Topic: Women of the Stooge shorts

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Have you got any favorites among the women who appear in the Three Stooges' shorts, or among the scenes with women?

Christine McIntyre, of course, was a great sport, who could engage in the rough-and-tumble as well as sing and do foreign accents. I think my favorite scene with her is her violent confrontation with the boys in Hugs and Mugs, in which she and Shemp take turns tearing up each other's suits, and then she and Larry take turns tearing out each other's hair.

I've always been partial to Dorothy Appleby (thanks to the resources of this site for allowing me to discover her name), the rather testy little brunette whom Curly sometimes addresses as "Shorty."

I've always fancied the tall and handsome Jean Willes on account of her looks, but I particularly admire her performance as a heartless golddigger in Gypped in the Penthouse, who gets her comeuppance at the end of the short when Shemp and Larry make cake mix on her head from the groceries that she is carrying. This is also notable as the short in which Shemp gets himself slammed clean through the works of a baby grand piano and in which Larry clobbers Moe.

Special mentions:

I think the most seductive woman in all the shorts is Barbara Slater, the preposterously gorgeous redhead with the silky voice who appeared for the first time as Curly's dancing partner in Three Smart Saps but most memorably as Lulu in Half-Wits' Holiday. I couldn't find a good photo of her on the Web so I've attached a still from the short. (Edited to add: Well, I tried to do so, and there is a link for it, but the link doesn't work, at least on my computer.)

Finally, I have a special place in my heart for the tall, stately-looking woman in Half-Wits' Holiday who scolds Moe and Larry as "You disgraceful vagabonds!" and then, after getting pieces of pie in the face from both of them in return, immediately goes into Stooge mode herself, exclaiming "So! You want to play ROUGH, do you? Well. . . !" as she goes for a pie to clobber them with—one of my favorite lines spoken by someone other than the Stooges.

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[metaldams]

I got a thing for taller women, so I too find Barbara Slater attractive.  I also agree about Jean Willes, who was pretty stunning, and though she appeared in one short Rebel Randall of BOOBY DUPES was smoking, no doubt aided by her wardrobe.

That being said, if you take the total package of talent and looks and not just looks alone, the winner is Christine McIntyre, by far.  I'm amazed she didn't make it further in Hollywood.  My theory is by the time she started in Stooge shorts, she was already in her mid-30's, which would've been considered "old" by Hollywood starlet standards just breaking in, so she would've had to have made it big before then.  I'm very thankful for her Stooge roles, and I understand she had a career in b-westerns as well, but I feel she should've been a big star in her own right.

[metaldams]

Hugo, I'm having trouble with your Barbara Slater pic pulling up, but hopefully this one will download OK.  I'm sure it'll pass inspection.

[Dunrobin]

Hugo, I'm having trouble with your Barbara Slater pic pulling up, but hopefully this one will download OK.  I'm sure it'll pass inspection.

Yeah - something goofy is going on there.  I'm at the office right now, but I will look into it when I get home tonight.

[archiezappa]

Yes!  Christine McIntyre wins, hands down.  Another woman who could keep up well with the Stooges was Symona Boniface.  She was a perfect foil for the boys.  In fact, I've heard people compare her to Margaret Dumont.  Symona Boniface was to the Stooges what Margaret Dumont was to the Marx Brothers.  If the Stooges had starred in more features, Symona Boniface would have been a perfect leading lady like Margaret Dumont.  Anyone else agree?

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Yeah - something goofy is going on there.

I take it that you are referring to the attachment to my post, and not to the photo of Barbara Slater that Metaldams posted. Something HOT going on there! Hubba hubba!

Another woman who could keep up well with the Stooges was Symona Boniface.  She was a perfect foil for the boys.  In fact, I've heard people compare her to Margaret Dumont.  Symona Boniface was to the Stooges what Margaret Dumont was to the Marx Brothers.  If the Stooges had starred in more features, Symona Boniface would have been a perfect leading lady like Margaret Dumont.  Anyone else agree?

Yes, I ought to have mentioned her. She was consistently good. Pretty good with a pie, too. "But YOU started it!"

[metaldams]

Symona Boniface was definitely the Margaret Dumont of The Three Stooges, I definitely agree with that. 

[cpp]

Christine McIntyre is on top by a wide margin.  Base the choice solely on sex appeal & others might have the edge, such as Barbara Slater, Jean Willes, Virginia Hunter, or Sylvia Lewis.  However, in terms of what she brought to the table in overall quality of support to make the Stooges successful, I don’t see anyone else topping Christine.

As a young pup, when the shorts began on Chicago TV, I enjoyed the slapstick, but slapstick, alone, for 15 minutes, won’t make me watch again.  With Christine’s considerable musical talent, ability to mix it up with the boys in the physical routines, & mere presence, she brought great depth, as did some of her talented male support counterparts.

Symona Boniface comes in as my second choice – a great addition to the cast, who also added depth in so many ways.

I realize some don’t like weak plots, or the over-reliance on physical & verbal routines.  That’s subjective stuff for each viewer, & increased the need for depth.  Shorts provided little time to develop meaningful plots or complex characters, & taxed writers & actors heavily.  I didn’t watch the Stooges for Academy Award performances for best drama.  For those reasons, the players in each short had to have comedy in them - then & there, or the short fell flat.  Not every short was a gem, but without these two outstanding & talented women as mainstays, shorts would’ve been much weaker, & in my opinion, the comedy reign of the Stooges would’ve been shorter.

[metaldams]

Christine McIntyre is on top by a wide margin.  Base the choice solely on sex appeal & others might have the edge, such as Barbara Slater, Jean Willes, Virginia Hunter, or Sylvia Lewis.  However, in terms of what she brought to the table in overall quality of support to make the Stooges successful, I don’t see anyone else topping Christine.

As a young pup, when the shorts began on Chicago TV, I enjoyed the slapstick, but slapstick, alone, for 15 minutes, won’t make me watch again.  With Christine’s considerable musical talent, ability to mix it up with the boys in the physical routines, & mere presence, she brought great depth, as did some of her talented male support counterparts.

Symona Boniface comes in as my second choice – a great addition to the cast, who also added depth in so many ways.

I realize some don’t like weak plots, or the over-reliance on physical & verbal routines.  That’s subjective stuff for each viewer, & increased the need for depth.  Shorts provided little time to develop meaningful plots or complex characters, & taxed writers & actors heavily.  I didn’t watch the Stooges for Academy Award performances for best drama.  For those reasons, the players in each short had to have comedy in them - then & there, or the short fell flat.  Not every short was a gem, but without these two outstanding & talented women as mainstays, shorts would’ve been much weaker, & in my opinion, the comedy reign of the Stooges would’ve been shorter.

Great post.  Now that I'm thinking more about Symona, I don't think it's so much a "second choice" between her and Christine, because they both brought something different to the table.  Symona Boniface was The Three Stooges' Margaret Dumont, and Christine McIntyre was their Thelma Todd, though less pre-code and less tragic.  A shame it took until the end of the Curly era to find Christine McIntyre, because until then the attractive female foils never stuck around for more than a few films.

You also bring up watching The Three Stooges for comedy and not expecting drama.  Not that I'm an actor, but I hear comedy can be more difficult than drama, so the talents of Symona, Christine, and the other great players were certainly special, and because of unjust lack of recognition, underappreciated.

[metaldams]

Jean Willes as a blonde.  What a beautiful pair of eyes.



Jean Willes in technicolor.

[cpp]

I planned to remove 'choice' before I posted the first time but spaced it.  I meant to use 'favorite' to stay in line with Hugo's question about favorites.  I agree the talents of many of the cast weren't always appreciated or used.  I often wondered if the producers & writers would've been able to create a short around the outstanding combined vocal talents of Christine & Bud Jamison, much like they did for Christine, with 'Micro-Phonies', & Bud, with 'A Ducking They Did Go', had Bud lived longer after Christine's debut? 

Shemp certainly benefited taking over from Curly where Christine was concerned.  I got the impression there was a great friendship there that came out on screen.

I didn't intend to disparage either comedy or drama in the process, it's just that I didn't expect intentional drama with comedy shorts, so I wasn't disappointed, but always appreciated cast efforts to inject what little drama, accents, etc., they could, when the opportunity presented itself, as a way to showcase their talents.

I'm guessing the women caught less respect because of the times, but there seemed to be an awfully long parade of beautiful women in the shorts.  Lucille Ball looked awfully good as a blond in 'Three Little Pigskins', & Lorna Gray, Ethelreda Leopold, Greta Thyssen, Sylvia Lewis, & Nita Bieber were no slouches either.

Great pix of Nurse Shapely!   

[Boid Brain]

I don't know her name, but my fave was the HUGE brunette that asked fireman Curly "Will you be my boyfreind?" Lord, was that Chick large!

[Dunrobin]

I don't know her name, but my fave was the HUGE brunette that asked fireman Curly "Will you be my boyfreind?" Lord, was that Chick large!

June Gittelson

[Boid Brain]

June Gittelson

Thanks

[Moron4392]

I would like to put in a vote for Daphne Pollard from "Smoked Hams" and "His First Flame" what ever guff Shemp dished out to her, she returned it two fold. She was an excellent Stoogette.

Hoekstra

[falsealarms]

Several of the obvious standouts have been named, but I've always liked Marjorie White from WOMAN HATERS. Given her young demise, she was a fascinating case of what if?

And though she wasn't in a short, SOUP TO NUTS' Frances McCoy ("Queenie") was great too.

Frances McCoy



McCoy's eyes kind of remind me of the eyes on another 30's favorite of mine, Joan Blondell

[garystooge]

Here's another Stooges supporting player with a great pair of eyes...can you name her?


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[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Here's another Stooges supporting player with a great pair of eyes...can you name her?

I know your face but I cannot put you. 

[metaldams]

Here's another Stooges supporting player with a great pair of eyes...can you name her?

I wanna say Diana Darrin?  

She's probably the best looking Stooge girl of the 50's, in my humble opinion.

[garystooge]

yep, it's Diana Darrin when she was still being billed as Theila Darrin.  How about this one? (Rich Finegan...you're disqualified on this)


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[Shemp_Diesel]

Here's another Stooges supporting player with a great pair of eyes...can you name her?

That girl has a beautiful pair of eyes, indeed. (YOWSERS)

 

[metaldams]

That girl has a beautiful pair of eyes, indeed.

She's got legs too.  Cue up the ZZ Top song.


Very pretty girl, very familiar, yet it's killing me because I can't figure out who.  I won't stare at it too much longer because it's probably not a good idea to be staring at old fashioned cheesecake while at work. 

[archiezappa]

One of the girls I always liked was Phylis Crane.  I thought she did rather well in the early shorts (before they changed the opening title cards the first time).  By the time of her last appearance, she played very well off of Curly (in "A Pain In The Pullman") and should have stayed on.  Perhaps, they wanted more blondes.

[falsealarms]

One of the girls I always liked was Phylis Crane.  I thought she did rather well in the early shorts (before they changed the opening title cards the first time).  By the time of her last appearance, she played very well off of Curly (in "A Pain In The Pullman") and should have stayed on.  Perhaps, they wanted more blondes.

Good call on Phylis Crane!

[Curly4444]

Man, stop it you guys, now i need a shower.