Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
When I got my first sketch from Adam Hughes, I simply told him I wanted Sylvester Stallone and he could pick the character he wanted to draw. Adam surprised me with his knowledge that there was talk of Sly playing Superman. I love the art (how could I not, it’s Adam Hughes!) and the quote with the caption is icing on the cake!
Brideless Groom (1947)
Director: Edward Bernds
Writer: Clyde Bruckman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre, Virginia Hunter and Emil Sitka
Tagline: Gold-diggers mob the Stooges for their money!
The Plot…
Shemp learns that he will inherit $500,000 if he is married by 6pm. The trouble is he has no girlfriend and no prospects. Luckily, Shemp is joined by Moe and Larry in an effort to find him a wife before the deadline arrives. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Emil Sitka, a Stooges regular, gets his best-remembered line “Hold hands, you lovebirds!” in this one. Believe it or not, the line is on Sitka’s headstone!
Christine McIntyre, another Stooges regular, has a scene where she is to repeated hit Shemp. Despite repeated takes, the punches didn’t look convincing. The story goes that Shemp told Christine to really let him have it, explaining that a lot of repeated half-hearted slaps hurt more than a few good ones. On the next take Christine cut loose with a punch that broke Shemp’s nose. The take was used. As Christine apologized, Shemp told her, it was okay, he told her to cut loose and she sure did!
Clyde Bruckman, the writer of Brideless Groom, was the co-writer on the film Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925) which had a similar plot.
Brideless Groom (1947) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Pals and Gals (1954)
Director: Jules White
Writer: Clyde Bruckman, Jack White
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Vernon Dent and Blackie Whiteford
Tagline: Round up a herd of howls Out West!
The Plot…
When the doctor explains that Shemp is suffering from an enlarged vein in his leg, it is recommended that Shemp head out west where the climate will do him good. So our boys end up in a rough cowboy town. When the crook, Doc Barker overhears Shemp talking about his large vein, he thinks Shemp has a gold mine. As Barker makes moves to steal the mine, our guys learn that Barker is holding three sisters prisoner. Larry, Moe and Shemp plan to free the girls and fall in love. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Pals and Gals uses footage from previous Stooges shorts: Goofs and Saddles (1937) and Out West (1947). Because of careless editing, Doc Barker dies in one scene and then reappears briefly later in a group shot.
Shemp has a funny scene playing cards with two cowboys trying to cheat.
Pals and Gals (1954) rates 3 of 5 stars.
So Long Mr. Chumps (1941)
Director: Jules White
Writer: Clyde Bruckman, Felix Adler
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Bruce Bennett, Bud Jamison and Blackie Whiteford
Tagline: NUTTIER THAN EVER!
The Plot…
The boys find an envelope full of bonds and return the it to the rightful owner. The grateful man offers our guys a $5,000 reward if they can find an honest man to run his business. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, Larry, Curly and Moe realize that an honest man is being held in jail. Our boys decide the best plan of action is to get arrested and then get the man out. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Bruce Bennett’s birth name was Herman Brix. He was an Olympic athlete and actor under his given name. He also played Tarzan in the movies. Feeling he was typecast as Tarzan, Brix changed his name and went on to in both low budget features as well as major motion pictures such as Sahara with Bogart, Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford, Dark Passage with Bogart and Bacall, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Bogart, Sudden Fear with Joan Crawford and Gloria Grahame and Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart.
In the last scene Curly breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience.
Moe stops Curly from smoking a cigarette, Curly continues to pull out bigger and bigger smokes until he’s finally lighting up a cigar that’s a couple of feet long.
So Long Mr. Chumps (1941) rates 3 of 5 stars.
No Dough Boys (1944)
Director: Jules White
Writer: Felix Adler
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent and Christine McIntyre
Tagline: You’ll Go Slap-Happy When the Stooges Go Jap-Happy!
The Plot…
The boys are dressed as Japanese soldiers for a photo shoot. Unfortunately for our guys there are reports that three Japanese soldiers on the loose in the city. While on a lunch break, Larry, Curly and Moe are mistaken for the real thing. As they run for their lives, our guys end up ducking into an apartment that is a secret Nazi hideout. The spy who runs things, Hugo (Dent) believes that our boys are the escaped Japanese soldiers… until he doesn’t.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Curly starts to light a cigarette when Moe points to a sign and asks Curly what it says. Curly responds, “Hey, you! No Smoking!” Moe: “Well?” Curly: “It says you, not me. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.”
Curly later performs the invisible pipe gag (made famous by Laurel & Hardy in two films: Way Out West and Blockheads).
No Dough Boys (1944) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Three Little Beers (1935)
Director: Del Lord
Writer: Clyde Bruckman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bud Jamison, Charles Dorety and Jack Kenney
Tagline: Some foam, eh, kid?
The Plot…
The boys are beer delivery men who discover that their company is having a golf contest with a $100 prize. While on their route, our guys find themselves next to a golf course, of course. They decide to get in some practice. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Curly on top of a giant stack of beer barrels in a fully loaded truck will bring a smile to your face no matter how many times you see it. And you know what happens when the truck and our guys end up on a hill.
Moe gets a funny one-liner when he sinks a shot and Larry says, “It went into the hole!” Moe sadly responds, “Just my luck.”
Three Little Beers (1935) rates 4 of 5 stars.
Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947)
Director: Jules White
Writer: Felix Adler
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Vernon Dent, Phil Arnold, Cy Schindell and Jules White (voice)
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys run a dry cleaning shop and if they don’t get some fast cash, they’re going to lose their business. When a safe cracker ditches the police and leaves his clothes in their shop, the boys find his cash. They get an idea that when he returns they’ll capture him for the reward money. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
At the start of Sing a Song of Six Pants we see several signs in the window of their dry cleaning shop. One of the signs advertises “altercations” (not alterations). I wonder if that was a happy accident.
Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947) rates 3 of 5 stars.
The Scalphunters (1968)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Writer: William W. Norton
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, Ossie Davis, Dabney Coleman, Paul Picerni, Dan Vadis, Armando Silvestre, Nick Cravat and Chuck Roberson.
Tagline: I’M JOE BASS and I say that scalphunters are the most ornery, girl-grabbing, back-stabbers on earth. I HUNT SCALPHUNTERS!
The Plot…
Joe Bass (Lancaster) is on his way to trade the furs he collected during the winter. Bass is stopped by Two Crows (Silvestre) and his band of Kiowas. Two Crows wants Bass’ furs and offers him a captured slave named Joseph Lee (Davis). Bass wants no part of the deal. Two Crows and his men force the trade and ride off with the furs.
Bass is determined to get the furs back and wants Joseph Lee to assist. Before Lee was captured by the Kiowa he had been an educated house slave. Lee has no understanding of the wilderness or guns. Still, what other option does he have?
As Joe Bass and Joseph Lee prepare for battle with the Kiowa, a ruthless group of scalphunters joins the action. Outnumbered and outgunned, Joe Bass is determined to get his furs back… even if it kills him.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
I was surprised by the humor in The Scalphunters. I was expecting a grim late 60s western. The opening scenes are funny and as I adjusted my expectations, a surprisingly brutal and graphic (for the time period) event happens. There is a nice mix of humor and drama that ends up leaning more into the comedy by the time the movie is ready to end.
Ossie Davis is a scene stealer. He and Burt Lancaster had great chemistry. Sequels weren’t as rampant then or I’m sure we’d have had more of these two.
Shelly Winters and Telly Savalas make for a believable couple. Look for Dabney Coleman as one of Savalas’ henchmen.
The Scalphunters (1968) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Space Ship Sappy (1957)
Director: Jules White
Writer: Jack White
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Marilyn Hanold and Emil Sitka.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Our guys think they’ve taken jobs as sailors. They have, but as sailors on a spaceship heading to a planet inhabited by women cannibals. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
This is one of the few Stooges shorts where Moe and Larry wear hair more in tune with their off screen styles.
Space Ship Sappy (1957) rates 3 of 5 stars.
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One Day as a Lion looks to be a fun ride. Scott Caan wrote the screenplay and is joined by Frank Grillo, J.K. Simmons and Virginia Madsen.
Jackie Powers (Scott Caan) is a nice guy but a lousy hitman sent to take out a crafty debtor (J.K. Simmons) Jackie only pisses him off. Fleeing the scene Jackie takes bored waitress Lola as a hostage. Jackie needs money to get his son out of jail Lola cooks up a scheme for them to get cash from her dying mother (Virginia Madsen). Meanwhile, a thug sent to kill him is sleeping with Jackie’s ex. Also starring Frank Grillo, this crime comedy is a witty homage to Tarantino and the Coen brothers.
Scripted by Scott Caan and directed by John Swab, One Day As a Lion will be available in select theaters on April 4, 2023, and On Digital and On Demand on April 7, 2023.
Pest Man Wins (1951)
Director: Jules White
Writer: Felix Adler
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Vernon Dent, Emil Sitka, Symona Boniface, Heinie Conklin, Mary Forbes, Ethelreda Leopold and Al Thompson
Tagline: They’re Their Own Pest Customers – In the Pest Control Business!
The Plot…
Our guys are pest exterminators and they need work. They get the bright idea to plant ants, mice, spiders, and other bugs in a mansion during a fancy party. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Pest Man Wins is a remake of Ants in the Pantry and uses a small amount of footage from the original. The concluding pie fight scene borrows from In the Sweet Pie and Pie and Half-Wits Holiday.
Pest Man Wins (1951) rates 3 of 5 stars.
How High Is Up? (1940)
Director: Del Lord
Writer: Elwood Ullman
Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bruce Bennett, Vernon Dent and Cy Schindell
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys are repairmen who decide to drum up business by poking holes in some workers’ lunchboxes. When the laborers catch on to the ruse, our guys run away. Looking to ditch the irate mob, Larry, Curly and Moe take jobs working construction on the top levels of a high rise. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Curly gets the best laughs trying to walk on a greased girder. There are also the expected chuckles when the boys try handling hot rivets.
How High Is Up? (1940) rates 4 of 5 stars.
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Director: George Marshall
Writer: Walter DeLeon based on the play The Ghost Breaker by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard
Stars: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Willie Best, Pedro de Cordoba, Virginia Brissac, Noble Johnson, Anthony Quinn, Tom Dugan, Paul Fix, Lloyd Corrigan and Robert Elliott
Tagline: The two stars of “The Cat and the Canary” find love and laughter in a haunted house!
The Plot…
On a voyage to Cuba Mary Carter (Goddard) and Larry Lawrence (Hope) develop a flirtatious relationship. Mary is going to Cuba to claim an inheritance. Larry ended up on the ship by accident. When Mary is told about ghosts and zombies on the land and mansion she’s inherited, Larry decides to stick around. The mansion is just as creepy as she’d been told. It’s full of secret passageways, walls with hidden panels, and a painting that looks just like Mary. When what appear to be ghosts and zombies show up, it may be time to sell!
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Due to the success of The Cat and The Canary, the studio wanted to quickly re-team Hope and Goddard. The Ghost Breakers fit the bill. Although they play different characters, the plots of both films are very similar.
This is the third time the play The Ghost Breakers was made into a film. The first two versions were silent. It was remade for a fourth time as Scared Stiff in 1953 with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
The Ghost Breakers (1940) earns 3 of 5 stars.
The Gang’s All Here (1941)
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Writer: Edmond Kelso
Stars: Frankie Darro, Marcia Mae Jones, Jackie Moran, Keye Luke, Mantan Moreland, Robert Homans and Paul Bryar
Tagline: Frankie risks his life for a new sweetie, and then finds out she’s two-timing him for another motor jockey!
The Plot…
Frankie (Darro) and Jefferson (Moreland) get jobs driving for The Overland Transport Company, unaware that Overland’s trucks have been the targets of several hijackings that left the drivers dead. When Frankie and Jefferson survive an attempt to drive them off the road, they decide to find out who is behind the attacks. As they get closer to the truth, the targets on their backs grow bigger.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
My main interest in The Gang’s All Here was Mantan Moreland. He’s the bright spot in the movie, and I wish he was given more to do.
It was interesting that in such a low budget production would feature so many actors that would have long careers and even appear in some classic films:
Frankie Dario played Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet! Marcia Mae Jones had a role in The Way We Were. Jackie Moran was in Gone with the Wind! Keye Luke had a long career but is best known as Charlie Chan’s #1 son. Robert Homans was in The Grapes of Wrath. Paul Bryar had a small role in Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid.
The Gang’s All Here (1941) earns 2 of 5 stars.
The Jade Mask (1945)
Director: Phil Rosen
Writer: George Callahan based on characters created by Earl Derr Biggers
Stars: Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Edwin Luke, Frank Reicher, Janet Warren, Cyril Delevanti, Edith Evanson and Edith Evanson
Tagline: A MYSTERY MANSION…Where death lurks in every dark corner and a mad genius runs loose!
The Plot…
Charlie Chan (Toler), aided by his #4 son Edwin and Birmingham Brown (Mooreland) are called in to solve a case where an eccentric scientist was killed in his spooky old mansion while hosting a dinner party. As it turns out the scientist wasn’t well liked. Everyone in attendance had motive to kill him!
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The Jade Mask has all the elements you’d want in a Charlie Chan mystery. An unusual murder. Plenty of viable suspects. Charlie Chan’s humorous pearls of wisdom. A spooky mansion with hidden passageways and wall panels. Mantan Mooreland!
This is the first and only appearance of Chan’s #4 son Edwin, played by Edwin Luke, the real-life younger brother of Keye Luke who played Chan’s #1 son in previous films.
The addition of the old country sheriff’s interactions with Chan provides humor.
The Jade Mask earns 3 of 5 stars.
