‘Three Stooges’ still making us chuckle
I’ve been a fan of “The Three Stooges” since I was 7. They’ve made a lot of people laugh, especially in entries from the first decade of their 25-year run of shorts (some late-period ones were intolerably bad) at Columbia Pictures, at the end of which, their catalogue made the jump to Saturday morning television, and is currently a mainstay at AMC, IFC and MeTV.
So, for naysayers (whom I’d like to convert) and devotees, here are some favorite Three Stooges shorts.
• “MEN IN BLACK” (1934):
Moe, Larry and Curly are first-year doctors who “graduated with the highest temperatures in our class.” The hospital loudspeaker system is constantly calling for “Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard,” and they end up operating on the head hospital administrator ... against his will.
• “THREE LITTLE PIGSKINS” (1934): The blonde, Pig Latin-speaking woman is Lucille Ball. The outof-work, spare-changing
Stooges are mistaken for college football players and are “recruited” by a gangster who wants them to take part in a private game with no one in the stands (a little eerie when looking at today’s sports headlines). Some great scenes of people falling down a dumbwaiter shaft.
• “HORSES’ COLLARS”
(1935): Because his father “was a rat,” every time Curly sees a mouse he goes nuts, fists a-flailing, which is of great help when bad guys are after them in a frontier town, where they’re trying to retrieve an IOU from the nasty Double Deal Decker. They sing some very nice harmony in a rendition of “You’ll Never Know Just What Tears Are.”
• “RESTLESS KNIGHTS” (1935): Character actor Walter Brennan, playing their father, gives them their first onscreen triple slap, just before they’re made royal guards to the queen (Geneva Mitchell). She, of course, is kidnapped, shortly after Moe and
Curly have a wrestling match, and soon after, go to her rescue.