Boobs in Arms (1940)

metaldams · **on:** April 18, 2014, 06:06:16 PM

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/52
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032270/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

This week we find our heroes as card salesmen who run away from a stranger they bump into on the street only to accidentally retreat into a line where they end up joining the army. Once in the army, said stranger happens to be their sergeant.

This is another in a line of really good shorts. This short to me starts slow and gradually builds up until we get into a classic finale. Some shorts tend to have the best bit somewhere in the middle and they kind of peter out in the end, but this short is constantly on an up curve and has great storytelling. It's great the way the boys always find the sergeant, escape him, go onto to something else only to find the sarge wherever they go.

Some observations of mine is this being a barely pre WWII short (as far as official American involvement), the fact there are bunkers and Kaiser like German helmets point to WWI. In the next few years, there will be tons of military shorts, but they are blatantly WWII. Not so much here. Also, card salesmen? What an innocent world.

Richard Fiske is great in this one, a true shame he was a war casualty. Besides the tragic loss of young life, I think he could've given us more great roles for years to come had he lived.

The final few minutes is epic, one of the most energetic bursts of Stoogedom out there. You gotta wonder if the final shot inspired DR. STRANGELOVE's man riding nuclear bomb finale in any way.

Another treasure.

9/10

Paul Pain · **Reply #1 on:** April 18, 2014, 06:30:45 PM

This one is pretty good. It's decent that we have a humorous relationship with the sergeant who has a tendency to randomly act like a baby "Everything happens to ME!" A lot of yucks in this one. Not a classic, but solid 7/10. The bayonet part is a bit... too... sadistic for me. Part of a line of shorts that are always good quality even if they aren't the best.

One of the few times the Stooges get captured or die and I think "You deserved it boys!"

Shemp_Diesel · **Reply #2 on:** April 18, 2014, 06:42:27 PM

The idea of the stooges meeting up with a rough drill sergeant has been done before, but somehow I think this short will get more glowing reviews than Half-Shot Shooters. Just an educated guess on my part.

In any event, this is another winner in a continuous stream of great shorts; some of my highlights include the little ditty Moe breaks out when trying to decide which stooge will make love to the housewife, Curly's manual of arms, and of course, the laughing gas attack.

Just another 1940s stooge winner...

9 out of 10...

Kopfy2013 · **Reply #3 on:** April 19, 2014, 12:50:38 AM

"Scram buddy you're interfering with romance "

"If I thought you meant that I'd like to see you do that once more"

A great short to end 1940.

Richard Fiske really makes this short. Such a tragedy he was shot down in World War II.

The story flows. The action flows. It does not seem rushed nor is there any long boring parts. I like their card rhymes. The wife scene. The sleeping scene at the war. And the laughing gas.

This gets rated as a strong nine.

JazzBill · **Reply #4 on:** April 19, 2014, 09:10:48 AM

This one is definitely in my favorites list. Metal made a good point. The soldiers and battlefield were done WWI style even though WWII had already started up in Europe. I always found it ironic that the role I remember Richard Fiske best by is that of a Army guy, only to find out that he was killed in action during the war. I remember clowning around in the army during marching drills trying to act like Stooges and get the guy behind me out of step. The short moves well and the boys are in top form and I rate it 9 1/2.

Lefty · **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2014, 10:41:26 AM

This short is one of my favorites, featuring Richard Fiske at his villainous best. "Greetings, little shut-in. Don't you weep or sigh! If you're not out by Christmas, you'll be out the 4th of July!"

Once the Stooges joined the Army, the plot really got going. How many Army privates have wanted to throw their guns at the drill sergeant? Then again, how many drill sergeants have wanted to bayonet their underlings? Curly may have been right when he said, "Aw, let the enemy keep him!"

stoogerascalfan62 · **Reply #6 on:** April 21, 2014, 01:34:30 PM

Fiske's wail: "Everything Happens To Me" is, to me, priceless.

Allen Champion · **Reply #7 on:** April 21, 2014, 09:41:37 PM

Another set-up borrowed from Laurel and Hardy. I wonder how the multiple lovers "run away with us!" got past the censors? I guess they didn't pay any attention to unimportant little two-reelers.

This beat Abbott and Costello's BUCK PRIVATES into theaters by a couple of months.

Richard Fiske was one of their better supporting players. Look for him in the Karloff classic THE DEVIL COMMANDS as Karloff's assistant and the leading lady's boyfriend.

For some reason the local station that ran this when I was a kid frequently cut the entire first half and started with the Army scenes. I love the Curly March That Infects the Entire Troop and the Laughing Gas scenes. "They'll probably shoot us! Bwa--ha--ha!"

Dr. Hugo Gansamacher · **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2014, 09:15:03 AM

One of my favorite moments in this short occurs fairly early in it, when Blanca Vischer, the fetching Pepita of Cookoo Cavaliers ("My English is not so good-looking, no?"), returns as a chicly clad female passerby, who puts up such fearsome resistance to the salesmanship of the Stooges that they take to their heels. My fondness for this bit may owe to a personal association of memory. Once, my sister brought her Airedale terrier to visit the house in which, at that time, I lived with my parents. We put away our dogs, but it never occurred to us to put away the cat. This cat had grown up with the dogs and seemed to consider himself their guardian, so when a four-legged intruder appeared, no matter that it was about four times his size, the cat stalked right up to the Airedale and gave her a swat on the snout. He then continued to approach the dog after she had sprung back! He would have chased her right off the property if we had not picked him up and taken him away. Pepita's response to the Stooges' sales pitch, when she gives Curly a punch in the face that is carried on to Moe by the movement of Curly's head, and follows it up by approaching them menacingly, reminds me of the action of that cat. The look on her face seems to me exactly the same!

Another of my favorite moments occurs on the drill field, when Sergeant Dare uses Curly's rifle to show the Stooges how to do the manual of arms, then throws the rifle back at Curly, saying (fatal words in comedy!), "Now it do it just like I did it!" Of course, when he gets to the same point in the sequence of orders, all three Stooges simultaneously throw their rifles at him—hitting him with a sound effect like a metal pipe being struck and knocking him over. Well, he did say to do it just as he did it!

Quote from: metaldams on April 18, 2014, 06:06:16 PM

The final few minutes is epic, one of the most energetic bursts of Stoogedom out there. You gotta wonder if the final shot inspired DR. STRANGELOVE's man riding nuclear bomb finale in any way.

I can imagine that such a suggestion would be dismissed with scorn by some admirers of Mr. Kubrick, who would think him superior to the influence of such low-brow stuff; but to me it seems a highly pertinent observation! It would be interesting to know if Kubrick watched the Stooges' shorts (I don't think any American growing up seeing a lot of movies when he did could have avoided them) and what he thought of them.

metaldams · **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2014, 10:20:50 PM

Quote from: Dr. Hugo Gansamacher on December 21, 2014, 09:15:03 AM

I can imagine that such a suggestion would be dismissed with scorn by some admirers of Mr. Kubrick, who would think him superior to the influence of such low-brow stuff; but to me it seems a highly pertinent observation! It would be interesting to know if Kubrick watched the Stooges' shorts (I don't think any American growing up seeing a lot of movies when he did could have avoided them) and what he thought of them.

I once had a film professor in college who referred to The Three Stooges as "universally hated." I'll never forget that as long as I live, but yeah, I've seen essays on film comedy that mentions everybody but The Three Stooges. Oh well, not everyone shares our opinion, their loss.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #10 on:** December 21, 2014, 10:53:18 PM

Two observations: as opposed to the Professor, I recently read an observation somewhere online, I don't remember the exact site, which, in a neutral tone, called The Three Stooges the most successful act in the history of show business. Considering their longevity and their success in every single new medium, it is hard to argue with this.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #11 on:** December 21, 2014, 11:02:34 PM

The second ( sorry for the gap ), is another explanation to those of you way younger than me ( which I know is almost everybody ) that the line "everything happens to me" refers to a Top-Ten big-band hit of the same name which would have gotten a laugh as a contemporary reference.

Lefty · **Reply #12 on:** December 22, 2014, 03:18:56 PM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on December 21, 2014, 11:02:34 PM

The second ( sorry for the gap ), is another explanation to those of you way younger than me ( which I know is almost everybody ) that the line "everything happens to me" refers to a Top-Ten big-band hit of the same name which would have gotten a laugh as a contemporary reference.

Present company possibly excluded here!

In the Hogan's Heroes episode "How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis," that song was sung by the woman (played by Doris Singleton) whom the scientist (Karl Swenson) fell in love with. I knew I had heard it somewhere before.

And for our next number on the Lawrence Welk Halloween show, Cyndi Lauper sings, "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun-uh!" Wunnerful, wunnerful!

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #13 on:** March 03, 2015, 12:04:31 AM

Months later, doing it from memory just because I can:

Adirondak!
One-zell two-zell three-zell zam
The buck-tail vinegar tickle and tam
Sick Sam the butcher man
See saw-buck out!

( Lucky! )

Larrys#1 · **Reply #14 on:** March 03, 2015, 12:10:12 PM

This is a pretty good episode. The scene in the woman's apartment was a funny one. It's a slow scene but has some funny bits. I especially found it hilarious when Curly knocks on the door of one of the apartments and just starts knocking on the guy's face. A very short moment there, but very funny.

The army scene is also a good one as is the bayonet practice. However, the whole laughing gas scene was just not my thing. I can see why many enjoy it, but it doesn't do much for me. And I wasn't crazy about the ending either.

Overall, it's not a perfect episode, but still good.

8.5/10

Larrys#1 · **Reply #15 on:** March 03, 2015, 12:12:27 PM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on March 03, 2015, 12:04:31 AM

Months later, doing it from memory just because I can:

Adirondak!
One-zell two-zell three-zell zam
The buck-tail vinegar tickle and tam
Sick Sam the butcher man
See saw-buck out!

( Lucky! )

I used to think it was a stooges thing, but then I discovered later on that it was also done by Chico Marx in DUCK SOUP.

metaldams · **Reply #16 on:** October 30, 2016, 09:38:50 AM

Just watched Laurel and Hardy's THE FIXER-UPPERS (1935) this morning, their second to last short and worth hunting down. While I've seen it and BOOBS IN ARMS before, I never put two and two together until now. Both shorts have the comedians as card salesmen selling cards they wrote themselves. Both run into a distraught wife who has a husband not giving them attention in their mind. Both use the card selling comedians to "make love" to them in front of the husband, making the husband jealous and proving to the highly insecure wife in her mind the husband loves them. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

GreenCanaries · **Reply #17 on:** October 31, 2016, 05:47:54 AM

Quote from: metaldams on October 30, 2016, 09:38:50 AM

Just watched Laurel and Hardy's THE FIXER-UPPERS (1935) this morning, their second to last short and worth hunting down. While I've seen it and BOOBS IN ARMS before, I never put two and two together until now. Both shorts have the comedians as card salesmen selling cards they wrote themselves. Both run into a distraught wife who has a husband not giving them attention in their mind. Both use the card selling comedians to "make love" to them in front of the husband, making the husband jealous and proving to the highly insecure wife in her mind the husband loves them. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I know Felix co-wrote some of L&H's later Roach stuff -- OUR RELATIONS (released the year after UPPERS), WAY OUT WEST, SWISS MISS, BLOCK-HEADS, A CHUMP AT OXFORD, SAPS AT SEA -- so while I cannot confirm, it wouldn't surprise me to find out he had a hand in THE FIXER UPPERS.

Percy Pomeroy · **Reply #18 on:** October 31, 2016, 07:03:34 AM

Moe says, "Oh boy, a bench", when a bench presents itself for the boys to get a little rest. That's a line that I think or sometimes say whenever I come upon a public bench. It's an inside joke for myself. I doubt that my Stoogephile friend would recognize such an obscure line out of context. A lot of lines like that are burned into my memory. I will use them when the opportunity presents itself providing that the person that I'm with knows my sense of humor. Otherwise I would probably come off as a wackjob.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #19 on:** October 31, 2016, 08:27:09 PM

Percy, you come off as a wack job anyway, but my comment is aimed at Metaldams: This one starts with an ECU of Larry with a huge salesman's smile on his face taking a stereo punch in the jaw from the other two, and you think it starts off slow? I always thought this is one of the best openings ever.

Dr. Mabuse · **Reply #20 on:** August 25, 2021, 03:43:16 PM

Another 1940 winner from director Jules White, with one of the Three Stooges' most satisfying (and fatal) endings. This partial reworking of "The Fixer Uppers" reveals how the boys could take Laurel and Hardy material and make it their own. Richard Fiske's most famous role — it's hard to believe he was only 24 at the time of filming.

9/10

Daddy Dewdrop · **Reply #21 on:** September 29, 2021, 01:52:16 PM

Coming in at #126 on my "worst-to-first" countdown is this one. I've never been a huge fan of "service" comedies and this one is just an average effort, IMO. A few good moments, but certainly no classic.

#126. Boobs In Arms

Paul Pain · **Reply #22 on:** September 30, 2021, 07:37:40 AM

Thanks to Daddy Dewdrop for commenting here as I couldn't decide if this one or PUNCH DRUNKS would be revisited next. I haven't seen BOOBS IN ARMS since the 00s at the latest, so this was pleasant to revisit and actually decide that I like it better now than then. I can pay more attention to Richard Fiske now that I am older and appreciate just how much he actually steals the short from the Stooges in many spots. I wonder if Columbia was considering giving Richard his own shorts series or using him to co-star with the likes of Shemp Howard and Monte Collins?