Category: Humor

“A Plumbing We Will Go” (1940) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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A Plumbing We Will Go (1940)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Symona Boniface, Dudley Dickerson and Bud Jamison 

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

There’s bad blood between Officer Kelly (Jamison) and the boys (Larry, Curly and Moe) when a judge finds them innocent of stealing chickens. (And they’re plainly guilty!)  Later the cop sees the guys attempting to catch fish from a pet store tank.  The chase is on!

When a butler thinks the boys are plumbers, he invites them in.  Seeing the police officer getting closer, they accept the offer.  In order not to blow their cover, Larry, Curly and Moe attempt to fix a bathroom leak…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

A Plumbing We Will Go was Curly’s favorite Three Stooges Short.  It’s hard to argue that it’s not the best.  Every scene has a laugh, starting with the judge finding the boys not guilty of chicken stealing as Curly pulls out his hat and chicken feathers fly everywhere.  Most folks know the gag where Curly keeps adding pipes to pipes and traps himself.  But there’s so much more – the cook dealing with the results of the “plumbers” work – the guests watching tv with a picture “so real”… even the final scene has a callback to a magician who appeared in an earlier gag and returns to end the short with a great “trick”.

A Plumbing We Will Go earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Return to Glennascaul” aka “Orson Welles’ Ghost Story” (1951) / Z-View

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Return to Glennascaul aka Orson Welles’ Ghost Story (1951)

Director:  Hilton Edwards

Screenplay:  Hilton Edwards

Stars:  Orson Welles and Michael Laurence 

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Orson Welles is driving late one night on a nearly deserted road.  He spots a stranded motorist beside a car and asks the man if he could use a ride.  The man accepts and they drive off.  To pass the time, the man begins to tell Welles of an incident where, at the very same spot the man picked up two women who were stranded…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Welles actually made Return to Glennascaul while he was on a break from filming Othello.  When Welles picks up the stranded motorist, he asks him what’s wrong with his car.  The man replies, “Trouble with the distributor.”  Welles replies that he’s had problems with his distributor as well.  Welles is of course referring to the producers of Othello which is a cute inside joke.

Return to Glennascaul is a short ghost story that is enhanced by having Orson Welles as the “star” narrator.

Return to Glennascaul aka Orson Welles’ Ghost Story earns 3 of 5 stars.

Termites of 1938 (1938) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Termites of 1938 (1938)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Elwood Ullman, Al Giebler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bess Flowers, Symona Boniface, Carlton Griffin and Bud Jamison.

Tagline:  They’ve Got the Bug-House Blues!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Mrs. Muriel Van Twitchell (Flowers) wants to attend a high class dinner party that a friend is throwing to honor a guest from England.  The problem is that her husband is going hunting.  She decides to call an escort service so she won’t have to attend alone.  A mistake causes her to phone ACME Exterminators (run by Larry, Curly and Moe) instead of ACME Escorts.  She tells them the time to show up and the affair is formal.

The boys show up dressed in their best and ready to kill pests.  The butler announces dinner is served and Moe tells Larry and Curly, they “always feed ya at these high class joints”.  The boys eat like they think rich folks do, and when Lord Wafflebottom follows their lead, everyone at the party does the same bizarre things.  After dinner, the boys provide musical entertainment and then get down to looking for pests to exterminate.

Moe gets the funniest scene that involves a hanging blanket, a broom, a high class lady and her butler.

Termites of 1938 earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Hold That Line” (1952) starring The Bowery Boys / Z-View

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Hold That Line (1952)

Director:  William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Tim Ryan, Charles R. Marion, Bert Lawrence (additional dialogue)

Stars:  Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, John Bromfield, Veda Ann Borg, Taylor Holmes, Bernard Gorcey, Gil Stratton, David Gorcey, Benny Bartlett, Pierre Watkin, Robert Nichols and Paul Bryar.

Tagline:  They’ve Gone COLLEGE CRAZY! It’s their dizziest laff hit!

The Plot…

Hold That Line starts off as a take on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.  Two college alumni are discussing Ivy College.  One believes that anyone can succeed in college if given the chance.  The gentlemen make a bet and the Bowery Boys are chosen to test the theory.

What’s interesting about Hold the Line is that partway through the film, the “Pygmalion” aspect takes a backseat to football rivalry.  State always beats Ivy in the football championship.  While in chemistry class, Sach (Hall) invents a concoction that gives him super strength.  Sach becomes the star of the football team and big man on campus.  On the day of the championship game against State, gangsters kidnap Sach in order to win bets.  Will Sach get away from the gangsters?  If he doesn’t can Slip (Gorcey) and the gang pull off an upset?  And what about the original “Pygmalion” bet?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hold the Line is a fun outing.  If you think it’s odd to see 35 year old Slip and 32 year old Satch as college freshmen, just wait until 64 year old Louie (Bernard Gorcey) joins them.

Angels in Disguise earns 3 of 5 stars.

Gents Without Cents (1944) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Gents Without Cents (1944)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Lindsay Bourquin, Laverne Thompson and Betty Phares.

Tagline:  Step by step, inch by inch and wow, what comedy follows!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Curly and Moe are out of work vaudeville performers working on their act.  After several interruptions due to banging on the floor upstairs, they decide to give the noise-makers the what for.  The boys are surprised to find three young women dancers who are practicing their routine.  Surprisingly the Stooges and the ladies hit it off.  The next day they all go to a job interview and get hired!  The girls will dance and the Stooges will do comedy.  When the main act (Caster & Earl – caster oil) don’t show up, the Stooges get raised into the main act.  This could be their big break…

Gents Without Cents is one of my favorite Stooges shorts.  It breaks the tradition of them not getting the girls.  There is less of them beating each other up and more working together despite being on the wrong end of the smarts spectrum.  Plus we get to see them perform, not only the famous Vaudeville act, “Niagara Falls” but also “Rat-tat-toodle-oodle-day-ay”.  The women’s performances are fun as well.

The kicker is the final scene… as the Stooges head to their honeymoon at, you guessed it, Niagara Falls!

Gents Without Cents earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Hoi Polloi” (1935) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Hoi Polloi (1935)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Felix Adler, Helen Howard (uncredited)

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Harry Holman and Bud Jamison.

Tagline:  Meet the new darlings of society.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Hoi Polloi is George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play, Pygmalion, but with a Three Stooges’ twist.  Professor Richmond believes that a even a person from low standings without education can be turned into a gentleman with the proper training.  Professor Nichols disagrees and wagers $10,000 that Richmond can not train three commoners into becoming gentlemen.  Nichols gets to pick the three and he chooses Larry, Curly and Moe.  Let the hijinks begin!

Moe’s wife, Helen came up with the idea to adapt Shaw’s play.  The idea was so good, they reused it in Half-Wits Holiday (1947) which was Curly’s last starring appearance (1947) and Pies and Guys (1958).

One of the funniest scenes involves a dance instructor who tells the boys to just “do what I do”.  A bee goes down the back of her dress as she frantically moves around to dislodge it, Larry, Curly and Moe attempt to follow her moves.

Hoi Polloi earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Crash Goes the Hash” (1944) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Crash Goes the Hash (1944)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Dick Curtis, Bud Jamison, Symona Boniface and Vernon Dent.

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Curly and Moe get hired as reporters.  They’ll get a $100 bonus if they can get a photo of Prince Shaam of Ubeedarn (Curtis) and Mrs. Van Bustle (Boniface) who are rumored to be on the verge of marriage.  The boys get jobs as a cook and waiters for a big party at Mrs. Van Bustle’s mansion.  Hijinks follow…

Crash Goes the Hash is one of the most popular Stooges’ shorts.  Sadly during it’s filming Curly had his first small stroke.  There’s a scene where one of the characters tells the boys they’re acting like the Three Stooges and the boys are offended.

Crash Goes the Hash earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Angel’s in Disguise” (1949) starring The Bowery Boys / Z-View

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Angel’s in Disguise (1949)

Director:  Jean Yarbrough

Screenplay:  Charles R. Marion, Gerald Schnitzer, Bert Lawrence (additional dialogue)

Stars:  Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Mickey Knox, Richard Benedict, William ‘Billy’ Benedict, Joe Turkel, David Gorcey, Benny Bartlett, Bernard Gorcey,  Ray Walker andRory Mallinson.

Tagline:  It’s their Funniest Fightin-est Film!

The Plot…

When Slip (Gorcey) and Satch (Huntz) learn that their buddy Gabe, a police officer, was shot, they head to the hospital.  They learn that Gabe will survive, but his partner, who was also shot, has died.  Gabe explains that members of the notorious Loop gang were the killers.  Slip and Satch decide to pose as gangsters to infiltrate the Loop gang and bring them down.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Bowery Boys work best when the drama is kept to a minimum.  Although there is a scene where Leo Gorcey lays it on thick and brings tears to his eyes, Angels in Disguise turns out to be one of the Bowery Boys’ better outings.  Gorcey provides a voice-over and the film has scenes shot like detective/noir films of the era.  The humor is still there and works well with this dynamic.  The best scene is the introduction of Slip’s gang.

Angels in Disguise earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Three Little Twerps” (1943) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Three Little Twerps (1943)

Director:  Harry Edwards

Screenplay:  Monte Collins, Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Chester Conklin, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Bud Jamison, Anita Sharp-Bolster,  Al Thompson, Blackie Whiteford and Duke York

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Larry, Curly and Moe get involved in hijinks at the circus.  When the circus owner finds them selling discounted tickets to the amusements, he takes after them with the police.  Highlights include Curly being mistaken for the Bearded Lady’s blind date, Curly and Larry hiding in a horse costume and Curly running for his life from the wild “Sultan of Abudaba”.

Three Little Twerps earns 3 of 5 stars.

“From Nurse to Worse” (1940) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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From Nurse to Worse (1940)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Clyde Bruckman from a story by Charles L. Kimball

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent and Ned Glass

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

An insurance salesmen tells the boys that if they purchase a policy on Curly and then he acts insane, they can collect big.  They buy the policy.  Moe and Larry put Curly on a leash and take him to the doctor.  Curly is so convincing that the doctor thinks Curly is dangerously insane.  His cure to to operate on Curly’s brain!  When Moe and Larry attempt to rescue Curly the hijinks are on!

From Nurse to Worse earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Flat Foot Stooges” (1938) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Flat Foot Stooges (1938)

Director:  Charley Chase

Screenplay:  Charley Chase

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Chester Conklin and Harry Myers

Tagline:  None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

When an irate salesman’s plan to blow up a fire engine backfires it sets the fire house ablaze.  The salesman and a young woman are unconscious as the fire grows closer.  Unlucky for them, the fireman manning the station are Larry, Curly and Moe.

Flat Foot Stooges was the first short to use Three Blind Mice as the Stooges’ theme music.

Flat Foot Stooges earns 3 of 5 stars.

“The Hot Scots” (1948) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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The Hot Scots (1948)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay:  Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Herbert Evans, Christine McIntyre and Theodore Lorch

Tagline:  Hoot Man! …And Hoot Loud at the Stooges’ maddest funfest!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

After graduation from a correspondence detective school, Larry, Shemp and Moe apply for jobs at Scotland Yard.  They’re hired as janitors.  While cleaning the grounds they get a lead on a rich man who needs guards for his valuables while he is away from his spooky castle.  Little does the man know, but it is his hired staff who plan to rip him off!  The would-be thieves decide to scare the Stooges into leaving and hilarity follows.

In 1954, The Hot Scots was remade as Scotched in Scotland and reused much of the same footage from the original film.

The Hot Scots earns 4 of 5 stars.

“King of the Zombies” (1941) Starring Mantan Moreland & Dick Purcell / Z-View

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King of the Zombies (1941)

Director:  Jean Yarbrough

Screenplay:  Edmond Kelso

Stars:  Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury,  Mantan Moreland, Henry Victor, John Archer and Marguerite Whitten. 

Tagline:  HUMAN SACRIFICES! SAVAGE TORTURE! VOODOO RITES!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

1941.  World War II is raging across Europe.  James “Mac” McCarthy (Purcell) is flying his small plane from Cuba.  With McCarthy is his valet, Jeff Jackson (Moreland) and his buddy, Bill Summers (Archer).  A terrible storm blows them off course.  Running low on fuel, they pick up a transmission in a foreign language.  They spot a small island and although banged up, survive a crash landing.

Dr. Miklos Sangre (Victor) lives on the island with his wife, Alyce (Stacey), and his many servants.  Sangre invites Mac, Jeff and Bill into his mansion.  Sangre shows Mac and Bill respect, but Jeff is treated like one of the servants.  Jeff quickly picks up that something is off with Dr. Sangre. There are strange things taking place on the island.  Will Jeff be able to convince Mac and Bill?  And if they do believe Jeff will it be too late?

King of the Zombies was originally conceived as a straight up horror film.  Bela Lugosi was announced to star.  With the success of Bob Hope’s The Ghost Breakers, King of the Zombies was re-written as a comedy.  Mantan Moreland’s character was added.  The producers were unable to get Lugosi.  Their second choice was Peter Lore.  He was also unavailable, so they went with Henry Victor.  Victor is excellent as the creepy foreign agent.

The real star of King of the Zombies is Mantan Moreland.  He is excellent as the scared, but perceptive sidekick (who steals the show).  Marguerite Whitten who appeared with Moreland in Mr. Washington Goes to Town and Lucky Ghost, is a welcome addition as a source of information and Mantan’s love interest.  Madame Sul-Te-Wan makes a believable voodoo priestess.

King of the Zombies is a low budget “B” picture that is heads and shoulders above most of the same type films of this era.  If you’re a fan of the genre, you should enjoy King of the Zombies.

King of the Zombies earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Idle Roomers” (1944) Starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Idle Roomers (1944)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Del Lord, Elwood Ullman

Stars:  Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Duke York, Christine McIntyre and Vernon Dent

Tagline: None.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Moe, Larry and Curly are bellmen at an upscale hotel.  When Mr. and Mrs. Leander check in, the boys only see Mrs. Leander.  Not knowing she has a jealous husband, they fight over helping her to her room.  When the husband arrives, there’s trouble.  And even more trouble when the wolfman he has caged gets loose!

Curly does most of the heavy-lifting in this one (and I’m not just talking about the Leander’s luggage).  Any time you have the boys running out of their minds with fear from monsters, you’re guaranteed laughs.

Idle Roomers earns 4 of 5 stars.