“Triple Crossed” (1959) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Triple Crossed (1959)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Warren Wilson

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Diana Darrin and Shemp Howard.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Larry is having an affair with Moe’s wife and trying to move in on Joe’s girl.  When Moe catches on that his wife is cheating, Larry sets up Joe to be the fall guy.  It all comes to a head when Larry, Moe and Joe as well as the girls end up in the same room.

Let the hijinks begin.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Triple Crossed is a remake of the Stooges 1952 short, He Cooked His Goose.  Triple Crossed not only uses footage from that short, but sharp eyes and eyes will see/hear Shemp in the remake.  You can also notice the word “Joe” dubbed in when characters are saying “Shemp” in the reused footage.

Triple Crossed (1959) earns 3 of 5 stars.

RIP: Tom Smothers

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Tom Smothers, born Thomas Bolyn Smothers III, died yesterday from cancer.  Mr. Smothers was 86.

In high school Tom Smothers was a state champion gymnast in the parallel bars.  While attending San José State University, Mr. Smothers competed in gymnastics and the pole vault with the track and field team.

Tom and his younger brother, Dick, wanted to be folk musicians.  Tom thought that while he wasn’t good enough to be a professional musician, he was funny enough to be a comedian.  So the two began adding comedy bits to their performances.  Their act caught on.  CBS gave them their first television show, The Smothers Brothers Show.  It lasted one season.

Tom Smothers negotiated creative control for their next CBS series, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.  By this point Tom had become politically active.  He and Dick began to push the limits with references to recreational drugs, sex, religion and the Viet Nam war.  The show’s war with the CBS censors generated a lot of publicity and the show ended up being cancelled.

Tom Smothers continued to appear with his brother for live performances.  Tom Smothers also continued to be a political activist.  He attended the famous Monterey Pop Festival where he introduced several of the acts.  He became friends with John Lennon and actually played acoustic guitar on Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” record.

For the rest of his career Tom Smothers performed live, on television, feature films and commercials.

Some of Tom Smothers’ television appearances include: The Danny Thomas Show; Burke’s Law; My Brother the Angel (32 episodes); The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (73 episodes); Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (3 episodes); Love American Style; Fitz & Bones (4 episodes); Fantasy Island; The Love Boat (2 episodes); The Smothers Brothers Show (13 episodes); Hotel; Tales of the Unexpected (2 episodes); Dream On; Suddenly Susan (3 episodes); Norm (2 episodes) and The Simpsons.

Some of Tom Smothers’ feature film appearances include: Get to Know Your Rabbit; Silver Bears and Serial.

I was a kid when The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was getting all of the heat over trouble with the censors.  It just made me want to watch it more.  I always enjoyed seeing Tom and Dick Smothers perform.  They never failed to give me  smile.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tom Smothers’ family, friends and fans.

MAGIC CITY BLUES by Bobby Mathews

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MAGIC CITY BLUES by Bobby Mathews just came onto my radar.  It checks all the right boxes for me.  Maybe it will for you as well…

When low-level legbreaker Kincaid takes on a new assignment, he discovers it’s not really a step up — it’s a setup. The deal was supposed to be this: Protect Abby Doyle, the daughter of Birmingham, Alabama’s most dangerous crime lord. But when Abby’s fiancé is found murdered, Kincaid is forced to team up with BPD detective Laura D’Agostino to find the killer and protect Abby at all costs … even from her own father.

The killer’s trail winds through Birmingham — the city streets, the back alleys, the world-class food scene and the hole-in-the-wall clubs and bars — and the white-flight suburbs that surround the city, as Kincaid and D’Agostino uncover secrets that everyone would prefer left alone. But Kincaid doesn’t care about secrets. He’s been hired to do a job, and he’ll see it through or die trying.

Thrown together by circumstance, Kincaid and D’Agostino explore their unexpected feelings for one another while chasing down the killer and untangling a land swindle in North Birmingham that’s been in the making for more than a decade. But their relationship may not survive the explosive ending that sees Kincaid stand alone against the toughest crime lord the city has ever known.

If this sounds like you’re jam, you know what to do.

“Oil’s Well That Ends Well” (1958) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Oil’s Well That Ends Well (1958)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys receive a letter from their dad saying that he needs surgery.  Dad suggests that our guys go to land that he owns and search for uranium.  So our boys do just that.  They find oil!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

While Oil’s Well That Ends Well reuses some footage from Oily to Bed Oily to Rise, the 1939 Stooges short, it is in service to a new story.  The footage used shows Curly atop the spout when the boys strike oil. Oil’s Well That Ends Well is also the only Stooges short that has no supporting actors.  It’s just Larry, Moe and Joe from start to finish.

Oil’s Well That Ends Well (1958) earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Frasier” – Season 1 (2023) starring Kelsey Grammer / Z-View

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Frasier – Season 1 (2023)

Based on: Frasier by David Angell & Peter Casey & David Lee; Frasier Crane by Glen Charles & Les Charles; developed by Chris Harris, Joe Cristalli

Director:  James Burrows (Eps.1 – 2); Kelly Park (Ep. 3; 6); Kelsey Grammer (Eps. 4; 7 – 8; 10); Phill Lewis (Ep. 5);

Teleplay by: Joe Cristalli & Chris Harris (Ep. 1); Stephen Lloyd (Ep. 2); Lauren Houseman (Ep. 3); Bob Daily (Ep. 4); Farhan Arshad (Ep. 5); Joe Cristalli (Ep. 6); Sasha Stroman (Ep. 7); Miles Woods (Ep. 8); Robb Chavis (Ep. 9); Janene Lin & Jenna Martin & Naima Pearce (Ep. 10)

Starring:  Kelsey Grammer, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Toks Olagundoye, Jess Salgueiro, Anders Keith, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Jimmy Dunn, Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin.

Tagline: None.

The Plot: 

Frasier Crane, a Harvard educated, wealthy and famous television psychologist moves back to Boston after the death of his father.  Frasier hopes to rebuild a relationship with his grown son, Freddy.  Freddy is now a firefighter, having dropped out of Harvard.  Frasier buys the apartment building where Freddy lives, moves in and returns to Harvard as a Professor.

Let the good times roll

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

The season starts off a bit shaky but really hits stride with episode 6 which reaches the high bar set by the original series.

Many scenes take place in a bar called Mahoney’s.  This is a tribute to the late John Mahoney who played Frasier’s father in the original series.  It’s interesting to note that Kelsey Grammer is older than John Mahoney was when he played Frasier’s dad.

Frasier – Season 1 (2023)

“Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire” (2023) directed by Zack Snyder, starring Sofia Boutella / Z-View

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Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire (2023)

Director:  Zack Snyder

Screenplay:  Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, Shay Hatten

Stars: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Bae Doona, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Staz Nair, Stuart Martin, Alfonso Herrera, Cary Elwes, Rhian Rees, Jena Malone and Anthony Hopkins.

Tagline: War comes to every world.

The Plot…

A peaceful farming village is informed by Admiral Atticus Noble (Skrein) that he will return with his warship to collect all of their crops once the harvest is complete.  When the village leader complains that his people will starve without crops, Noble kills him in cold blood. Admiral Noble posts soldiers in the village and leaves in his warship.

Kora (Boutella) informs the villagers that once the crops have been collected, Noble will kill them all.  She believes that the villagers only chance is to recruit soldiers of fortune to teach them to fight.  Seeing no other alternative, they agree.  Kora sets out to find warriors willing to go to battle against the empire in a suicide mission.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

It’s a well known fact that Zack Snyder at one point pitched this as a Star Wars story.  Some folks are complaining Rebel Moon is too derivative.  Let’s take that head on.  George Lucas was influenced by westerns, movie serials, the Vietnam War, Flash Gordon and more to create Star Wars.  Zack Snyder has been very open that he wanted to create a movie influenced by Star Wars and The Seven Samurai.  I also felt nods to Riddick, Gladiator, the Third Reich, Tarzan, Conan, westerns, Vikings and more.  Whether you like or dislike these homages is up to you.

If you’re familiar with Snyder’s directing style, you know what to expect.  I’m a fan.

Rebel Moon: Part One – Child of Fire has an excellent cast.  Each character gets a brief spotlight as they are introduced or brought on to the team.  Standouts include Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein and Ray Fisher.

The pacing isn’t what you’d normally expect.  Time is taken to set up the village dilemma. Each character gets an action scene as they are brought onto the team.  This takes most of the film.  Then there is a twist. What would normally be an extended sequence, the recovery and ultimate battle gets wrapped up fairly quickly.  BUT, keep in mind this is just part one.  Also, there is a second plot twist (that I don’t think works as well).

I enjoyed Rebel Moon: Part One – Child of Fire.  It’s not my favorite Zack Snyder film, but I didn’t expect it to be. I’m looking forward to his director’s cut and then Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver.  (And of course, I’d be remiss not to say we need more Army of the Dead!)

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire (2023) earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Flying Saucer Daffy” (1958) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Flying Saucer Daffy (1958)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Jack White

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Emil Sitka, Gail Bonney and Diana Darrin.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Joe lives with his Aunt and cousins, Larry and Moe.  They treat Joe terribly.  When Joe accidentally gets a photo of a flying saucer and wins $10,000 things change… for the worse.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Flying Saucer Daffy was Joe Besser’s favorite Stooge short.  It is also the last Stooges short to be filmed.  Since the studio didn’t release them in order, it wasn’t the last to be shown in theaters. Sappy Bull Fighters is the answer to that trivia question.

Moe was actually older than the actress who played his mother.

A snippet of footage from Earth vs the Flying Saucers is used in this one.

Flying Saucer Daffy (1958) earns 3 of 5 stars.

RIP: Mike Nussbaum

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Mike Nussbaum died yesterday just six days short of his 100th birthday.  Mr. Nussbaum was a stage, television and feature film actor.

After serving in World War II, Mike Nussbaum went into the extermination business with his brother-in-law.  Mr. Nussbaum became involved in community theater in the 1950s.  He met and became friends with David Mamet in the 1960s and appeared in many of Mamet’s plays both on and off Broadway.  Mike Nussbaum also begin to act in television commercials.  In 1969, Mr. Nussbaum got his first feature film role in The Monitors.  For the rest of his career, Mike Nussbaum acted on stage, television and in feature films, as well as sometimes directing theater productions.

Some of Mike Nussbaum’s television appearances include: Vital Signs; Spenser for Hire; The Equalizer; 227; L.A. Law; Separate But Equal (2 episodes); Brooklyn Bridge (2 episodes); Frasier; The Commish (3 episodes); and The X-Files.

Some of Mike Nussbaum’s feature film appearances include: The Monitors; T.R. Baskin; Harry and Tonto; House of Games; Fatal Attraction; Things Change; Field of Dreams; Desperate Hours; Gladiator (92) and Men in Black.

It’s interesting that Mike Nussbaum wasn’t hit with the acting bug until he was in his thirties.  Once bitten, he never looked back, acting well into his 90s.  I wish everyone could discover their passion and pursue it like Mr. Nussbaum.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike Nussbaum’s family, friends and fans.

Pies and Guys (1958) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Pies and Guys (1958)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Emil Sitka and Milton Frome.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys’ sister, Birdie, has died and been reincarnated as a horse.  Birdie lives with the boys. At breakfast one morning, our guys learn that Birdie’s mate, Schnapps is a famous circus horse.  They also discover that Schnapps was injured and is scheduled to be put down.

It is up to our guys (and Birdie) to save Schnapps.  What could go wrong.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Pies and Guys is a remake of the Stooges’ 1947 short, Half-Wits Holiday which was a remake of their 1935 short Hoi Polloi. Pies and Guys used stock footage, so some of those pies had been around for a while.  ; )

Pies and Guys (1958) earns 3 of 5 stars.

FAREWELL, AMETHYSTINE by Walter Mosley!

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Any time a new Walter Mosley novel is announced, it is cause for celebration.  If it is an Easy Rawlins tale, the party goes to the next level.  Get ready to go to the next level.  FAREWELL, AMETHYSTINE drops June 4, 2024.  Here’s the synopsis…

Easy Rawlins’ latest client sends him down a warren of memory and nostalgia, blinding him to reason and risk, from “master of the genre,” (Washington Post) Walter Mosley.

January 1970 finds Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, LA’s premier Black detective, at 50 years of age despite all expectations. He has a loving family, a beautiful home, and a thriving investigation agency. All is right with the world… and then Amethystine Stoller, his own personal Helen of Troy, arrives. Her ex-husband is missing. A simple enough case. But even as Easy takes his first step in the investigation he trips. He falls into the memory of things past. Little things, like loss, love, a world war, and a hunger that has eaten at him since he was a Black boy on his own on the streets of Fifth Ward, Houston, Texas.

The missing ex, a young white man named Curt Fields, is found dead. Easy’s only real friend in the LAPD, Melvin Suggs, has gone into hiding rather than allow his femme fatale wife to go to the gas chamber. And that’s only the beginning.

Easy finds himself pressed into a reckoning. All of his success cannot succor his heart. The 1970’s have ushered in new expectations of men and women, Black and White, and Easy has to make a choice that will almost certainly hasten a permanent descent, one that might sunder his soul.

Deal me in.

“Horsing Around” (1957) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Horsing Around (1957)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser  and Emil Sitka.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys’ sister, Birdie, has died and been reincarnated as a horse.  Birdie lives with the boys. At breakfast one morning, our guys learn that Birdie’s mate, Schnapps is a famous circus horse.  They also discover that Schnapps was injured and is scheduled to be put down.

It is up to our guys (and Birdie) to save Schnapps.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Horsing Around is a sequel to Hoofs and Goofs released earlier in the year.  The weird part (well, if there is a weird part when it comes to The Three Stooges) is that Hoofs and Goofs was supposed to be a dream.

Horsing Around (1957) earns 2 of 5 stars.