Topic: From Nurse to Worse (1940)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/49
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032496/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

We are at the halfway point of the Curly era, and we have an absolutely bizarre film in FROM NURSE TO WORSE.  Wonderfully bizarre, mind you, but bizarre nonetheless.  The premise is pretty simple. The boys run into an old friend who convince them to ditch work and commit insurance fraud.  Curly pretends he's insane by acting like a dog, hopes to collect a policy, but instead is on the run as the plan backfires because the doctor opts for Curly having brain surgery.  That's it.  This short, more than any other Stooge short, is basically one giant chase scene.  The only somewhat extended gag is Curly taking his multiple shirts off so Moe can retrieve the dollar.  A fun bit of business.

Really a hard short to analyze, as like I said, it's pretty much just a chase.  The beauty of this film is it's simplicity.  My favorite parts would be Curly acting like a dog while asking out that attractive girl in the office, Curly biting the leg off the table, the boys and the dogs all scratching each other's backs, and Dudley Dickerson jumping out the window.  I also like the shot of the two dogs turning their heads back and forth as they watch the boys run around in circles.  Whenever you see animals being directed like that in a Stooge short, think Jules White.

8/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

I think the line that best sums up this short is when Vernon sees the stooges for the first time and asks Which one is the crazy one?

Crematory; that's a real hotfoot!

8.5 out of 10...

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Their little insurance pal Jerry must really be a successful insurance bigwig, riding a bike as he does.  Another appearance by Ned Glass.

[Paul Pain]

This one isn't a classic, but it was a fascinating plot executed perfectly.  9/10

This short was the only one to use the "Charlie who walks like this" routine without there being a Civil War plot.

Curly plays his role to perfection as the crazy man... too perfect in fact, as Vernon Dent wants to do a lobotomy!  Curly definitely was at his best, probably because he loved dogs so much.

Not much else to say about this one.

[JazzBill]

This one is a average short to me, not bad but not great. My favorite part is Curly acting like a dog and flirting with the babes. As mentioned before, Curly is certainly hitting on all cylinders. I rate this a 8.

[Kopfy2013]

Totally agree Curly is at the top of his game.  The timing on the short is sooo excellent. The orderly, the photographer - perfect timing - great hits.

Curly acting as a dog, scratching himself with leg going out ... Flirting with the waiting room patient. "Hit a dumb animal will you" ... Curly's washing machine brain... Dudley Dickerson ...

I believe this is a Jules White short.  As I'm analyzing each short I am coming to the conclusion that I like Jules White then Charlie Chase and Del Lord is a step below.

Had to decide between a nine and a 10. I will give it a nine and that may change in the future.

[Kopfy2013]

It already changed. I give it a 10. The great acting. The timing. The story.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Gosh, I don't have ready access to this one at this very moment, but IIRC, this is the one with Cy Shindell as a cop, isn't it?  If it's the one I'm remembering, Cy is so great in this that they even give him a chance to be a stooge when he, Moe and Larry look at the newborns.  Compare his face here with Shemp in the phone booth in Brideless Groom.  It's possible to dream that if poor Cy had lived, THERE was your New Shemp, no Palma, no Besser, no DeRita.  Alas, not to be.  Also, he may have been too tall.  Fun to think about, though.  God, if I've got the wrong episode here, I'll really feel like a scissorbill.

[metaldams]

Gosh, I don't have ready access to this one at this very moment, but IIRC, this is the one with Cy Shindell as a cop, isn't it?  If it's the one I'm remembering, Cy is so great in this that they even give him a chance to be a stooge when he, Moe and Larry look at the newborns.  Compare his face here with Shemp in the phone booth in Brideless Groom.  It's possible to dream that if poor Cy had lived, THERE was your New Shemp, no Palma, no Besser, no DeRita.  Alas, not to be.  Also, he may have been too tall.  Fun to think about, though.  God, if I've got the wrong episode here, I'll really feel like a scissorbill.

You got the right short....and Cy Schindell as third Stooge is a fascinating idea.  I always have been a fan of the guy, he cuts a great slice of ham.

[Lefty]

Cy Schindell playing a cop, as he did in Shivering Sherlocks, was interesting in that he was mainly a henchman to some top villain.  I had a bowling teammate nearly 40 years ago who looked like him, so we referred to him as Moose, after Schindell's part in Fright Night.

As for From Nurse to Worse, I agree that Curly brought his "A" game, even if the plot was at "B" level.  I still get a good laugh at John Tyrrell's, "Is there a doctor in the house?  Wait, I'm a doctor!"

[Allen Champion]

Another showcase for the incredible comic talents of Curly Howard.  No one matches the Stooges for lightning fast timing and manic comic energy.  Curly is at the top of his game here.  He is simply a joy to watch from start to finish.  Yep, Harry Larry and Jerry are at their peak of comic perfection here--and there are more great n'yuk-n'yuks to come!  For the next two years, 1940-42, the Stooges will produce some absolutely top notch slapstick comedies. 

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

This short has one particularly bizarre moment that lingers in my memory. Just after the Stooges, in one of those improbable encounters that are rife in their shorts, collide with a bicyclist who turns out to be the insurance salesman who put them up to the fraud that they have attempted, we cut to a close-up of Curly as he says, "It's him—Jerry!" Knowing that Curly Howard's name was Jerome, I can't help suspecting that it is not a coincidence that this character was given the same name and that Curly, rather than Moe or Larry, is made to say the name in a special close-up, rather than in the group shot that preceded it. Still, I can't say that I see any sense in this happening. It's just rum. 

The acting of Lynton Brent (Jerry) in the opening scene is so bad that it makes me wonder how he could have been employed even in B movies. He is in a lot of other shorts and, while his acting is always perfunctory and lifeless, I don't remember it ever seeming as nakedly amateurish as it does here. Of course, one doesn't go to the Stooge shorts for distinguished acting, but a certain level of competence is necessary to make the action work. In this case, the character single-handedly sets the entire plot into motion, and the story is resolved with his comeuppance at the end; so we really have to want to see that swindler get dunked in the paint in order for that resolution to work. But the character is too blank and unbelievable for any such thing to happen.

Curly's dog act is pretty amusing, as is much of the pursuit of the Stooges by Cy Shindell in the hospital, but the repeated collisions of all of them with the hapless orderly trying to carry a food tray got old for me a long time ago. So the short has some good bits in it, and little that is positively bad (apart from Lynton Brent's acting, which I expect most viewers don't even notice). But it doesn't go much of anywhere. I am inclined to share Lefty's judgment:

As for From Nurse to Worse, I agree that Curly brought his "A" game, even if the plot was at "B" level.

[GreenCanaries]

The acting of Lynton Brent (Jerry) in the opening scene is so bad that it makes me wonder how he could have been employed even in B movies. He is in a lot of other shorts and, while his acting is always perfunctory and lifeless, I don't remember it ever seeming as nakedly amateurish as it does here. Of course, one doesn't go to the Stooge shorts for distinguished acting, but a certain level of competence is necessary to make the action work. In this case, the character single-handedly sets the entire plot into motion, and the story is resolved with his comeuppance at the end; so we really have to want to see that swindler get dunked in the paint in order for that resolution to work. But the character is too blank and unbelievable for any such thing to happen.

The main thing I remember Lynton Brent for is his fight with Moe in Calling All Curs, where he executes some of the weakest fake punching I have ever seen (albeit sped up).

[GreenCanaries]

Rewatched this again recently; how fantastic is Johnny Kascier as the "battered orderly" in this one? His flopping, slippery-looking pratfalls after each collision in the hallway are great.

Also: did anyone notice Chet Brandenburg actually has a dual role in this short? Long before he shows up as the driver, he walks up as a passerby in the background after the Stooges and Vernon Dent collide with Bert Young as the photographer.

[MrsMorganMorgan]

I have to work my way back up the level ladder again.....geez; Porcupine. This was is definitely subpar and weak. But as I always comment on odd things, I think the woman's turban in the doctor's office is awful; so ugly. Turbans never really made it as an accessory; not even Liz Taylor's in Cleopatra could help the turban. I do love the bit in the dog catcher van; I always punch my husband in the back of the neck after I rumple his hair.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Mrs.  MM, you sound like TiskaTaskaBaska.  Any particular reason you're starting over?

[MrsMorganMorgan]

Mrs.  MM, you sound like TiskaTaskaBaska.  Any particular reason you're starting over?

I got in a little peeing contest with someone recently and deleted my old profile. But I really, really missed it so I am starting over. It's good to be back!!

[metaldams]

I got in a little peeing contest with someone recently and deleted my old profile. But I really, really missed it so I am starting over. It's good to be back!!

I'm happy to see you back.

For the record, though...I like the turban.  Call me strange.

[Paul Pain]

I got in a little peeing contest with someone recently and deleted my old profile. But I really, really missed it so I am starting over. It's good to be back!!

Glad to have you back.  Your perspectives are always great.

[Paul Pain]

I enjoy some shorts a little too much.  Maybe because my mother was a psychology major...

The supporting cast here (minus Jerry) all gave an A+ performance.  Really good stuff.  Cy Schindell is classic as is John Tyrrell.

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

8/10, I could've done without the stock footage chase scenes from "Dizzy Doctors" towards the end of the film but the stooges trying to avoid getting caught were very good, I also liked Moe's "I redouble" scene after Curly and Larry decided to double and then triple.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Another 1940 winner from director Jules White. It's nice to hear Moe's voice on the police scanner. Compared to later Curly shorts, White's use of stock footage is skillfully integrated and relatively brief. Great fun from beginning to end.

9/10

[Paul Pain]

I just watched this one today, and man did they really extract everything they could from this one.  Cy Schindell really earned his money here, and he really would have made a good heavy long-term.  Sadly, like most major Stooge supporting players, we lost him way too soon.

Vernon Dent is also fantastic as the doctor.  It just goes to show that the supporting cast is just as important as the star in shorts like this one.

[Daddy Dewdrop]

I love this short!  Somewhat bizarre (even by Stooges standards) and Curly is at the top of his game.

I rank it #42 overall.