MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER (1957) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released February 28, 1957
Featuring Moe, Larry and Joe

Columbia
16.83 min. (Short Subject)

Moe, Larry, and Joe discover that Joe's fiancee's ring has been stolen. The Stooges suspect it is Elmo, a muscular bully who works at their plant. The Stooges come face to face with him in the company gym, but when they try to make him give the ring back by physical force, the plan backfires and Moe and Larry are knocked senseless. But Joe's girl is tougher!

An unfilmed/deleted scene was discovered in Jules White's final shooting script, and was transcribed in The Three Stooges Journal # 117 (Spring 2006).

Avg. Rating:

[3.32/10]

Cast List

Moe Howard
Moe

Larry Fine
Larry

Joe Besser
Joe

Maxine Gates
Tiny Ray

Harriette Tarler
Mary Brown

Ruth Godfrey
May Trent

Matt Murphy
Elmo Drake

Harold Breen
Joe's stand-in

Charles Cross
Larry's stand-in

Johnny Kascier
Moe's stand-in

Unidentified MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Maxine Gates' stunt double

Production Crew

Jules White
Producer

Jules White
Director

Felix Adler
Story and Screenplay

Irving Lippman
Director of Photography

Harold White
Film Editor

Cary Odell
Art Director

Robert Priestley
Set Decoration

Mitchell Gamson
Assistant Director

Stooge Businesses (1)

Stooge Goofs (4)

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 1.50)

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2010-06-12 21:02:35 by benjilbum

This one is OK. For a Besser short anyway, I liked what Moe did to Joe with the torch. For their ages Moe and Larry get banged around rather seriously in the gym scene. One of the few good things about the Joe shorts, is that you still get to see Moe and Larry. Also, is it just me or does this one seem to go on forever?

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2010-06-01 09:40:27 by Stoogephilia

Me always enjoying the scene when Maxine Gates jumping bed and crushing Larry, then Larry say "A Earthquake" and the warehouse scene.In this short for some odd reason I'm saw both Moe & Joe imitating Curly. Moe imitated a brief Curly childish style when they came to their girl home and dog barking to Joe in warehouse scene.While, Joe imitated a frustate style in warehouse scene and then rolling in the floor.

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2010-05-17 19:10:23 by Shemp_Diesel

The script for this short seems decent enough & I often wonder how this material would've turned out if Curly or Shemp had been the 3rd stooge. I imagine under those circumstances this would've been a good film in the stooges canon. Unfortunately though, Besser is our 3rd stooge & the short just falls flat on its face. It's a marginal step up from Hoofs and Goofs, but that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for this film.

1 1/2 pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(2)

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2007-12-22 22:09:59 by FourthThird

Not very good at the beginning & end, but if I forget about the legacies of Curly & Shemp for a while (something that unfortunately would have been easy for a lot of people in 1957), the team of Howard, Fine & Besser seems to work pretty well here, especially in the middle. Joe seems to be searching for his Stooge persona here, especially during the "physical exam" part. It's like he's trying a little harder than usual; his performance here strikes me as somewhat more varied than later ones tended to be. It never hurts to put a funny hat on Joe's head, either.

"Let go of me! Let go of me! ... Ooh, she let go!"

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2001-04-17 14:26:00 by shemps#1
Edited 2006-03-23 16:22:38 by shemps#1

Sorry Mr. Field, but a step up from Hoofs and Goofs isn't saying much. While this one was original, Joe was still ever so annoying. Is it just me, or would Besser have made a better supporting character than a Stooge? At least in this one Joe didn't have a great looking girlfriend, like in Fifi Blows Her Top. The Angel on my right shoulder is saying "Now James, be nice and don't drop the Bomb", while the devil on my left is saying "What are you waiting for knucklehead, BOOM!" Since I almost always swing to the left....

Reviewer's Rating:

(0)

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2001-06-02 01:11:00 by Stooge
Edited 2003-09-12 00:45:00 by Stooge

A little better than HOOFS AND GOOFS since this at least has a few funny moments throughout, but still pretty bad. The main highlight is when Moe blowtorches Besser in the behind. I can't believe Besser did that scene when he also had a problem with something simple as taking a fake slap. I'll also admit that Besser got a rare laugh out of me when he said "Yeah, well, I'll be seein' ya..." and starts to walk away when Tiny tells him to pick up the dumbbell.[br][br]This was also the first Stooge short where Moe and Larry have their non-Stooge haircuts. I hate it when they do that because it's distracting and too out-of-character for the boys. It makes no sense why they wouldn't have their Stooge haircuts that they had in all the shorts before this. I guess Moe and Larry just didn't care anymore by this time.

Reviewer's Rating:

(5)

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2003-06-26 02:01:00 by justplainbill

I agree, Besser was no Shemp or Curly. Most Besser Shorts are notable with me for the Larry and Moe footage. You gotta admit, Larry starting a cartwheel off camera then completing it in front of the camera to simulate being helicoptered by Elmo makes this short worth the pain of watching.

Reviewer's Rating:

(1)

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2002-01-30 15:51:00 by BeatleMoe

This film is a step up from "Hoofs and Goofs" in my opinion. Probably because Felix Adler penned it. I found his penned films better than Jack Whites.Memorable Scene: Moe and Larry in the warehouse.Rating: 2 1/2 pokesZach Laas

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2002-01-29 03:45:00 by [Deleted Member]

Shemps#1 said, "Is it just me, or would Besser have made a better supporting character than a Stooge?"Man, did you ever nail the Besser problem--"ya crraazy!" Why couldn't Emil have been the third Stooge in the last years at Columbia? He was a lot more talented and a lot more dedicated to Stoogery than Joe B., that's for sure! Think of how much better those shorts would have been... Oh, well, the world is full of "what-ifs," and there's one of mine.

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2002-01-29 03:25:00 by Giff me dat fill-em!

To me, the most distracting thing in this episode is NOT Joe's performance, (which was kinda-sorta OK by me) but Moe's hair! He has it combed back, instead of his usual "chili bowl" hairstyle."I am a stow-away, and YOU are a stow-away."

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2002-01-01 17:26:00 by BJR

1.5 pokesOf the few Joe shorts shown on AMC, I'd say this is the second "best," though it's NOT good. The one short that is better than this with Joe is OIL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, a remarkably hilarious short for being one of the Besser era, and arguably a few steps up from the Curly version! But that's beside the point; this short had a few very good moments, but outside a few incidents that only last about three seconds, it's just not good. As usual, the real laughs here come from Moe and Larry, rather than anything from or invoked by Besser.The few great moments here include:- Moe slapping Larry around and whispering disgustedly, "Nice time for a nap. COME ON!" in the locker room- Moe and Larry's "physical examination" of Joe- Moe blowtorching Joe (I bet Moe wished he could have really done it!)- Tiny jumping on the bed with Larry underneath, and it breaks, crushing LarryLike I said, outside these few incidents, it's hard to even crack a smile. The whole routine in the gym was completely worthless, the ending was worthless, and a lot of the middle was no good because it just showed Joe trying to tie the boxes and clean up the eggs for minutes on end.I'd say you should give this one watch when it comes on AMC, but you're bound to find it pretty lame. Too bad more Joe shorts weren't like OIL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL...Edited by - BJR on 1/1/2002 5:28:16 PM

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2001-03-03 22:06:00 by [Deleted Member]

Mildly amusing. As for the different hairstyles for Moe and Larry, I read somewhere that this was Besser's idea. It said that he thought they should look more like gentleman. Don't know if that's true or not. In any case, Moe and Larry couldn't use those new hairstyles in the shorts that used stock footage of them. That's always an indicator of when stock footage was used in Besser films and when it wasn't.

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2001-01-02 02:34:00 by Mike Holme

The good thing about the Besser episodes were that most of them weren't remakes! In this one, Joe is a big wimp. He doesn't get hit often, even though he bites and hits Moe! Larry got punished way more often, and Moe didn't hit back once from Larry! At least this film has some enjoyability.

Re: MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER
Posted 2000-12-21 12:42:00 by Uncle Mortimer

This short stinks on ice! I only 'half-liked' a couple of Besser shorts. This is not one of them. Please Uncle Mortimer, send Shemp back!!!

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Working Title(s):	BUILDER UPPERS
Prod. No.:	4250
Shooting Days:	3 days From: 1956-06-27 To: 1956-06-29
Locations:	Columbia Stage 3

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