“Beer Barrel Polecats” (1946) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

Beer Barrel Polecats (1946)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Gilbert Pratt, Felix Adler, Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Robert B. Williams, Vernon Dent, Bruce Bennett, Al Thompson and Blackie Whiteford

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys (Larry, Curly and Moe) can’t find a beer anywhere.  Their solution?  Become bootleggers.  Making the beer shouldn’t be a problem.  But it is.  Selling the beer to a cop, an even bigger one.  Life in prison is never easy.  Especially if you’re a Stooge.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Beer Barrel Polecats was first short filmed after Curly had suffered a stroke.  Curly looks much thinner than usual.  In fact he’s not much larger than Moe or Larry.  The stroke also affected Curly’s endurance and performance.  Because of this, director Jules White used footage from In the Sweet Pie and Pie (1941) and So Long Mr. Chumps (1941) to pad the production.  In those scenes Curly is noticeably heavier with more expressions and body language.

Beer Barrel Polecats earns 4 of 5 stars.