Spook Stooges

 

 (youtube)

SPOOKS!-1953-In this 3 Stooges (Moe, Larry & Shemp) short (originally shown in 3-D; one of two they made in '53) the trio are detectives trying to rescue a young woman Bea Bopper (Norma Randall) from the clutches of two mad scientists Dr. Jekyll (Phillip Van Zandt) and Mr. Hyde (Tom Kennedy) who want to put her brain into a gorilla (Steve Calvert). 

Naturally pies play a role in the story and a lot of things are thrust at the screen (a hypo, a bat, Larry's face, Moe's eye poking fingers, a knife, etc.). However, the strangest effect is the bat that looks like Shemp! (5 years before THE FLY!) It's pretty hilarious. 

The Stooges made all of their 190 (!) short films for Columbia Pictures from 1934-1959. This is said to be one of quickest made as the studio wanted to cash in on the 3-D fad. Jules White directed and/or produced the lion share of the trio's shorts. Screenwriter Felix Adler was an experienced gag man who also wrote for Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello.

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Curly Howard: Straight Man...????

 

 (themoviedatabase)

ROAST-BEEF AND MOVIES-1934-MGM made this Technicolor short feature with a comedy trio lead by Max Parkayacargus (Geo. Givot) with Jerry (Curly) Howard as his straight man! The third guy is Bobby Callahan. They show some film executives their movie (unused scenes from MGM). This is a disaster! One of only 3 movies directed by Sam Baerwitz.

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Pre-Super Man Reeves

CHAMPAGNE FOR TWO-1947-A nightclub owner (George Reeves) and his dancing singer wife (Lita Baron) plan a second honeymoon in Havana but a charwoman (Ida Moore) informs him that she heard two men talking about robbing his club. He invites the woman and her husband (Griff Barnett) to the club so she can identify the men while the police stake out the joint. It turns out to be a false alarm. 

This 19-minute color short has a distinct Latino beat. Director Mel Epstein was mostly an assistant director and later a producer. Lead actress Lita Baron was in the first JUNGLE JIM movie the next year (also with George Reeves who began playing Superman in the 1951 movie SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE-MEN).

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Stan & Ollie

 

 (imdb)

CHICKENS COME HOME-1931-The owner of a fertilizer company Mr. Hardy (Oliver Hardy) sees his political career jeopardized by an old flame (uncredited Mae Busch). He sends his general manager, Mr. Laurel (Stan Laurel) to stall while he has a dinner engagement with his wife (uncredited Thelma Todd). Stan tries to stop the woman from going to Hardy's house. An old biddy tells Stan's wife (Norma Drew) he's fooling around. Mrs. Laurel goes after him with an axe. James Finlayson plays Hardy's butler. Pretty hysterical Laurel & Hardy short.

Director James W. Horne had worked with the team before and would direct them again in THE BOHEMINAN GIRL and WAY OUT WEST. Later he directed several serials.

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Salt Water Shemp

 

 (ebay)

SALTWATER TAFFY-1933-Elmer Waggonbottom (Jack Haley) and Wibur the kleptomaniac (Shemp Howard) are 2 near-do wells who accidentally join the navy and get in trouble with the CP0 (Lionel Stander). It's fairly a amusing and only about 20 minutes long. A rifle routine could have influenced the famous Abbott & Costello routine but both were probably taken from vaudeville. Director Ray McCarey was the brother of director Leo McCarey, who directed The Marx Brothers in DUCK SOUP the same year.

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Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy

 

ANOTHER FINE MESS-1930-In this Hal Roach short Laurel and Hardy escape a policeman by hiding in a mansion owned by Lord Buckshot (perennial L & H fall guy James Finlayson) who leaves on a hunting trip in South Africa. His maid and butler also leave. When Lord Plumtree (Charles K. Gerrald) and his wife (Thelma Todd) arrive to rent the place Ollie impersonates Buckshot and Stan becomes the maid. After several mishaps the real Buckshot returns unexpectedly and the duo wind up dressed in a lion's costume riding a two seat bicycle being shot at by the police! 

MESS was directed by James Parrot (brother of Charley Chase) and the titles are read by twin sisters (The Crane sisters) instead of written out. It's a remake of a once thought to be lost L & H silent DUCK SOUP (the first film with them as an “official” team) based on a play written by Stan's father.

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Funny Axis?

NAZTY NUISANCE-1943-Bobby Watson returns as Hitler in this WW2 comedy sequel to THE DEVIL WITH HITLER. The Fuhrer visits a mythical middle eastern nation to sign a peace agreement. Joe Devlin is Mussolini and Johnny Arthur is Sukiyuki, the Japanese counterpart. Frank Faylen is a shipwrecked seaman who poses as a local island tribe's magician. There's a lot of politically incorrect and outright racist humor and slapstick gags involving magic and an orangutan. Jean Porter plays a native girl who helps Faylen out. Henry Victor (WHITE ZOMBIE) is one of Hitler's emissaries. The stupid trio wind up on a German sub (which Americans hijacked) trapped at the bottom of the ocean. The axis partners get shot out head first into a sand dune at the end. Ian Keith and Emory Parnell are also in it.

Though it was directed by Glenn Tryon who also did THE DEVIL WITH HITLER this isn't nearly as good. Star Watson played Hitler in at least 10 features!

Fatty Arbuckle

LOVE-1919-Director/star Fatty Arbuckle tries to win his girlfriend (Mabel Normand) back after her father plans to marry her off to some stupid skinny guy (Al St. John; Arbuckle's real life nephew). Lots of characters get kicked in the ass in this very enjoyable violent slapstick silent comedy short. Fatty even dresses as an old woman and then tricks the pastor into marrying him and his beloved. It's from a 4 DVD boxed set called THE FORGOTTEN FILMS OF ROSCOE "FATTY" ARBUCKLE from Laughsmith Entertainment. Only 2 years later Arbuckle's career would be ended by scandal.

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