Topic: Woman Haters (1934)

[Larrys#1]

This is not all that great of an episode. The beginning and ending parts at the woman hater's club was pretty funny, but other than that, this episode is bore to sit through. I'd prefer the stooges not mix comedy with musical.

3/10

[TiskaTaskaBaska]

I agree with Liz!! Though I guess our boys had to start somewhere....

[IchabodSlipp]

According to the book on Columbia short subjects, the Stooges were billed as "Howard, Fine & Howard" up until Punch Drunks.   The opening credits for Woman Haters labels them as the Three Stooges.  Were the original titles of this short replaced once it was released to TV audiences?

Just curious....

I believe so, JWF. Looking carefully at the title card, I noticed the "Three Stooges" screen is sped up. I assume this was made for some later video release or television master as I see no splice marks. It would not make sense either to use the Three Stooges billing as the short was originally marketed as "A Musical Novelty." Has this short been run on television before the 1990s Cable TV phenomenon (where major studios presented haphazardly restored versions of films to replace years of local stations airing worn out 16mm reduction prints)? It would be interesting to find an older 16mm print of this short.

This short, to me is a great introduction to the Stooges without Ted Healy. Keep in mind, that the Healy MGM shorts were mostly musicals, and hardly featured the comedic trio! This Musical Novelty is a revelation of sorts where the Stooges play the main roles and do an amazing job for the first film of its kind. Even in the first scene, there is total chaos as the Stooges are introduced to the Woman Haters club. The scenes on the train are side splitting hilarious, Marjorie White could have been a great fourth stooge if only circumstances were different. The ending with the Stooges as old men is to die for! The only thing that I thought was weird was, since this was the first short, the characters referred to each other with different names. Of course, I know now, that the names were not used until Punch Drunks. Even as a kid, despite not knowing the history, I knew that there was something special about this short and it was still funny regardless!

[Paul Pain]

For me, this short is sore-lacking in many ways, especially with the bad lines and comedy.  However, the execution was perfect and it was the only time the boys got to be away from their stereotypical images.

[stoogefanatic20]

Starting my first critical review of a Stooge short, I only find it appropriate to start with the first subject to be issued.

After seeing a fair bunch of the other shorts introduced via AMC and the Family Channel, this is one I recall watching about 10-12 years ago... and I remember not being a big fan with the first watch. Now that I've grown older and obtaining the full box set, I've been able to fully analyze both my positive and negative factors of "Women Haters." With this one, I've seen a split opinion with the fanbase, you either love it or hate it! Now with me...

Personal highlights:
- The opening 3 1/2 minutes and the last scene. Nice to see Bud Jamison getting the opening lead of a the very first Stooge short, whereas I would have expected our favorite 3 morons. Also, I think the opening scene with the Stooges (albeit not named Moe, Larry, and Curly, but with different names, the only time this has been done I believe) immediately grasps what was to be their slapstick throughout not only this first short subject but the remaining 189 shorts and the next 24 years.
- The now considered un-P.C theme of the short. Whenever the Stooges focused around these types of issues, it always seemed to work.
- It's not often you see the middle Stooge getting a lead part in the plot, and this makes the short a bit more interesting
However... the technical elements presented in the short make this fall flat for me.

Low points:
- The rhyming. Good god, I remember seeing this for the first time and felt -annoyed- with the rhyming. It got old way too fast and it still irritates me.
- The musical numbers. Again, I saw this when I was about 10 and now this makes me consider that this would "work" (that is, making it more sense if I was a fan of...) if this was a feature film and Ted Healy was part of the group, as this format was abandoned and never returned.

Overall conclusion: If there was less slapstick and less chemistry between the Stooges, this short for me would be forgettable. I'll have to admit, the 2007 remaster looks and sounds splendid compared to the TV prints.

[metaldams]

Starting my first critical review of a Stooge short, I only find it appropriate to start with the first subject to be issued.

After seeing a fair bunch of the other shorts introduced via AMC and the Family Channel, this is one I recall watching about 10-12 years ago... and I remember not being a big fan with the first watch. Now that I've grown older and obtaining the full box set, I've been able to fully analyze both my positive and negative factors of "Women Haters." With this one, I've seen a split opinion with the fanbase, you either love it or hate it! Now with me...

Personal highlights:
- The opening 3 1/2 minutes and the last scene. Nice to see Bud Jamison getting the opening lead of a the very first Stooge short, whereas I would have expected our favorite 3 morons. Also, I think the opening scene with the Stooges (albeit not named Moe, Larry, and Curly, but with different names, the only time this has been done I believe) immediately grasps what was to be their slapstick throughout not only this first short subject but the remaining 189 shorts and the next 24 years.
- The now considered un-P.C theme of the short. Whenever the Stooges focused around these types of issues, it always seemed to work.
- It's not often you see the middle Stooge getting a lead part in the plot, and this makes the short a bit more interesting
However... the technical elements presented in the short make this fall flat for me.

Low points:
- The rhyming. Good god, I remember seeing this for the first time and felt -annoyed- with the rhyming. It got old way too fast and it still irritates me.
- The musical numbers. Again, I saw this when I was about 10 and now this makes me consider that this would "work" (that is, making it more sense if I was a fan of...) if this was a feature film and Ted Healy was part of the group, as this format was abandoned and never returned.

Overall conclusion: If there was less slapstick and less chemistry between the Stooges, this short for me would be forgettable. I'll have to admit, the 2007 remaster looks and sounds splendid compared to the TV prints.

Nice first review and post.  Welcome aboard.

You mention the chemistry between the Stooges.  Columbia actually started their shorts department making musical comedies like these, and I saw one of them.  Let's just say a musical rhyming short like this without The Three Stooges is as unwatchable as it sounds to people like me who generally don't like old musicals.

[CurlyFan1934]

The Three Stooges are arguably one of the most iconic comedy teams in the history of pop culture. Their eye-pokes, slaps, and nyuk-nyuk-nyuk's resonate across the globe. Training for 12 years leading up to this, this was supposed to be the Stooges' big break. They were finally able to make movies at one of the major movie studios! They had been honing their craft, perfecting every little routine, and these 19 minutes came out of it. Is it good? Well....
 
There are definitely many flaws with this short film, but before I dive into that, let me tell you what the plot is. The Stooges take an oath for a Woman Haters' club. However, the next day, Larry marries a girl (Marjorie White). Soon, Moe and Curly confront him about this and Larry bad-mouths the girl to them. Marjorie overhears. Soon, she uses all three of the Stooges until they all basically give up on women as a whole and decide to rejoin the Woman Haters' club.

One major problem with this is the way that this film is done. It is done entirely in rhyme. In the first few minutes, the rhyming works, but towards the last final minutes, the rhyming starts to get a bit annoying. Also, The Three Stooges usually go at a breakneck pace but for this they had to go a bit slower than usual. The pacing is very odd at some points with the Stooges' words not really matching up with the music. Marjorie White is definitely a pro at this odd technique, however.

Speaking of Marjorie White, there's not many supporting players in here besides Marjorie. Bud Jamison is in this film as the head of the Woman Haters' club, but he isn't given his full potential. However, he does get to slap and eye-poke all three Stooges for the first time in a Columbia short, which is pretty awesome. Marjorie White was definitely a talented actress. It's a shame that she died a little while after making this short. She definitely wasn't able to release her full potential, and I could see many Columbia/Three Stooges shorts with her as a supporting player.

I really like how the main Stooge featured in this short is Larry. Larry definitely shines throughout this movie, with his hilarious reactions coming into place and his characteristics finally being put to good use. Speaking of characteristics, Moe, Larry and Curly's characteristics are formed, but they still need some developing. I feel like whenever they do use a classic woo-woo-woo or something like that, it feels out of place. But, that's something that they will later perfect and hone.

But, anyways, it seems like this film did successful enough that Columbia gave the Stooges another film to work on where they were basically given free control. Thank goodness for that. Next time I review a short, it will be a better short, no doubt, but as for this one, I'll give it a solid 6.5 out of 10 pokes. There are definitely things to improve on that the Stooges later will, but this short film is entertaining as whole because of its main character being Larry and the characteristics of the Stooges coming into full play.

6/10
 

[Lefty]

"Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.  Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic. "

It's the Flyers' fault for having played 4 consecutive Sunday nights at the end of the regular season, preempting my normal Stooge-watching time -- especially the way they played this season.   

Annie How, I began the cycle again yesterday (always going in order of volumes 1-5-2-6-3-7-4-8 to avoid watching all of one third Stooge at a time), and my opinion has not changed, this being my least-favorite Curly short.  The rhyming wasn't even used in everything, and the music -- well, even Batman did not play music at all times in that TV show.

My favorite parts were Curly's woo-ing when Moe bit his toe, and Larry's rhyme:
"Rain nor shine nor rain, I'll meet yez at the train, and now I'll tell the lady that I'll never see her again," after which the Stooges crash their beer mugs.

Also, when Curly asked Moe what day it was, Moe looked at his right wrist.  I didn't know they had calendar watches in 1934!

[Dr. Mabuse]

"Woman Haters" is a rather inauspicious Columbia debut featuring Larry as the atypical lead and tiresome rhyming dialogue. Nevertheless, this musical novelty has its pleasures — notably Marjorie White (who works well with the boys) and the memorable "My Love, My Life, My All."  Polished cinematography by the great Joseph August (his only Stooge two-reeler). Not the worst short by any means, but "Punch Drunks" marks a tremendous leap forward.

6/10

[Daddy Dewdrop]

I've spent the past year watching all 190 of the Three Stooges shorts.  I've now ranked them from worst-to-best and will be posting them countdown style in each of the individual threads.

So, I will start here, with the first ever short, which is also my least favorite of them all.  This one just never felt like a true Stooges effort to me.  The individual characters, the rhyming dialogue, the constant musical background, minimal sound effects, it's just not what I want to watch from my favorite comedy team.  Far and away the worst Curly short.

Overall rank #190.

[metaldams]

I've spent the past year watching all 190 of the Three Stooges shorts.  I've now ranked them from worst-to-best and will be posting them countdown style in each of the individual threads.

So, I will start here, with the first ever short, which is also my least favorite of them all.  This one just never felt like a true Stooges effort to me.  The individual characters, the rhyming dialogue, the constant musical background, minimal sound effects, it's just not what I want to watch from my favorite comedy team.  Far and away the worst Curly short.

Overall rank #190.

Welcome to the board and looking forward to your countdown!

I would probably rank Woman Haters in my top ten least favorite Curly shorts, but not least favorite overall.  This was made as part of the Musical Novelties series and in a sense, not a pure Stooge short.

Curious to where you’ll rank my least favorite, which I’ll mention when you post it.

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Thanks for the welcome, Metaldams!  I've been religiously reading this board as I've been working my way thru all 190 shorts.  I'm usually in agreement with most of the opinions here, but once in awhile I diverge wildly from the general consensus.  Will be posting quite a bit in the coming days.  You've been warned...

[Allen Champion]

I've always enjoyed the Stooges Columbia debut.  My favorite scene is the wedding party where it is explained to Larry in no uncertain terms that he is not running out on this marriage! 

The tragic Marjorie White has a small part in a Joe E. Brown comedy BROADMINDED, filmed a couple of years earlier.  It also featured some strange Hungarian actor (playing a latin!) named Lugosi, or something like that.

Train conductor Walter Brennan sure doesn't look like Walter Brennan! 

I've always wondered if the Mt Rushmore opening title with the boys billed as The Three Stooges was part of this initial Musical Novelty release, or was added later when the boys' contract was accepted and The Stooges officially became a part of the Columbia Shorts Department???

Yes, I like this one, athough I don't revisit it all that much. 

[metaldams]

I've always enjoyed the Stooges Columbia debut.  My favorite scene is the wedding party where it is explained to Larry in no uncertain terms that he is not running out on this marriage! 

The tragic Marjorie White has a small part in a Joe E. Brown comedy BROADMINDED, filmed a couple of years earlier.  It also featured some strange Hungarian actor (playing a latin!) named Lugosi, or something like that.

Train conductor Walter Brennan sure doesn't look like Walter Brennan! 

I've always wondered if the Mt Rushmore opening title with the boys billed as The Three Stooges was part of this initial Musical Novelty release, or was added later when the boys' contract was accepted and The Stooges officially became a part of the Columbia Shorts Department???

Yes, I like this one, athough I don't revisit it all that much.

Marjorie White was also in Wheeler and Woolsey’s DIPLOMANIACS. 

Yes, I love BROADMINDED!  Thelma Todd is also in that one, so both actresses passed too soon in 1935.  Bela indeed steals the show, his best comedy role and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt he could do more than horror.

[Allen Champion]

I need to see more Wheeler and Wolsey.
(That's a confession you don't hear too often.)

[O.U. Gonga]

I enjoy Woman Haters for what it is - the first Stooge film at Columbia, and for the sheer novelty. 7/10

As for the opening “Three Stooges” title card, I recall seeing this on Ch. 44 in San Francisco in the early-mid 70s and it always aired with the “Musical Novelty” card without the Stooges title card - it seemed like something at the beginning was trimmed from the film.

[Samurai]

I'm not sure how many times I've seen this short over the last 50+ years, but I must admit, it took all those years for me to look forward to watching it. Marjorie is a big reason. I've only recently realized how demanding her role was. Singing, emotions from a-z and a surprising amount of physical humor. Her bemused reactions when Larry is singing were terrific, and I also enjoyed how she continually mauled Curly/Jackie. Another insta-chortle is watching Walter Brennan take an unscripted header after his 'initiation'. (He was a bit of a horse's petute, which makes it even more satisfying). Finally, I enjoyed noticing the bottle of Vat 69 on the boys table. Capt. Nixon would have been proud of my attentiveness.