SHOT IN THE FRONTIER (1954) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released October 07, 1954
Featuring Moe, Larry and Shemp

Columbia
16 min. (Short Subject)

It is only after their nuptials that Moe, Larry & Shemp discover that the Noonan brothers had taken a liking to the wives during the Stooges' recent absence, and vowed to kill our heroes if the weddings occurred. After the Justice of the Peace leaves, the Stooges are stalked by the Noonan brothers and a slapstick gunfight showdown ensues.

A spoof of Stanley Kramer's Oscar winning HIGH NOON (1952), an independent production distributed by Columbia, which filmed on Columbia Ranch's western street in Burbank. The same western outdoor Ranch set was used for this short subject, appearing in prior Three Stooges western short comedies as well as 1965's feature THE OUTLAWS IS COMING.

Costar Diana Darrin ('Stella') was interviewed at the 2006 Fan Club Meeting in Fort Washington PA. Her interview appears in The Three Stooges Journal # 118 (Summer 2006). Earlier, Ms. Darrin was a guest of the 1993 Three Stooges Convention in Philadelphia, see Journal # 67 (Fall 1993). Ms. Darrin also participated in the 3 Stooges Costar Reunion on 2/17/07 in Burbank CA,

Avg. Rating:

[7.66/10]

Cast List

Larry Fine
Larry

Shemp Howard
Shemp

Moe Howard
Moe

Emmett Lynn
Lem

Diana Darrin
Stella

Vivian Mason
Ella

Ruth Godfrey
Bella

Emil Sitka
Justice of the Peace

Wanda Perry
Wedding witness

Harold Breen
Wedding witness

Kenneth MacDonald
Bill Noonan

Joe Palma
Jack Noonan

Mort Mills
Dick Noonan

Unidentified SHOT IN THE FRONTIER 1
Mandy

Production Crew

Jules White
Producer

Jules White
Director

Felix Adler
Story and Screenplay

Ray Cory
Director of Photography

Edwin Bryant
Film Editor

George Brooks
Art Director

Abner Singer
Assistant Director

Hans Sommer
Music

Mischa K. Bakaleinikoff
Music

Felix Adler
Lyrics

Stooge Businesses (3)

Stooge Goofs (2)

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 2.25)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2001-09-17 13:33:00 by Shemp_Diesel
Edited 2015-01-15 17:37:19 by Shemp_Diesel

The last western short. It has a lot of good moments--the old man singing on the banjo was a riot throughout the whole short. The fight w/ the Noonan brothers drags a bit but the ending was pretty funny. I love that scene when Moe breaks the old man's banjo & the old guy says "Why you dad blame, diddly...".

7 pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(7)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2010-06-29 15:40:16 by JWF

This started off as a decent short. The Stooges are really starting to show their age around this time. A lot of relatively funny gags in the first half, and the addition of music on the soundtrack made certainly made this a more interesting short.

Why was Kenneth McDonald reduced to such a small role? He is usually the leader of the bad guys (e.g. Punchy Cowpunchers), but he was the first one eliminated from the final fight.

The gun fighting was pretty much over at the 10 minute mark, and they really struggled to get another six minutes of footage. This short really dragged once the musical interlude was over.

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2002-03-29 07:13:00 by Stooge
Edited 2008-06-16 06:43:25 by Stooge

Yet another Western, but this is actually a little different from the other Westerns since not one scene in this short takes place in a bar. But this was still really weak, and suffered from the same reasons a lot of other shorts from the post-1952 Shemp period suffered from: weak pacing, lazy writing, and a lesser performance from poor Shemp who was getting old and ill by this time. And I also notice how the camera only focuses on Moe and Larry in some scenes, leaving Shemp out of the camera angle as if he isn't even there. The storyline starts to have some excitement added to it when the Noonans and the Stooges get into a shoot-out, but it goes on WAY too long and ends up taking the entire rest of the film. And the part with Larry's rifle having balloons/bubble gum/hot dogs/whatever in it instead of bullets was very predictable and that scene went nowhere. There were at least a few funny parts here and there, the old guy playing the guitar who looks like Shemp was pretty funny, and at least there was no reused footage which was rare for this period.Interesting Points: - Did anyone notice that Diana Darrin and Ruth Godfrey White seemed to ALWAYS play the Stooges wives in any post-1952 short where the boys were married? The third wife would always alternate actresses, but it was usually always a blond-haired actress.- One of Kenneth MacDonald's smaller roles. He was in this film as one of the Noonans, but you would hardly know it since he gets killed off fairly early into the shoot-out. - Moe once again channels in the spirit of Curly at the end when he slaps his face in anger and grunts in a high pitched voice. Very out-of-character for him.- One of the few Stooge shorts to have background music throughout the entire film. I think the only other ones are WOMAN HATERS and PUNCHY COWPUNCHERS.Funniest Moment: - The gravestones.

Reviewer's Rating:

(4)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2006-09-17 05:38:24 by [Deleted Member]

One of my favorites. I like the old man and his guitar and the gag about the "Old Panther".

Reviewer's Rating:

(10)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2003-06-23 18:33:00 by jaronson

Mediocre short. The gun fight was too long and the fist fight seemed to be forced. If this was a remake, it would be graded half a poke less than what I'm giving it.Grade: C+ (2 1/2 pokes)

Reviewer's Rating:

(6)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2002-06-20 09:42:00 by BJR
Edited 2003-06-16 18:56:00 by BJR

Though this isn't a great short, I actually was surprised to see a 1954 western (neither "1954" nor "western" usually mean good things for Stooge shorts, so combining them could've been a recipe for disaster) turn out as well as it did. One of the very last original Stooge shorts minus the hellish Besser era, there is a general slow pace and some boring gags, but there are some select good spots too. Like many other commenters here, I cracked up at the old man playing the guitar, especially Moe walking over towards the end and bashing over his head (similar to what he does to Larry with the drawer in BRIDELESS GROOM). Moe rolling around with Joe Palma while muttering "I'll moida ya... I'll tear ya tonsils out..." also was a clever idea. Seems like some violence that was usually limited to Larry and Curly/Shemp was dished out on supporting players in this short. Finally, the tombstones were a riot, especially the "Mama loved papa..." one.2-1/2 pokes[b]Grade:[/b] C[b]Rating:[/b] 5.5/10

Reviewer's Rating:

(6)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2002-03-28 08:02:00 by black banana

Just watched this on tape...I have to say it is probably the weakestShemp short with entirely new footage. There are two very funnythings in it though. The first is Larry drinking the Old Panther (whichhe refers to as Liquid Dynamite). The second is the scene with thetombstones; my favorite is the one that says "Beneath this monumentalstone lies 80 pounds of skin and bone".Two things about the Stooge shorts:1. Even in weaker shorts, there are at least a couple of funny things to make it worth viewing.2. No matter how many times I've seen a certain short, I usually see something I hadn't noticed before.Rating 1 3/4 pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(4)

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2002-02-05 21:21:00 by BeatleMoe

The last western film done by the Stooges until 1965 is a great flick to me. Background music setting the tone was a plus, even though that it was done in the great PUNCHY COWPUNCHERS. The gunfight between the Stooges and the Noonans was great, especially Moe and Noonan rolling about on the ground. One of the last original Shemp films.Memorable Scene: Moe's fight with Noonan.Rating: 3 1/2 starsBeatleMoe

Re: SHOT IN THE FRONTIER
Posted 2001-02-07 04:07:00 by Mike Holme

This episode is very good, despite the fact that very little slapstick goes on between the stooges, and some of the gags are old.

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Working Title(s):	LOW AFTERNOON
Title Origin:	Working title was a parody of HIGH NOON (1952 movie)
Prod. No.:	4216
Shooting Days:	3 days From: 1953-10-26 To: 1953-10-28

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