Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2001-10-03 14:42:00 by Shemp_Diesel
Edited 2014-09-18 10:39:51 by Shemp_Diesel
It's difficult to rate this one given the actual content & the circumstances surrounding it. This short dealing with the black eye on American history that was the "relocation camps" of many Japanese-American citizens make it tough to say that this is a good short. Granted, there are some funny bits sprinkled throughout the film--Curly's fandance being the big highlight.
But once the Japanese civilians enter this picture, things take a turn for the worse. Not terrible, but not very good either.
5 pokes
Reviewer's Rating:
(5)
Re: YOKE'S ON ME, THE
Posted 2008-12-28 09:57:14 by Lefty
Last night, following the Flyers' dismal (and first-ever) loss to Columbus, my wife and I watched The Yoke's On Me. It was the first time in at least 20 years since I've seen it (thanks to government/TV censorship), and the first time in over 35 years that I've seen it in its entirety (thanks to local TV "editing"). We both got some good laughs out of it, ignoring the obvious fact that the "Japanese" villains did not even look Japanese. "We're gonna have 'Poppa Gander' for dinner!" "We have an aw-stritch that lays hand-gren-eggs!"
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2001-01-11 15:53:00 by Uncle Mortimer
Edited 2006-03-25 08:57:23 by shemps#1
This is not a great film, but I also would like to see AMC play it. I like the JACKO-LANTERN/Japo-lantern scene;(Uh-oh, am I getting racist?)It's a visually memorable scene, although I don't understand what those japanese guys were trying to accomplish by putting those pumpkins on their heads and running around the farm.? One 'curious' thing too; after the previous farm owner drives away in the stooges car, he's stopped by two guys who tell him about the escaped japanese. He then tries to restart the car, but can't. In his disgust, it "sounds" like he calls the car a bastard. I don't know, listen for yourself (That is if you EVER get to see this short!)
RE: THE YOKE'S ON ME (1944)
Posted 2003-11-08 15:07:00 by jagman
I know, I know. I'm going to be dubbed "politically correct" for this one. It's not that I'm a fan of the way Japan behaved in WWII. If the three spies had escaped from a prison for enemy soldiers I wouldn't have minded. But of course that was impossible, since all such prisons were out in the Pacific islands.The three Japanese in this short escape from an internment camp. For those who don't remember, these camps were established for **American** citizens of Japanese descent, regardless of whether they supported Japan in the war or not. (As an indication of how politically motivated this move was, no such camps were established in Hawaii, where the Japanese-Americans had considerably more voting clout.) I think if any German film of the period portrayed an escapee from one of their own camps as an evil-minded dolt, the majority of today's viewers would turn away in disgust. The internment camps were not, of course, death camps; but they were pretty bad, and this attempt to justify them does not wear well.
Reviewer's Rating:
(5)
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2002-02-20 09:49:00 by black banana
Edited 2002-04-30 06:47:00 by black banana
This was the hardest stooge short for me to acquire as it was bannedon Chicago TV in the 1980's and also on WTBS many years ago.Local TV finally ran it during a Stooge Special and that wasthe first time i saw it! I have the vhs version now and i'm sureeventually it will be on dvd (eventually most of the curly andshemp shorts probably will be).Even though I don't like political correctness, I can see why there is a problem dealing with Japanese-Americans escaping from a relocation center. One has to remember that this was filmed while we were at war with Japan; it would be interesting to see what a stooge anti-taliban short would have looked like...About the short itself...just watched this, and it was actually much betterthan I remembered it. The opening scene with the Stooges parentsis kinda funny, as is the farm sequence. Moe is very crabby and quite funny throughout this short; he even calls Curly a nitwit (his favorite Shemp insult). Curly turns in a spirited performance, with his fan dance the highlight of the short. Moe's reaction to this dance: "Hey, Pin-Up Boy!".The reasons this film seems to be banned on TV are the use of the word"Jap" (done four times) and the line about "Some Japs escaped from therelocation center". To make the Japanese soldiers a more acceptabletarget for Stooge abuse, I would say the line should have read "Some Japanese SOLDIERS escaped from detention". This would have made it clear these were enemy soldiers and not Japanese-American citizens.My guess for the reason this wasn't done was that Japanese POW's werenot detained in America and therefore wouldn't be stealing pumpkins (!)outside the Stooges barn.Rating 2 3/4 pokesp.s. Even though there is a rough edit here, it sure sounds like the old man in the car says "b*st*rd" when trying to restart the engine!
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2002-04-29 18:15:00 by [Deleted Member]
Yay! I got this Columbia video for Chistmas and now can finally get around to commenting on the short! There's something about this film that struck me as not being like other Stooge shorts, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was just because of a lack of recognizeable supporting actors- but then again, lots of shorts have that.It's really a good short- not one of the best, but still good. The scenes with the boys and their parents never gets mentioned. I love this scene- especially when the boys sing their rendition of "Farmer in the Dell". Their harmony sounds different then usual, but still good.The rest of the short is good too, of course. I liked the reworking of a bird laying explosive eggs (See "Flat Foot Stooges"). Curly's fan dance was only lightly amusing to me. It's a classic example of one reason that I find Curly to be a little too silly in his shorts.So the Japanese guys escaped from relocation camps, eh? I remember concentration camps in history pretty well, but I'm a little hazy on relocation camps. Aren't they where the civillians were sent to protect them from the war? If this is the case, I can see why this short is banned. The writers and filmmakers had no right to portray these men as bad guys, and I'm also a little disappointed in the Stooges for agreeing to do the short. Also, why would anyone want to escape a place where they are placed for their protection? It just don't add up!!! These things slightly take away from my enjoyment of this short, but I still like it- and I will never be in support of the banning of this or any Stooge short.Larry: You know, fish is good brain food.Moe: You know, you should fish for a whale! (SLAP)
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2002-02-19 15:41:00 by [Deleted Member]
Uninspired, often boring effort. Saving grace is, of course, Curly, whose energy makes it worth watching. His ostrich-feather dance gets this 2 stars(I can't go any lower for a Curly film.)Darn, I can't think of a signature!
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2002-01-30 00:07:00 by jercel77
Remember folks, these aren't Japanese soldiers in this short, it's Japanese Americans that escaped relocation camps. That's why it is pretty much a banned short. Other than that it has it's funny moments. Jerry
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2001-10-03 01:11:00 by Mike Holme
After watching this again, I have a change of heart. I liked this one when I was younger and now I like it just as much. There are a lot of funny scenes and quotes. "You old bag, I'll give you the sack!"3 1/2 pokes Mike Holme
Re: THE YOKE'S ON ME
Posted 2001-02-23 04:37:00 by Mike Holme
A good short, our society today is so sensitive to jokes against any group, and especially to the Japanese being portrayed with Buck Teeth in this episode! Well guess what, all you politically correct people, too bad! The Japanese were nasty in WWII, so this is a more interesting short.