THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS (1946) -- ThreeStooges.net

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Released April 25, 1946
Featuring Moe, Larry and Curly

Columbia
17.2 min. (Short Subject)

Set in the Western town of Dead Man's Gulch, The Stooges learn the last 6 sheriffs were killed by the villainous Badlands Blackie. He has kidnapped the father of a woman named Nell and Blackie threatens to kill her father unless Nell marries him. With Curly as the new sheriff, and Moe & Larry as his deputies, how can Blackie possibly succeed?

Avg. Rating:

[5.72/10]

Cast List

Jerry Howard
Curly

Moe Howard
Moe

Larry Fine
Larry

Slim Gaut
Sign painter

Hank Bell
Bushy-mustached town elder

Steve Clark
Town elder

George Morrell
Town elder

Christine McIntyre
Nell

Dick Curtis
Badlands Blackie

Ethan Laidlaw
Trigger

Blackie Whiteford
Quirt

Victor Travers
A. P. Blake, Justice of the Peace

Si Jenks
Jud, 2nd Justice of the Peace

Joe Garcio
Bartender

Jack Evans
Barfly

Elmo Lincoln
Nell's father

Charles Cross
Moe's stunt double

Al Rosen
Curly's stunt double

Teddy Mangean
Larry's stunt double

Unidentified THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS 1
Young boy

Unidentified THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS 2
Barflys

Unidentified THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS 3
Saloon girls

Production Crew

Hugh McCollum
Producer

Edward Bernds
Director

Jack White
Story and Screenplay

George F. Kelley
Director of Photography

Henry Batista
Film Editor

Charles Clague
Art Director

Stooge Businesses (0)

Stooge Goofs (8)

Stooge Mayhem (Avg. 1.00)

Re: THE THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2014-11-07 06:42:51 by FourthThird

Based on the other reviews this seems like an underrated effort. Curly seems quite high-energy for this being a "sick period" short. His line about "an obstetrician" made me laugh harder than any other Stooge thing in recent memory. (I don't laugh out loud much.) The only thing that really bothered me about the short was that it seemed like the boys had a number of chances to take care of Blackie that they just ran away from for no apparent reason (except maybe blind cowardice).

Reviewer's Rating:

(0)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS, THE
Posted 2010-05-12 02:42:15 by Shemp_Diesel
Edited 2014-10-08 18:26:06 by Shemp_Diesel

A few funny moments in this western--particularly Curly posing as the justice of the peace (Do you take this horse collar to be your lawfully wedded harness). But as a whole, there are just too many gags that seem to go nowhere or fizzle out, like Moe's special cannon gagdet or the ending with the dynamite. Not the worst from this time period--I would give that "honor" to A Bird in The Head or Beer Barrel Polecats--but pretty bland nonetheless....

4 pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(4)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS, THE
Posted 2007-11-07 10:49:47 by locoboymakesgood
Edited 2007-11-07 10:52:35 by locoboymakesgood

This short always gets a lot of flack in the Stooge Community, and I don't see why. I'm not a huge fan of the later Curly's as much as the next guy, but this one always has me in stitches. The Coney Island Curly bit is great, and when Curly attempts to marry Blackie and Nell at the end of the short is one of the greatest lines in all of Stooges history! He has the Bible out but can't see what he's reading...Curly: Do you take this horse collar as your lawfully wedded harness?Blackie: WHAT?!I always laugh so hard at that scene. The plot is decent, Curly acts really well for being so ill, and the episode is full of great one-liners. One of my all-time favorite Curly's.4 Pokes

Reviewer's Rating:

(10)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-02-10 23:55:00 by Stooge
Edited 2003-06-23 03:49:00 by Stooge

An pretty mediocre short. I don't think this episode had much potential anyway, since I can't stand the western shorts, but a healthier Curly could have made it at least a little worth watching. Like in A BIRD IN THE HEAD, he mumbles through several lines and makes it hard to understand what he's saying.Some potentially funny scenes like the ballon/cracker gag and the crowbar scene (which was basically a shortened version of the far superior crowbar scenes in CACTUS MAKES PERFECT and HIGHER THAN A KITE) come out more awkward and fall flat.Dick Curtis as Blackie is easily the best thing about this. This is probably his most memorable role in a Stooge short, and his various wild double-takes are hilarious (like when he sees the suddenly-rising sun and when he sees Curly's wig being pulled off).The ending was weak and looked like they came up with it in the last minute. It would've been funnier if the Stooges were at least shown in tattered clothing and staggering around dazedly after the explosion. Instead, they just showed them contiuing to run after the explosion, which wasn't funny. They've done much funnier "explosion endings" before (TERMITES OF 1938, CACTUS MAKES PERFECT...).

Reviewer's Rating:

(6)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2002-10-29 13:11:00 by FineBari3

I just dont get the western episodes; I dont enjoy any the Boys made all that much. I thought 'Coney Island Curly' was a funny line, and liked when he went nuts with the dog barking when he was in the hay. Not bad, but not great either.

Reviewer's Rating:

(8)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2002-01-15 18:58:00 by BJR

A truly horrible Curly short. And I mean BAD, folks. I didn't crack a smile during the entire film; heck, even the average Besser short makes me laugh at least once. This is awful. Curly is weak, as he is in many of the mid-40s shorts, but that's only the beginning. Moe is very reserved, as opposed to most shorts, where we find him eyepoking the others and nastily snapping, "Get outta here!" Larry doesn't improve things either. I won't go into details because there isn't anything funny about this; this is completely worthless!I really get the feeling that many fans accept the rule that Curly=great, Shemp=good, and Joe=worthless, and let that "rule" greatly influence their ratings. 2.3 pokes?? Come on, people! How is it that very good shorts like OIL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL and COMMOTION ON THE OCEAN are rated only slightly higher than this pile on nonsense? Oh yeah... they don't star CURLY and they aren't from the boys' "prime period" in the late 30s/early 40s, and worse, one of them features Joe! Focus on the slapstick and the laughs, not "who's the third stooge" and "what year" and "how original."Not worth bothering to watch... you won't like it.Rating: 1/10

Reviewer's Rating:

(1)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-09-24 08:30:00 by Genius In the Lamp

On a whole, this one is a disappointment. Curly's health obviously affected his performance, Moe and Larry seemed to pull some of their punches, and the ending was a bit rocky. On the plus side, Christine McIntyre is suitably melodramatic (and she looks great, too), and Dick Curtis nearly upstages the boys in a performance that is equal parts menacing and goofy.

Reviewer's Rating:

(5)

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-09-01 01:09:00 by [Deleted Member]

Good film. I agree also that "Blackie" was one of Curtis' best Stooge short characters. His character in "The Tooth Will Out" was just like Blackie in every way."Troubledoers" is one of the shorts with Christine McIntyre where she's the most attractive (In my opinion), except that she doesn't smile until the end. Curly's dog-like barking scene is a perfect example of why I think he's too silly at times. I actually wished he would've only barked a few times instead of barking until the bad guy finds him. Also, it doesn't make sense to me that Curly got to be the sherriff. After all, Moe was the boss Stooge and still acted like it as a deputy.You gotta love seeing the crowbar on Curly's nose! That whole scene was one of the funniest in the short. All in all, a good short. Some good visual effects, such as the sun going down at top speed.ISLIPP- you SLAPP. ©2001Edited by - ISLIPP on 9/2/01 2:01:43 AM

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-08-30 20:27:00 by Ingagy

We haven't mentioned much about Dick Curtis in this discussion... the notes on the box containing the Columbia VHS release of the short say that Curtis' portrayal of Blackie could well be his finest role in a Stooge short and that he made apoplexy an art with his comic timing - I agree... I have a couple of Republic serials from around 1950 that cast Dick as a thug... I believe I've read that he died in his early fifties...

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-03-26 11:41:00 by Uncle Mortimer

The western parodies HAVE to be good for me to watch them. As I've said before, it's hard enough to believe that our "shrewd", "witty" boys are dopey cowboys but if the short itself is lame, it renders it almost unwatchable to me. I agree with sickdrjoe. The one to watch is "YES, WE HAVE NO BONANZA." Also, "GOOFS AND SADDLES" or even "THE TOOTH WILL OUT." Those, to me, are well written and funny. The laughter helps suspend my disbelief of The Stooges being lame-brained cowpokes.

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-03-07 09:12:00 by sickdrjoe

You don't notice Curly's health problems as much when it's another Stooge Western. It always seems like the boys' energy dips for these sagebrush shorts, anyway. Sure this isn't great, but neither was, say, PHONY EXPRESS, when everybody was healthy. Actually, there are some pretty good lines/gags here - Curly barking like a dog while hiding in the barn seems just like old times. When it comes to the Westerns, there's YES WE HAVE NO BONANZA, and then there's everything else. No great shakes, but hardly a disgrace. Christine helps.

Re: THREE TROUBLEDOERS
Posted 2001-01-02 02:53:00 by Mike Holme

This film was decent, but Curly claims he'll defeat Blackie. But Moe and Larry do all the dirty work for him. Moe defeats Blackie and his gang by dropping the gun and as a result, launches a rocket. The scene where Curly barks like a dog was funny because it is so stupid to make any noise while you are hiding. One of the only Stooge short in which Curly is the only Stooge who gets hit.

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Prod. No.:	4046
Shooting Days:	4 days From: 1945-05-11 To: 1945-05-15

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