidently destroy a priceless antique cabinet.  The owner of the antique vows revenge.  Once away from the danger, our guys learn that they’ve inherited a designer dress boutique.  Our guys as fashion designers?  Why not?

They are hired to put on a fashion show by a rich woman.  During the event they realize that the woman’s husband is the man who owned the priceless antique that they destroyed!  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Slipper Silks features the Stooges’ first pie/pastry fight.  Actually one pie is thrown and the rest are cream puffs.

When the owner of the priceless cabinet asks, “Are you sure this work will be in competent hands?” Curly responds, “Soitenly, we’re all incompetent.”

Slippery Silks (1936) rates 4 of 5 stars.

A Pain in the Pullman (1936)

Director:  Jack White

Writer:  Jack White

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Phyllis Crane, Bud Jamison, Ethelreda Leopold and James C. Morton.

Tagline:   None.

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are small time performers who get a job that requires them to travel by train with their pet monkey.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

A Pain in the Pullman is the longest Stooges’ short.  It clocks in at 19 minutes, 46 seconds.

Moe gets to say his classic: “Wake up and go to sleep!”

Moe was allergic and disliked shellfish.  He’s not acting and his aversion becomes evident in the scene where the boys are eating crab.  And how about Curly pulling the meat out and then eating the shell!

A Pain in the Pullman (1936) rates 4 of 5 stars.

Easy Street (1917)

Director:  Charles Chaplin

Writer:  Charles Chaplin, Vincent Bryan, Maverick Terrell

Stars: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Albert Austin, Lloyd Bacon and Henry Bergman 

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

When a tramp (Chaplin) meets a mission worker, he is inspired to get a job and win her over.  The only job that he can find is as a policeman on Easy Street.  The folks living on Easy Street are terrorized by a huge bully.  He beats and robs at will.  The police that have been sent in before have had no luck in bringing him in.  What chance does the little tramp have against a giant?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The scene with Chaplin using a street lamp to fight the bully is inspired.

Easy Street (1917) rates 3 of 5 stars.

Phony Express (1943)

Director:  Del Lord

Writer:  Elwood Ullman, Monte Collins

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Shirley Patterson, Bud Jamison, Chester Conklin and ‘Snub’ Pollard.

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Our boys skip town, wanted for vagrancy.  They end up in Peaceful Gulch, which is anything but.  With no money, the see a help wanted sign at a saloon.  Our guys head in and say they’re there to clean up the place.  Red Morgan and his gang overhear this and think that Larry, Curly and Moe are lawmen who’ve come to take them to jail.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

This plot was popular enough to be used, along with some of the footage in The Stooges’ 1951 short Merry Mavericks.

Curly makes the most of a scene with Larry as he mixes up a snake oil potion that will cure anything!

Phony Express (1943) rates 4 of 5 stars.