Category: Z-View

“Malice in the Palace” (1949) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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) starring Don Lee / Z-View

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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) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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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.

“The Invitation” (2022) starring Nathalie Emmanuel & Thomas Doherty / Z-View

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The Invitation (2022)

Director:  Jessica M. Thompson

Screenplay:  Blair Butler

Stars: Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Sean Pertwee, Hugh Skinner and Scott Alexander Young

Tagline: You are cordially invited to a nightmare generations in the making.

The Plot…

“Evie” Jackson (Emmanuel) is a struggling artist who, after a DNA test, learns she has relatives in England.  One of them, Oliver (Skinner) reaches out to Evie.  They meet and hit it off. Oliver informs Evie that her great-grandmother had a secret child with one of the family’s African-American servants.  It was quite the scandal at the time!  Oliver invites Evie to attend an up-coming wedding in England – all expenses paid.  Although hesitant at first, Evie accepts.

When Evie arrives at New Carfax Abbey, she meets Walter De Ville (Doherty) lord of the manor, and host of the wedding.  Evie is shocked at the opulence on display, but has to admit she’s attracted to De Ville.  It’s obvious he feels the same towards her.  But something isn’t right.  Everything feels a bit off.  Evie will find out too late why.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I liked the slow buildup to the reveal the wedding.  It’s not much of a spoiler to say that there are quite a few Dracula Easter eggs throughout the film – everything from character names to locations.  If you’re not a Dracula fan and miss them, it won’t take away from the film.  If you do recognize them, they should enhance your viewing.

Nathalie Emmanuel is best known for her role in Game of Thrones.  I first saw her in Furious 7 and thought she had star power then.  She’s excellent as Evie.  I look forward to her future projects. Thomas Doherty is well cast as De Ville.  I’d never see Doherty before.  He has charisma and at times reminded me of a young Sean Connery.  Perhaps he could be the next 007.

The Invitation begins with the feel of a love story, then morphs into psychological horror and ends as a pedal to the floor vampire flick.  I liked it better than most so your mileage may vary.  For me…

The Invitation earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Playing the Ponies” (1937) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Playing the Ponies (1937)

Director:  Charles Lamont

Screenplay:  Al Giebler, Elwood Ullman, Charlie Melson from a story by Irv Frisch, Will Harr

Stars: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Charles Dorety, William Irving and Sam Lufkin

Tagline: THEY’RE OFF…THEIR NUTS!

The Plot…

The boys think they’re taking advantage of a couple of chumps when they trade their diner for a racehorse named Thunderbolt.  Sadly, Thunderbolt isn’t the winner they were hoping for.  When Curly accidentally feeds Thunderbolt some chili pepperinos, the horse runs like the wind!  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Curly working in the kitchen is my favorite part of this one.

Playing the Ponies earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Emily the Criminal” (2022) starring Aubrey Plaza / Z-View

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Emily the Criminal (2022)

Director:  John Patton Ford

Screenplay:  John Patton Ford

Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Bernardo Badillo, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Jonathan Avigdori, Victor Manso and Roman Arabia

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Emily cannot catch a break.  She works for a food catering company and barely makes enough money to stay afloat.  Emily’s saddled with student debt for a degree she never completed.  An aggravated assault and a DUI conviction keep her from getting better paying jobs.  So when Emily gets the opportunity to make $200 for an hour’s work, she jumps at it.

The job is illegal.  Using a fake credit card to purchase a big ticket item will get her a $200 kickback.  Emily does the job and is good at it.  So she takes another riskier gig.  Before long Emily is into a relationship with Youcef (Rossi) as she learns more about this illegal business.  She learns too late that Youcef’s boss, Javier (Badillo) isn’t happy with Emily’s quick advancement or her relationship with his partner.  Javier has plans of his own that don’t bode well for Youcef or Emily…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

What an impressive debut for John Ford Patton who wrote and directed Emily the Criminal.   He was fortunate to get Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi to star.  They have chemistry.  The pair also make people who do unlikeable things likeable.  I wish that Emily didn’t create so many of her own problems.  The things that hold her back are all because of her bad decisions in the past.  Then she compounds them with an attitude that prevents her from even getting through interviews for better positions.

I look forward to John Ford Patton’s next feature.  He’s shown here that he knows how to write a crime film with a flawed (anti)hero.

Emily the Criminal earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Hold That Lion” (1947) starring The Three Stooges with a Cameo by Curly! / Z-View

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Hold That Lion (1947)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Curly Howard, Kenneth MacDonald, Emil Sitka, Dudley Dickerson, Heinie Conklin and Blackie Whiteford

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys are after a crooked lawyer who is on the run with their inheritance.  Add in a loose lion and what could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hold That Lion marks the only time that four Stooges appeared together on screen.  It was also the only time that the three Howard brothers appeared on screen together.  The scene takes place when the boys come upon a sleeping man in the train.  The sleeping man is Curly!

Curly had since retired due to the problems caused by his multiple strokes.  Curly came to visit the set.  Director, Jules White had no idea Curly was coming.  White spotted a man on set reading a newspaper.  The man slowly lowered the paper and waved.  The man was Curly!  White was inspired and asked Curly if he’d like a cameo.  The rest is history.

For me, the funniest scenes are when Larry, Moe and Shemp individually enter Icabod Slipp’s office to confront him. Slipp (MacDonald) acts as if he just entered the office and accuses each Stooge of being Slipp!  He then attacks them for stealing his money.

Hold That Lion earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Glass Onion” (2022) starring Daniel Craig / Z-View

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Glass Onion (2022)

Director:  Rian Johnson

Screenplay:  Rian Johnson

Stars: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Dallas Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Stephen Sondheim, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Serena Williams

Tagline: A Rian Johnson Whodunit.

The Plot…

Miles Bron (Norton), one of the world’s richest men, has invited five friends to his private island.  They will play a murder mystery game while staying in his mansion, the Glass Onion.  His five friends are Bron’s head scientist Lionel Toussaint (Odom), Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Hahn),  fashion designer Birdie Jay (Hudson), social media influencer Duke Cody (Bautista), and ousted Alpha co-founder Cassandra “Andi” Brand (Monáe).

Each guest received a special invitation that would be impossible to copy.  Surprisingly, the world famous detective, Benoit Blanc (Craig) also received an invitation. He has arrived with the other guests.  Bron has no idea how Blanc could have received an invite, but allows him to stay.

Before the weekend concludes there will be multiple murders and only a world class detective will be able to peel back the layers to solve them.  Luckily, Benoit Blanc is there…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Glass Onion is the second film to feature Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc.  Rion Johnson, creator, writer and director of both films, was upset that Netflix required Glass Onion to be titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.  In each film, Benoit Blanc solves a complicated murder with multiple suspects.  The set-up is time tested (Nero Wolfe, Charlie Chan, Columbo, etc.) and it is wonderful that Johnson continues the tradition.

Glass Onion features quirky characters with each part well cast. A special shout out to Janelle Monáe who gets the biggest opportunity to show her acting chops.  She shines.

Rion Johnson has created another winner.  I hope he has more Benoit Blanc whodunits in our future.

Glass Onion earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The Tooth Will Out” (1951) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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The Tooth Will Out (1951)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay:  Edward Bernds

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Vernon Dent, Dick Curtis and Emil Sitka

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys are on the run from an irate chef swinging a cleaver, when they end up in a dental school.  A few dollars and a few weeks later and the boys get (not earn) a diploma.  They head west to open a dental practice.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The scenes where Shemp pulls a tooth from a poor cowhand were actually filmed for Merry Mavericks, a prior Stooges short.  Merry Mavericks ran too long and Shemp’s scenes had to be cut.  Edward Bernds and producer Hugh McCollum felt the scenes were too funny to be discarded.  Since Merry Mavericks came in under budget they argued that with a little more money they could create a story around Shemp as a dentist.  Columbia agreed and The Tooth Will Out was born!

Shemp with Coke-bottle glasses, using a carpentry “how to” book as a dental guide is great. What really sells the bit is the legs of the patient!  They twist and squirm with each tug and pull on his molars.

The Tooth Will Out earns 4 of 5 stars.