Hate to be negative, but viewing this short on the new DVD recently, this may be my least favorite healthy Curly short. Other than Larry forgetting to turn off the alarm, I found most of the laughs contrived and the whole subplot a total bore with zero sympathetic characters. The whole scene where the firemen are trying to get to the burning building would've worked better with some actual stunt based physical comedy Keaton styled (or in Stooge terms, think the barrel scene in THREE LITTLE BEERS), and makes me think a Sennett pro like Del Lord would've directed the scene better than Charley Chase. As the scene stands now, nothing of interest happens.
I like Chase both as a comedian and director, but the quality those six shorts he directed for The Three Stooges go from genius to turkey more so than any other Stooge director. Hmmm, perhaps an interesting thread to start when I'm not typing at 11:30 PM.
