Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
We Have a Ghost starring David Harbour, Jahi Winston and Anthony Mackie looks like a lot of fun. Deal me in.
Finding a ghost named Ernest haunting their new home turns Kevin’s family into overnight social media sensations. But when Kevin and Ernest go rogue to investigate the mystery of Ernest’s past, they become a target of the CIA.
Restless Knights (1935)
Director: Charles Lamont
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Stanley Blystone and Walter Brennan
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys learn they’re royalty! Larry is the Duke of Durham, Moe the Count of Fife and Curly is Baron of Grey Matter. They are tasked with protecting the Queen. Little do they know that a plan is underway to kill her and make our boys the fall guys!
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Restless Knights was the first Stooges short to feature the now famous triple slap! The castle sets were originally created for Boris Karloff’s The Black Room.
Restless Knights earns 4 of 5 stars.
G.I. Wanna Home (1946)
Director: Jules White
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Symona Boniface and Al Thompson
Tagline: The Stooges on a Hilarious Hunt for a Home!
The Plot…
The boys are discharged from the army ready to marry their girls. First they need housing. Our guys search everywhere but nothing is available. In desperation, the boys turn a deserted lot into their new home. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Curly’s health had deteriorated to the point that much of the business scripted for him was given to Larry. It was obvious from Curly’s weight loss, the lines now creasing his face and his timing that his career was coming to an early end.
G.I. Wanna Conga earns 4 of 5 stars.
They Stooge to Conga (1943)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Monte Collins, Elwood Ullman
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Lloyd Bridges, Vernon Dent, Dudley Dickerson and Christine McIntyre
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys are are door-to-door repairmen hired to fix a doorbell. When they discover that the house belongs to Nazi spies, it is up to them to save the day. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
They Stooge to Conga was often edited to exclude the violence where Curly climbs the power pole. Curly on his way up (and wearing spikes) steps on Moe’s head, then spikes him in the ear and eye! Other violent scenes include: Curly getting his rear set on fire, Moe pulled through a wall, a grinding wheel to the nose, wrench to the nose, multiple electric shocks, sitting on a hot waffle iron, exploding telephone as it is answered, multiple hammer strikes to the head… NYUK-NYUK-NYUK.
Lloyd Bridges has a cameo!
This is the third time that Moe parodies Adolph Hitler. It cracks me up every time.
They Stooge to Conga earns 5 of 5 stars.
Violent is the Word for Curly (1938)
Director: Charley Chase
Screenplay: Al Giebler, Elwood Ullman
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Bud Jamison and Al Thompson
Tagline: THEY’RE CRACKED IN THE CRANIUM…ON A CUCKOO CAMPUS!
The Plot…
The boys are new hires at a service station. They screw things up so badly that they take off down the road. They end up at an women’s college where they are mistaken for three college professors due to arrive that day. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The opening set piece has the boys working at a service station. There’s an extended sequence where the boys are shining up a car and Curly begins vigorously polishing a bald man’s head. The slapping sound effect cracks me up every time.
The Three Stooges singing “Swinging the Alphabet” is a classic.
When Violent is the Word for Curly was colorized it became obvious that in the scene where the college girls are playing basketball some are braless.
Violent is the Word for Curly earns 4 of 5 stars.
He Cooked His Goose (1952)
Director: Jules White
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Diana Darrin
Tagline: The boys need rumpus room when the love ‘n’ laughter bug bites them!
The Plot…
Larry is a pet shop owner and a womanizer. He’s having an affair with Moe’s wife at the same time trying to start a romance with Shemp’s girl! When Moe shows up at the pet shop, Larry says, it’s Shemp who’s trying to make time with Moe’s wife. Moe leaves ready to give Shemp a beating.
Larry quickly hires Shemp as a door to door underwear salesmen. Larry sends Shemp to Moe’s house to model underwear for Moe’s wife. Larry then calls Shemp’s girl and tells her that Shemp’s with another woman. Moe’s on his way home. Shemp’s girl is on the way as well. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
He Cooked His Goose is one of the rare Stooges shorts where the boys aren’t brothers, partners or a team. It is also one of the few where Larry has the lead. Larry as a lady’s man is funny enough, but add Shemp as an underwear model and things really take off.
He Cooked His Own Goose earns 4 of 5 stars.
Malice in the Palace (1949)
Director: Jules White
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Vernon Dent and Everett Brown
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys are diner owners whose customers end up wearing more food than they eat. When two crooks dupe the boys into stealing a cursed diamond, they get wise and attempt to return the gem for a reward. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Malice in the Palace almost featured Curly! Based on Curly’s successful cameo in Hold That Lion, he was set to play an angry chef. Sadly, his illness affected the performance, so the scene was reshot with another actor. The photo below features a nearly unrecognizable Curly (he’d lost much weight, had hair and a fake mustache).
Malice in the Palace earns 4 of 5 stars.
Even as IOU (1942)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison and Suzanne Ridgway
Tagline: A 1000 to 1 howler!
The Plot…
The boys decide to help a homeless mother and her child. How you ask? (And I’m glad you did.) They steal the kid’s piggy bank. They bet the cash on a longshot and… win!! A couple of con men then sell the boys a broken down nag for their winnings. The boys think that the horse will bring in even more money when it wins races. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
The funniest part of Even as IOU is at the beginning. The boys are selling race track tip sheets. Curly tells a man he guarantees every race a winner. The man buys the sheet only to realize that the sheet is from yesterday’s races. Curly responds, “They won, didn’t they?” Curly helps the man call for the police until he realizes the cop is for him. The boys pose as mannequins to hide from the policeman. Curly then has an exchange with the police officer, Truly fun stuff.
The racetrack bits are pretty generic.
Even as IOU has one of the most bizarre endings of any Stooges short… and that’s saying something. Curly eats a horse vitamin and it causes him to give birth to a colt. Huh?
Even as IOU earns 3 of 5 stars.
Three Dark Horses (1952)
Director: Jules White
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Kenneth MacDonald
Tagline: A vote for them is a vote for mayhem – and mirth.
The Plot…
The boys are janitors who become political delegates recruited to support Hammond Egger, a dishonest politician. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Bud Jamison appeared in many Stooges shorts. Although he died in 1944, his photo is used as Hammond Egger in a tribute to the talents of Mr. Jamison.
Three Dark Horses earns 3 of 5 stars.
All the World’s a Stooge (1941)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: John Grey
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Symona Boniface and Bud Jamison
Tagline: It’s Sock-Full of Laughs!
The Plot…
The boys are window washers. A rich man mistakes them for dentists. So… they decide to pull his tooth! Afterwards, the man gets an idea. His wife wants to adopt some refuges. He’s against it. So if he brings home the Stooges disguised as children, his wife won’t want to adopt more children. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
All the World’s a Stooge has three major set pieces – the boys as window washers, dentists and then children! Each section holds up well. Only in a Stooges short would the audience go along with a rich man having grown men pretend to be children (and Larry a girl!) that he’s going to adopt. And no one catches on.
All the World’s a Stooge earns 4 of 5 stars.
Disorder in the Court (1936)
Director: Jack White
Screenplay: Felix Adler
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Bud Jamison, Edward LeSaint, Hank Mann and James C. Morton
Tagline: The Three Stooges turn plumbers in Scheming Schemers.
The Plot…
The boys are witnesses in a murder trial. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Disorder in the Court is a classic. It features as much wordplay as physical comedy.
One of my favorite scenes is when Curly is sworn in to testify. All Curly has to do is raise his right hand, put his left on the Bible and repeat after the court clerk. If you can watch this scene without laughing, then have your pulse checked. What I didn’t know was that this routine was “borrowed” from Buster Keaton’s Sidewalks of New York, directed by Jules White. The same Jules White who produced Disorder in the Court!
Disorder in the Court earns 5 of 5 stars.
Scheming Schemers (1956)
Director: Jules White
Screenplay: Jules White, Elwood Ullman
Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Christine McIntyre, Emil Sitka, Kenneth MacDonald, Dudley Dickerson, Symona Boniface and Al Thompson
Tagline: The Three Stooges turn plumbers in Scheming Schemers.
The Plot…
The boys are plumbers trying to retrieve a valuable ring that fell down a drain. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Scheming Scheamers is a remake of A Plumbing We Will Go with Shemp replacing Curly. It is also the only Stooges short to re-use scenes from three previous Stooges films, It is also one of four Stooges shorts filmed after Shemp’s death. A stand-in was used in some of his scenes.
Scheming Schemers earns 3 of 5 stars.
I’m a Monkey’s Uncle (1948)
Director: Jules White
Screenplay: Zion Myers
Stars: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Heinie Conklin and Cy Schindell
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys are cavemen dealing with day to day living… until rival cavemen try to steal their girls! Then it’s war!
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
I’m a Monkey’s Uncle is pretty generic. Still any Three Stooges short is fun.
I’m a Monkey’s Uncle earns 3 of 5 stars.
Unstoppable (2018)
Director: Kim Min-Ho
Screenplay: Kim Min-Ho
Stars: Ma Dong-seok (Dong Lee), Song Ji-Hyo, Kim Sung-oh
Tagline: Don’t Mess With Me
The Plot…
Dong-Chul (Lee) is a soft mannered seafood salesman, trying to take his small business to the next level. Coming home from a dinner date with his wife, Ji-Soo (Ji-Hyo), they’re involved in a fender-bender. In the car that hit them is Ki-Tae. Ki-Tae is a psychotic gangster who kidnaps and sells young women to sex-trafficers.
Ka-Tie is taken with Ji-Soo. He finds out where she lives and kidnaps her. Big mistake. Dong-Chul is a former gang enforcer. He’ll do whatever it takes to get his wife back. He’ll be unstoppable.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Ma Dong-seok aka Don Lee should be a bigger celebrity in the United States. Lee doesn’t have traditional movie star good looks. He’s a big guy, but not overly muscular. Yet, he has charisma and the camera loves him. Check him out in Train to Busan or The Gangster, the Cop the Devil and you’ll see what I mean. We get glimpses of that superstar in Unstoppable but not to the same level.
Kim Sung-oh plays the villain. At times Sung-oh, in his purple suit, reminded me of The Joker. He’s good at playing crazy.
Unstoppable has a bit too much comedy for me. I was hoping for a gritty thriller. Still, Unstoppable isn’t bad and Don Lee is always good.
Unstoppable earns 3 of 5 stars.
Three Dumb Clucks (1937)
Director: Del Lord
Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman
Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Charles Dorety, Cy Schindell and Al Thompson
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
The boys get word that their dad has struck it rich, left their mother and is about to marry a woman out for his money! They decide it is up to them to stop the marriage. What could go wrong?
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Curly plays a double role in this one. In addition to being one of the boys, he plays his/their father! Double Curly is a bonus.
In the scene where Curly is thrown down the elevator shaft, he received a cut that required stitches!
Three Dumb Clucks earns 4 of 5 stars.
