Topic: Rockin' Thru the Rockies (1940)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/45
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032995/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The problem with ROCKIN' THRU THE ROCKIES is at least as far as release order, it is sandwiched between two shorts which are all-time Stooge classics, while this short is only a very good Stooge short.  Hey, that ain't a bad thing, and because of this chronology, I always underestimate this short going in, always to find out I really enjoy it once I watch it.  My only other minor complaint, then we'll get to the good stuff, is that Nelle's Belles are underused.  We know from other Stooge shorts Lorna Gray and Dorothy Applebee can be great, and Linda Winters would have to leave the Stooges to obtain screen immortality, so yeah, a bit of wasted potential here.  Two thirds of the all time greatest female trio of April, May, and June reunite, so if they are Cream, then Nelle's Belles are Blind Faith.  I do find Dorothy Applebee to be prettier than Steve Winwood, and kudos to anybody who knows what the hell I'm talking about here.  To everybody else, ignore my ramblings and proceed to the next paragraph.

OK, the all-time classic Stooge bit here is the ice fishing scene.  Moe being dragged through one ice hole and out another is a great sight gag, as is Larry diving on top of Moe while a prop fish is squirming on Moe's lap.  Then, there's the immortal, "This fish looks like Moe" bit. 

Other favorite bits of mine include Curly using guitars as ice shoes, a funny little gag that allows Curly the chance to skate around and make funny noises.  One of the simple pleasures of life.  I also enjoy the exchange between Larry and Moe that starts with Larry saying he's tired of looking for Indians and wants the Indians to look for them for a change.  It's a nice little 30 second or so exchange that leads up to the slapstick.  People who say the Stooges are just hitting and nothing more to me are missing on the subtle little build ups that lead to the slapstick in scenes such as this. 

Overall, a great little Stooge short, but really the calm before the storm, 'cause next week is the masterpiece.  We'll see how I feel when I write that review, but I may be typing more than usual.  Until then, let's discuss this this gem.

9/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

For me, this is one of the more unappreciated Curly gems & I would even go as far as saying it's better than the 2 shorts that follow it (I wonder if I will get slammed for that statement  ).

I like the Escrow Indians, especially Dick Curtis' and Richard Fiske's little exchange about making whoopie with Nelle's Belles (not bad).

The ice fishing scene is an all-time classic, nothing more needs to be said. And I liked Curly's "a lizard, I mean a blizzard." Perhaps a slip of the tongue that was left in ala Moe's earlier "Firemouse" remark from Flat Foot Stooges.

Overall, I rate it a solid 8 out of 10....




 

[Lefty]

"A lizard!  I mean, a blizzard!  An avalanch-ee!"  One of the best lines of all time.

The ice fishing scene is the best part of the show.  "Last week I went ice fishing.  I caught 200 pounds of ice."

Dick Curtis is always a top villain.  His Indian Chief vs. Nell would have been like watching a wrestling match with two heels -- who do you root for?

Watching this short in the winter makes me glad I have some blankets to use to keep warm.   

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

     There is a class of Stooge short  which you'll sit through enjoying it very much, and then comes a minute or two, usually when they're trying to get some real work done, that rockets the episode straight to comedy Nirvana.  Cash and Carry is one of these, as are Loco Boy Makes Good, They Stooge to Conga, and  ( I'll get annihilated for this, I'm sure, but I've seen it happen ) the Swingaroo Joe scene in Rhythm and Weep.  There are many others, but I'm sure you get where I'm coming from.  Needless to say, the ice fishing scene elevates this one into that class.  Moe's groaning as his head comes ever nearer the hole is priceless.  This is also one of the first ( not THE first, but one of them ) examples of what for me became a successful formula:  rather than wailing on the other two at random, Moe hits them because they have just damn near killed him.  It's from this point on that Moe starts taking the brunt of Curly and Larry's ( and of course Shemp's ) idiotic accidents.  This formula dates back sporadically at least to Cash And Carry, and obviously the random violence doesn't stop, either, but the set-pieces of the two getting Moe into trouble and then only making things worse justifies the punishment a bit, besides of course being hilarious, and continues all the way to the glued-to-the-chair scene in Outlaws Is Coming.
     And again I'll say that I don't think those verbal slip-ups ( lizard-blizzard, firehouse mouse ) are accidents that got left in - they are all of the same type, and they all have at least some element of humor in them, and there's no pause in the action by any of the actors.  They're puns, or malaprops, or tongue-twisters, or whatever you want to call them.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

     I think, rather than Loco Boy Makes Good, which is fine but doesn't have one of those iconic scenes, that I actually meant Cactus Makes Perfect.

[Kopfy2013]

An OK short that suffers because of the shorts just before and after them.  Ice fishing is great as is sleeping scene and bear scene.  The girls are underused. This was shot before Spy ... Maybe if shot after they would have given Lorna Gray some lines.

I struggle with a 7 or 8.  Since I was not bored an 8 is registered.

[JazzBill]

I like this short a lot and consider it above average. The tree branch bit in the beginning is a good example of the boys impeccable timing. Nell has to be one of the only women costars that could look as mean as Moe. Of coarse as mentioned before the ice fishing scene is classic. A good story line and all the boys in top form make this short a solid 8 for me.

[Allen Champion]

I like this short, but it's not an absolute favorite.  I love the scenes in the cabin and at the fishing hole; the rest is funny but not stellar Stoogery.  But yippee skippee there are some classics coming up!

[Larrys#1]

Curly gives a marvelous performance here, but it's quite hard to place why it's not one of my favorites. Maybe it's because the plot isn't the greatest. Never been crazy about the whole stooges running away from Indians thing... which is exactly why I never liked Whoops I'm An Indian and Back To The Woods. I did enjoy the beginning of the episode and the ice fishing scene though.

8/10

[jwolf6589]

Did they not also make a movie of this name?

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/45
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032995/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The problem with ROCKIN' THRU THE ROCKIES is at least as far as release order, it is sandwiched between two shorts which are all-time Stooge classics, while this short is only a very good Stooge short.  Hey, that ain't a bad thing, and because of this chronology, I always underestimate this short going in, always to find out I really enjoy it once I watch it.  My only other minor complaint, then we'll get to the good stuff, is that Nelle's Belles are underused.  We know from other Stooge shorts Lorna Gray and Dorothy Applebee can be great, and Linda Winters would have to leave the Stooges to obtain screen immortality, so yeah, a bit of wasted potential here.  Two thirds of the all time greatest female trio of April, May, and June reunite, so if they are Cream, then Nelle's Belles are Blind Faith.  I do find Dorothy Applebee to be prettier than Steve Winwood, and kudos to anybody who knows what the hell I'm talking about here.  To everybody else, ignore my ramblings and proceed to the next paragraph.

OK, the all-time classic Stooge bit here is the ice fishing scene.  Moe being dragged through one ice hole and out another is a great sight gag, as is Larry diving on top of Moe while a prop fish is squirming on Moe's lap.  Then, there's the immortal, "This fish looks like Moe" bit. 

Other favorite bits of mine include Curly using guitars as ice shoes, a funny little gag that allows Curly the chance to skate around and make funny noises.  One of the simple pleasures of life.  I also enjoy the exchange between Larry and Moe that starts with Larry saying he's tired of looking for Indians and wants the Indians to look for them for a change.  It's a nice little 30 second or so exchange that leads up to the slapstick.  People who say the Stooges are just hitting and nothing more to me are missing on the subtle little build ups that lead to the slapstick in scenes such as this. 

Overall, a great little Stooge short, but really the calm before the storm, 'cause next week is the masterpiece.  We'll see how I feel when I write that review, but I may be typing more than usual.  Until then, let's discuss this this gem.

[jwolf6589]

Curly gives a marvelous performance here, but it's quite hard to place why it's not one of my favorites. Maybe it's because the plot isn't the greatest. Never been crazy about the whole stooges running away from Indians thing... which is exactly why I never liked Whoops I'm An Indian and Back To The Woods. I did enjoy the beginning of the episode and the ice fishing scene though.

8/10

Agreed

[jwolf6589]

I like this short a lot and consider it above average. The tree branch bit in the beginning is a good example of the boys impeccable timing. Nell has to be one of the only women costars that could look as mean as Moe. Of coarse as mentioned before the ice fishing scene is classic. A good story line and all the boys in top form make this short a solid 8 for me.

[jwolf6589]

"A lizard!  I mean, a blizzard!  An avalanch-ee!"  One of the best lines of all time.

The ice fishing scene is the best part of the show.  "Last week I went ice fishing.  I caught 200 pounds of ice."

Dick Curtis is always a top villain.  His Indian Chief vs. Nell would have been like watching a wrestling match with two heels -- who do you root for?

Watching this short in the winter makes me glad I have some blankets to use to keep warm.   

I thought that "Whoops I'm an Indian" was a better short.

[BeAStooge]

Did they not also make a movie of this name?

ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES (1945)

[metaldams]

ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES (1945)

You know, for as long as I've been a Stooge fan, I STILL get the titles of the short and feature confused and always have to look up which is in "in" film and what is the "thru" film.

[stoogerascalfan62]

Were there any supporting players from the "Rockin' Thru..." short who also turned up in "Rockin' In The Rockies"?

[metaldams]

Were there any supporting players from the "Rockin' Thru..." short who also turned up in "Rockin' In The Rockies"?

http://threestooges.net/filmography/episode/225

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/45

You can look it up in both links above, but I see John Tyrell in both.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

I just looked up this thread to see if anyone had noted the allusion to It Happened One Night in this short, and it seems not. It happens when Curly falls through the blanket that separates the Stooges' part of the "cabin" from the ladies' part. Curly says, "The walls of Jericho collapsed!" In It Happened One Night (1934), when the characters played by Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are obliged to share a hotel room under pretense of being husband and wife, much to the discomfort of the latter, Gable divides the room into two parts by throwing a blanket over a clothesline and announcing that it is "the walls of Jericho."

[metaldams]

I just looked up this thread to see if anyone had noted the allusion to It Happened One Night in this short, and it seems not. It happens when Curly falls through the blanket that separates the Stooges' part of the "cabin" from the ladies' part. Curly says, "The walls of Jericho collapsed!" In It Happened One Night (1934), when the characters played by Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are obliged to share a hotel room under pretense of being husband and wife, much to the discomfort of the latter, Gable divides the room into two parts by throwing a blanket over a clothesline and announcing that it is "the walls of Jericho."

I actually did notice the reference but failed to mention it, so thanks for doing so.  Interestingly enough, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT went to great strides in building up Columbia's reputation as a studio, so it's not surprising to see it referenced in a Stooge short. 

[MrsMorganMorgan]

Keep your shirt on; I practically got a fish already!!

Okay, my question is, because our CC doesn't work on Stooges DVDs, WHAT does Curly say he shot out from under Sitting Bull?

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

A Morris Chair.  If you Google it, you'll see it's a common piece of furniture, often lawn furniture, with a distinctive shape.

[MrsMorganMorgan]

A Morris Chair.  If you Google it, you'll see it's a common piece of furniture, often lawn furniture, with a distinctive shape.

OMG thank you. It's just an odd thing to say, like I shot an Adirondack chair out from under him, but....mystery solved. Thank you!

[Paul Pain]

I am guilty.  I know for a fact that I have not watched some of these shorts, yet I still haven't gotten around to watching them.

[Hollister56]

Lets not forget the letter Nell brings to the Stooges after the ice fishing scene when Moe states to read it and the Indians call Nell Hatchet Face.

You get new face we might take you too!

That is so funny and the expression Nell makes is priceless.

And calling the Stooges coyotes.

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

Very underrated stooge short from the wonderful year of 1940, I loved the scene where Moe & Larry were freezing cold while sleeping while Curly took the blankets all for himself along with Curly using the guitars for shoes! I wish Kathryn Sheldon had appeared in more stooge shorts because she gives a great performance as the Belle's mother.

I give this short a 10/10, I even like this short better than the more popular "A Plumbing We Will Go".