Category: Z-View

“Half Shot Shooters” (1936) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Half Shot Shooters (1936)

Director:  Jack White

Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Stanley Blystone and Vernon Dent

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

As the last battle of World War I rages, Sgt. MacGillicuddy (Blystone) finds the Stooges (Moe, Larry and Curly) sleeping.  When the war ends, the Sarge gives the boys a beating for being cowards.  After the Stooges are discharged they see Sgt. MacGillicuddy on the street.  They thank him and show the medals they received for being wounded in action!  Moe, Larry and Curly then give the Sarge a taste of his own medicine.

17 years later… The boys are tricked into re-enlisting!  Want to guess who their commanding Sargent will be?  Yep, good ole Sgt. MacGillicuddy.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Half Shot Shooters is one of the most violent of all the Stooges shorts.  Usually we get eye-pokes, punches, slaps and the like, but no real damage is shown.  In this one Moe gets a broken arm, the boys are made deaf by the Sargent and it ends with the Stooges being killed!  Of course, the violence is not graphic but at the time was considered too intense for kids.  Half Shot Shooters was actually banned in Holland!

Half Shot Shooters marks the first appearance of Vernon Dent.  Dent would go one to appear in 60 Stooges’ shorts!

Half Shot Shooters earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Cash and Carry” (1937) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Cash and Carry (1937)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay: Clyde Bruckman, Elwood Ullman from a story by Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Sonny Bupp

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Curly) return to their shack in the dump only to find a young boy inside doing his homework.  Moe tells the boy to leave.  The little fellow says he’s sorry and starts to pack his school work.  The Stooges see the boy is wearing a leg brace.  The boy’s older sister says, that they didn’t think anyone lived in the shack.  She’s saving her money to get her brother an operation to fix his leg.  They tell the girl and boy they can stay.

The Stooges then head out to raise $500 for the operation.  They buy a “treasure map” from a couple of shysters. The map leads the boys to a deserted house next to the US Treasury.  Curly finds an “X” marked on a wall… What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Cash and Carry is one of the most sentimental of all the Stooges’ shorts.  If a handicapped, polite little orphan who needs a leg surgery doesn’t tug your heart strings, you may be missing a ticker.  Having a cameo by President Roosevelt is a nice touch.  ; )

Cash and Carry earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The Great Diamond Robbery” (1954) starring Red Skelton / Z-View

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The Great Diamond Robbery (1954)

Director:  Robert Z. Leonard

Screenplay: László Vadnay, Martin Rackin, George Oppenheimer

Stars: Red Skelton, Cara Williams, James Whitmore, Kurt Kasznar, George Mathews, Harry Bellaver, Steven Geray and Larry J. Blake 

Tagline: A NEW Uproarious Role in the Career of the World’s Funniest Man

The Plot…

Ambrose C. Park (Skelton) as found on a park bench when he was a tiny baby.  No one ever came to claim him. Now Ambrose is a diamond cutter who dreams of having a family.  He’s searched for his family for years with no luck.

A shyster lawyer named Mr. Remlick (Whitmore) plans to swindle Ambrose out of a few thousand dollars. Remlock pulls together scam artists to play Ambrose’s mother, father and sister.  Their plan goes sideways when hard core thugs learn of a diamond worth two million dollars sitting in a safe where Ambrose works.  The thugs take over the scam and plan to kill anyone that gets in their way!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Great Diamond Robbery is the type of light-hearted, sweet film that isn’t made any more. Red Skeleton is perfect as the naive diamond-cutter who wants a family.  Cara Williams plays his love interest and this is the first film I’ve seen with her.  I want to see more.  The actors playing the scammers and gangsters are well cast.

The Great Diamond Robbery was Red Skeleton’s last film while under contract to MGM.  It contains one of Red’s more subdued performances and I enjoyed it.

The Great Diamond Robbery earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Cactus Makes Perfect” (1942) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman, Monte Collins

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Ernie Adams and Vernon Dent

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Curly) are brothers out to make their fortune.  They buy a bogus gold mine map and end up finding gold. Little do the Stooges know, two crooks are waiting to rob them!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Catus Makes Perfect is a fairly generic Stooges short.  Still any outing with Curly is worth a look!

Cactus Makes Perfect earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Spooks” (1953) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Spooks (1953)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Norma Randall, Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy

Tagline: Hollywood’s First Comedy Featurette in 3-D

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Shemp) are private detectives hired to find a kidnapped woman.  The trail leads to a spooky house where the woman is being held hostage by a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, and a gorilla…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

If Spooks reminds you of Dopey Dicks it should. Both contain the same elements: a spooky old mansion full of hidden passages, a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, a woman in distress and the Three Stooges. Spooks kicks it up a notch by adding a gorilla and a release in 3D!

Spooks earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Killer Sally” (2022) / Z-View

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Killer Sally (2022)

Director:  Nanette Burstein

Stars: Sally McNeil, John McNeil

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Sally Dempsey was a talented high school athlete. After graduation she became a marine.  While in the service Sally took up competitive bodybuilding.  That’s when she met Ray McNeil,  Ray was already a bodybuilder on his way to the top.  Sally and Ray were married after dating just a couple of months.

At first they had a great marriage.  Ray made it to the Mr. Olympia competition. Sally was becoming a well-known bodybuilder.  Somewhere along the way, the marriage turned sour.  Then on Valentine’s Day, 1995, Sally called 911 to say she had just killed her husband.

Killer Sally provides background on the case over the course of three episodes.  Was Sally a victim of spousal abuse or a cold-blooded killer?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Killer Sally is an interesting docuseries that could have been told in two episodes.  By stretching it out to three, some of the impact is lost.  The first episode provides background. Even after marriage Ray was a player and abusive.  He’s the bad guy.

In the second episode we learn that Sally was also abusive.  Even worse she had a criminal record for violence!  She had beat up her mailman,  attacked a female bodybuilder at a competition and got into a drunken confrontation with a bouncer (she wouldn’t stop dancing on a table) that led to police intervention.

Making Ray as the total villain in the first episode while holding back all the bad stuff on Sally until the second probably felt like a shocking reveal to the filmmakers.  It just felt a bit cheap to me.

There’s no question that Sally killed Ray.  She claims he was beating her up and she killed him in self-defense.  The facts show Ray was shot twice with a shotgun.  I won’t spoil the verdict, but will say I agreed with the outcome.

Killer Sally earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Dopey Dicks” (1950) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Dopey Dicks (1950)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre, Philip Van Zandt and Stanley Price

Tagline: Don’t lose YOUR head howling at the Stooges!

The Plot…

A woman rushes into a detective’s office where janitors (Moe, Larry and Shemp) are cleaning.  She mistakes the boys for detectives. She says she’s being followed.  Moe, Larry and Shemp head into the hall checking in all directions.  When they return to the office, the woman is gone but  a note has been left behind.

The trail leads to a spooky house where the woman is being held hostage by a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, and a headless robot…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Dopey Dicks contains all of the elements needed for a classic Stooges short.  We get a spooky old mansion full of hidden passages, a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, a woman in distress and the Three Stooges.  Dopey Dicks is one of the best!

Dopey Dicks earns 5 of 5 stars.

“If a Body Meets a Body” (1945) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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If a Body Meets a Body (1945)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Jack White from a story by Gilbert Pratt

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Theodore Lorch, Fred Kelsey and Al Thompson

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

When Curly is named as a benefactor, the boys show up at the late uncle’s spooky old mansion for a reading of the will.  Instead of a will reading, all of the guests are kept in isolation as Detective Clancy (Kelsey) attempts to determine who murdered Curly’s uncle!  While the boys are kept in a bedroom strange things begin to happen…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

This same plot was used in The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case. Fred Kelsey played the investigating cop in both!  This is the first short filmed after Curly suffered a stroke.  That’s why Larry and Moe get more individual gags than usual.

If a Body Meets a Body earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1948) / Z-View

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Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Director: Charles Barton  (Walter Lantz directed the animation sequences)

Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant

Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Jane Randolph, Frank Ferguson and Bobby Barber

Tagline: Jeepers! The creepers are after Bud and Lou!

The Plot…

Chick Young (Abbott) and Wilbur Gray (Costello) work at a shipping company.  They receive a call from Larry Talbot (Chaney). Crates scheduled for delivery to McDougal’s House of Horrors contain the real Dracula and Frankenstein monsters!  Unfortunately before Talbot gets them the message, he transforms into a werewolf.  Chick and Wilbur deliver the crates.

When Talbot shows up, he convinces Chick and Wilbur that Dracula and the Frankenstein monster are real! Meanwhile, Dracula plans to place Wilbur’s brain in the monster.  Soon we have Abbott & Costello, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman in a battle royal with the winners being the audience.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a perfect example of how horror and comedy can work together seamlessly.  We get Abbott and Costello’s verbal comedy and sight gags.  Costello dealing with a lady who wants her bag from a cart full of luggage is classic.  The Boys’ interactions with the monsters at the castle is priceless.  Having Lugosi recreate his signature role is a plus (and only the second time that Bela Lugosi played Dracula in movies).  Watch, I mean listen for a Vincent Price cameo at the end!  Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is my all-time favorite Abbott and Costello movie and one that I can re-watch anytime.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Micro-Phonies” (1945) starring The Three Stooges

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Micro-Phonies (1945)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Edward Bernds

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre, Symona Boniface, Chester Conklin and Theodore Lorch

Tagline: THE DAFFIEST TRIO THAT EVER HIT THE LAUGHWAVES!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are radio station janitors. They begin playing with the equipment and lip syncing to records.  As Curly pretends to sing an opera song, Larry and Moe dress him as a woman.  A rich lady enters and believes it is “Señorita Cucaracha” singing and hires her to sing at a dinner party that evening.  The Boys think it’s easy money and show up with Curly in drag and the hidden record.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Co-star Christine McIntyre does her actual singing!

Micro-Phonies earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Three Little Pigskins” (1934) starring The Three Stooges & Lucille Ball / Z-View

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Three Little Pigskins (1934)

Director:  Ray McCarey

Screenplay:  Felix Adler and Griffin Jay

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Lucille Ball 

Tagline: Watch ’em carry gloom offside – and goal you with glee!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are mistaken for three great football players when a gangster hires them for a team he’s bet big money on.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

There’s a lot of business before the Boys get to the football field.  Although the football antics are what this short is known for, there’s laughs as Larry, Curly and Moe flirt with the gangsters’ girls.  Lucy makes her only Three Stooges appearance and she’s a blonde!

Three Little Pigskins earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Smile” (2022) / Z-View

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Smile (2022)

Director:  Parker Finn

Screenplay: Parker Finn

Stars: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn and Nick Arapoglou

Tagline: Once you see it, it’s too late.

The Plot…

Dr. Rose Cotter (Bacon) is a dedicated. overworked hospital psychiatrist.  When Cotter gets an emergency call, she finds Laura Weaver (Stasey) hysterical.  Weaver believes she is being followed by an entity that will murder her.  Earlier in the week Laura saw her college professor kill himself. Laura says she is next to die.  Dr. Cotter listens as Laura says that the entity takes the form of smiling people.  Suddenly Laura begins to have a seizure.  As Dr. Cotter calls for medical assistance, Laura breaks a planter, grabs a shard of glass and with a smile on her face, slits her own throat!

After witnessing Laura’s suicide, Dr. Cotter begins to have hallucinations. She sees smiling people.  When Cotter confides to her boss, he says she is suffering from overwork and trauma of seeing a patient kill herself.

Dr. Cotter follows up on the professor Laura saw kill himself.  She learns the professor witnessed a suicide, and the person who committed suicide witnessed a suicide!  Dr. Cotter follows the chain and realizes she’s been cursed.  All of the people in the chain committed suicide within a week… except one.  Dr. Cotter has just days to learn why one person survived the curse…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Smile was written and directed by Parker Finn who expanded his award-winning short film, Laura Hasn’t Slept to feature length.  Paramount budgeted $17 million for Smile and planned on a streaming release.  When test screenings returned extremely favorable results, it was decided that Smile would get a theatrical release before streaming.  Smile went on to gross over $200 million and counting.

I love Smile‘s tagline: Once you see it, it’s too late.  It perfectly summarizes the dread that builds as Rose Cotter realizes she’s been cursed.  No one believes her.  Instead of support, her friends and family think she’s losing her mind.  Smile is well cast, well written and well directed.  Parker Finn combines psychological horror with a supernatural aspect and comes out a winner.

Smile earns 4 of 5 stars.

“God Forbid” (2022) / Z-View

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God Forbid (2022)

Director: Billy Corben

Stars: Giancarlo Granda, Jerry Falwell Jr., Becki Falwell, Michael Cohen, Tom Arnold, Ted Cruz, Mike Pence and Donald Trump.

Tagline: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty.

The Story…

When Giancarlo Granda was a twenty year old pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Hotel, a hot looking “older” woman hit on him.  They flirted. Later she invited him up to her room for sex… but the catch was her husband would watch.  At the time, Granda had no idea the woman was Becki Falwell.  Her husband was Jerry Falwell, Jr.! Falwell was president of university operations at Liberty University (started by his father) and one of the most powerful leaders of the Christian Right. Their hookup led to a seven year affair with Giancarlo being flown around the world, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and invited to events with leading political figures.

Ultimately the affair would become public and lead to the downfall of Jerry Falwell Jr,

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  A story where one of the most powerful members of the Christian Right is brought down because he liked to watch his wife have sex with a “pool boy” would be laughed at as too cliché.  Yet that is what happened.

How stupid do you have to be to do the things that Jerry Falwell and his wife did?  Very. I think the only thing that would measure higher than their stupidity was their ability to live as hypocrites.

God Forbid is interesting and well done.  At times It almost has a “Godfather” like feel with they way powerful people trade “favors” to get things done.

God Forbid earns 5 of 5 stars.

“X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes” (1963) starring Ray Milland / Z-View

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X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

Director: Roger Corman

Screenplay:  Robert Dillon, Ray Russell from a story by Ray Russell

Stars: Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt, Don Rickles and Dick Miller

Tagline: Suddenly he could see through clothes, flesh… and walls!

The Plot…

Dr. James Xavier (Milland) has invented drops that he believes will allow users to see different spectrums of light.  Despite the risk, Xavier tests them on himself… and they work.  Maybe too well.  At first he can see what an x-ray would show, but over time his vision increases to more than he can comprehend.  After accidentally killing a friend, Xavier goes on the run.  As Xavier’s grip on sanity fades the police close in.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is one of Roger Corman’s most popular movies.  Ray Milland is fine as a scientist so driven he’ll risk his life to test his invention.  Don Rickles plays it straight as a shady carny who sees money in exploiting Milland’s abilities.  Dick Miller, a Corman regular, shows up as a sideshow heckler.

I’d have liked X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes better if…

*,,,there had been a stronger focus on him losing his mind because he can’t comprehend what he sees

…and if there had been more consistency in his powers.  Some of the abilities he displayed had nothing to do with vision and ventured more into mind-reading.

Most folks like X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes more than I did; your mileage may vary.

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Assassin” (1986) starring Robert Conrad / Z-View

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Assassin (1986)

Director: Sandor Stern

Screenplay:  Sandor Stern

Stars: Robert Conrad, Karen Austin, Richard Young, Jonathan Banks, Robert Webber and Bob Hoy 

Tagline: Stanton Thought He Had Fought His Final Mission … Think Again!

The Plot…

Henry Stanton (Conrad) is a retired government agent, called back into service to kill a robot assassin!  The robot looks human, but is nearly indestructible.  Time is running out as the robot has a kill list and top government officials are on it!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Assassin has the feel of an 1980s tv movie made to cash in on the popularity of The Terminator.  Probably because it was just that.  I loved Robert Conrad in The Wild, Wild West.  Unfortunately Robert Conrad’s character here has none of the charm or action hero charisma of James West.  Jonathon Banks doesn’t get much to do, but it’s cool seeing him pre-Wiseguy and decades before Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul.

See the photo below of Robert Conrad?  He’s looking for something else to watch.  I should have as well.  Your mileage may vary.

Assassin earns 2 of 5 stars.