Topic: What's the Matador? (1942)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/62
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035549/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I've always found this short to be an average Stooge short.  There's nothing particularly wrong with it, just very little that makes it stand out from the rest.  Nothing wrong with an average Stooge short, you're bound to run into these when you have 190 of them.

The one scene I do love is when the Mexican siesta man is giving the boys instructions to see Doroles.  Supposedly, the man is giving them instructions to jump into a river and drown themselves.  Any Spanish speakers who are willing to give a line by line interpretation - it would be much appreciated.  The boy's reactions when the guy is giving the instructions are priceless, especially Larry.

Historically, this short is interesting for a few reasons.  It will go down as the last healthy Curly short that predates Pearl Harbor.  Shot in August 1941, we all know US involvement in WWII really changed Stooge shorts and Hollywood in general, and while not every Stooge short hereafter has a WWII theme, it certainly shows up a lot.  Consider this film the last of an era.

This would be the last of seven Stooge appearances for Dorothy Appleby, even though she has a small role here.  She was a pretty memorable Stooge actress, my favorite role of her's being COOKOO CAVALIERS.  Also Suzanne Kaaren's last Stooge role.  Interesting in that she appeared in three shorts, all shot three years apart.  Out of everything I've seen her in, WHAT'S THE MATADOR is by the far where she gets the most opportunity to really act.  She does a fine job here in a light comic role.

Next week's short I'll have a much stronger opinion on.

7/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

Good, not great is my verdict on this one. Some highlights from this one: Dorothy Appleby's line "go on you're full of bull" to the stooges & Curly's "Listen you--listen you might hear something."

"Mexico, here we come, Gosh!"

"Dear old Mexico, the warmth of your chili will bring new zest to my breast & vice-a-versa".

I also enjoyed Curly defeating the bull & watching this short again, I can't help but think of how gawd-awful the remake with Besser was--but we are still a long way from discussing that clunker.

7 out of 10....




 

[Paul Pain]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/62
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035549/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I've always found this short to be an average Stooge short.  There's nothing particularly wrong with it, just very little that makes it stand out from the rest.  Nothing wrong with an average Stooge short, you're bound to run into these when you have 190 of them.

The one scene I do love is when the Mexican siesta man is giving the boys instructions to see Doroles.  Supposedly, the man is giving them instructions to jump into a river and drown themselves.  Any Spanish speakers who are willing to give a line by line interpretation - it would be much appreciated.  The boy's reactions when the guy is giving the instructions are priceless, especially Larry.

Historically, this short is interesting for a few reasons.  It will go down as the last healthy Curly short that predates Pearl Harbor.  Shot in August 1941, we all know US involvement in WWII really changed Stooge shorts and Hollywood in general, and while not every Stooge short hereafter has a WWII theme, it certainly shows up a lot.  Consider this film the last of an era.

This would be the last of seven Stooge appearances for Dorothy Appleby, even though she has a small role here.  She was a pretty memorable Stooge actress, my favorite role of her's being COOKOO CAVALIERS.  Also Suzanne Kaaren's last Stooge role.  Interesting in that she appeared in three shorts, all shot three years apart.  Out of everything I've seen her in, WHAT'S THE MATADOR is by the far where she gets the most opportunity to really act.  She does a fine job here in a light comic role.

Next week's short I'll have a much stronger opinion on.

Average?  Maybe for Curly standards.  For all 190, though, this is above average.  There are enough shorts where I don't even smile, never mind fail to laugh.  This one at least makes you laugh as you watch it.  If you are wondering, it is too hard to get a line by line breakdown, but I know enough Spanish, and my mother knows even more, to say the man does in fact tell them how to kill themselves.  How did that guy get hello and goodbye reversed anyhow?

One noticeable error: everyone somehow knows English here, including the announcer in the ring.  Why would he speak Spanish or Delores' husband?  Stooges stretching our imaginations there.  Just like every alien race in Star Trek magically speaks fluent English.  I look forward to most of the next few shorts, including MATRI-PHONY, however.

[Lefty]

I would call it a good short, not necessarily top-10 material, but good nonetheless.  We have Larry vs. Harry (Burns, who played Jose) in a battle of Philadelphians, and Pedro Alvarez, who went from basically a casting director to the bullring announcer to third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Somewhere I have a translation of the directions, but I do know that the guy was telling the Stooges to drown in the river after basically telling them to go around in circles, when they were right near Dolores' abode.

"We don't wanna see Esther, we wanna see Gail Tempest!"  Oops, mixing our shows here.   
 
The bullfighting scenes were pretty good.  "Suelte la toro" -- for a phenomenal nominal fee, of course.  And other than Curly getting knocked out on that bar, it was a rare win for the Stooges at the end.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

By no means bad at all, but a lot of old, old jokes.  " I play the front of the bull and he's...he's in the bull, too! "
" How dare you hug my wife in front of my eyes? "  "Well, turn around, I'll hug her behind your back! "  " Haunt that house! "  " How many rooms? "  " Seven. "  " With bath? "  Many times the stooges can give an old bit new spin, as in Niagara Falls, which they made their own, but these are vaudeville/burlesque chestnuts, as is the situation of three guys in a married woman's bedroom.  Not complaining, mind you: if I've gotta watch comedians doing old jokes, the stooges ( or Berle ) would be my choice, but this is pretty lazy scriptwriting.

[JazzBill]

I just watched it again and I find nothing wrong with it. The story moves along fine and the boys are in good form, especially Curly. There's plenty of sight gags and real bullfighting scenes to boot. I rate it a solid 8.

[metaldams]

Average?  Maybe for Curly standards.  For all 190, though, this is above average.

Yes, average by Curly standards.  Certainly better than all but the best of the later Curly shorts and about anything past 1953 - certainly the Besser remake.

[Kopfy2013]

Funniest part was at the end when Curly bangs his head on the post when he is being carried on the shoulders of the people.

This is an enjoyable short. And as metal says that is okay nothing wrong with that. I think the story is fine and the execution is done well.

Dolores by the way is the dancing girl that played in 'Disorder in the Court"

I give the short an 8.

[Lefty]

Based upon the closed captioning the last time I saw that, this is what the Mexican said in his directions to the Stooges:

Vaya usted, en esta calle, tres cuadras.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted dos cuadras.  A la izquierda, cruza usted la plaza, y entonces da vuelta a la derecha.  Sigue en esa calle y usted se encuentra un callejón.  No se meta en ese callejón.  Pero sigue usted en la calle, se encuentra otro callejón, pero tampoco se mete en ese callejón.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted en esa calle, y se encuentra usted con un rio.  Hágame el favor:  échese usted en el rio, y ahógar usted es mismos.

(It loses a little in the Google Translator, but we know what his intent was.)

Go you, on this street, three blocks. Turn right, follow you two blocks. On the left, you cross the street, and then turn right. Keep on this road and you will find an alley. Do not get into that alley. But you keep on the street is another alley, but neither gets into that alley. Turn right, follow you on that street, and you will find a river. Do me a favor: you pour in the river and drown them you are.

[metaldams]

Based upon the closed captioning the last time I saw that, this is what the Mexican said in his directions to the Stooges:

Vaya usted, en esta calle, tres cuadras.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted dos cuadras.  A la izquierda, cruza usted la plaza, y entonces da vuelta a la derecha.  Sigue en esa calle y usted se encuentra un callejón.  No se meta en ese callejón.  Pero sigue usted en la calle, se encuentra otro callejón, pero tampoco se mete en ese callejón.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted en esa calle, y se encuentra usted con un rio.  Hágame el favor:  échese usted en el rio, y ahógar usted es mismos.

(It loses a little in the Google Translator, but we know what his intent was.)

Go you, on this street, three blocks. Turn right, follow you two blocks. On the left, you cross the street, and then turn right. Keep on this road and you will find an alley. Do not get into that alley. But you keep on the street is another alley, but neither gets into that alley. Turn right, follow you on that street, and you will find a river. Do me a favor: you pour in the river and drown them you are.

Thanks Lefty, I appreciate that.

That awkward Google translator reminds me of my days over ten years back when I was taking a Spanish course in college!

[Lefty]

Thanks Lefty, I appreciate that.

That awkward Google translator reminds me of my days over ten years back when I was taking a Spanish course in college!

I took Hebrew, something I knew quite well all those decades ago, in high school.  As for Spanish, I used to watch "Lucha Libre" out of the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, where ring announcer Jimmy Lennon was the only one speaking English ("the Mayyy-nee-ac Tohhh-los").  At least I knew who most of the wrestlers were.  It was shown on Channel 41 from Paterson, N.J., which I got with other New York channels by turning a thing which controlled the antenna on the roof (and not one that was put up by the Stooges).

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Ah, good-bye!

Based upon the closed captioning the last time I saw that, this is what the Mexican said in his directions to the Stooges:

Vaya usted, en esta calle, tres cuadras.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted dos cuadras.  A la izquierda, cruza usted la plaza, y entonces da vuelta a la derecha.  Sigue en esa calle y usted se encuentra un callejón.  No se meta en ese callejón.  Pero sigue usted en la calle, se encuentra otro callejón, pero tampoco se mete en ese callejón.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted en esa calle, y se encuentra usted con un rio.  Hágame el favor:  échese usted en el rio, y ahógar usted es mismos.

(It loses a little in the Google Translator, but we know what his intent was.)

Go you, on this street, three blocks. Turn right, follow you two blocks. On the left, you cross the street, and then turn right. Keep on this road and you will find an alley. Do not get into that alley. But you keep on the street is another alley, but neither gets into that alley. Turn right, follow you on that street, and you will find a river. Do me a favor: you pour in the river and drown them you are.

Thanks. I know Spanish well enough to have understood, when I have watched the short, that he's telling Moe to go left or right for this or that many blocks, on and on, and then, "Hágame el favor," to do something when he comes to a river; but I never understood the last bit. Now I know! Here is my translation, which I think is an improvement on Google's. I have also corrected the transcription, which should say "ahógense ustedes mismo" at the end, rather than "ahógar usted es mismos," an error that produces the Yoda-like oddity at the end of the Google version:

"Go down this street three blocks. Turn right and continue two blocks. On the left, cross the square and then turn right. Continue down that street and you will come to an alley. Don't go into that alley, but continue down the street and you will come to another alley, but don't go into that alley either. Turn right, follow the street, and you will come to a river. Do me a favor: throw yourself into the river and drown yourselves."

The grammatical switch in the last clause follows the original. Up to that point, he uses the singular form, addressing Moe alone, but in that last clause, he switches to the plural, addressing all three of the boys.

Hello!

[TiskaTaskaBaska]

I also find this one average; prone to a jump to the next short. The only reasons I hang on are.....my fascination with this woman's siesta outfit. I thought a siesta was more of a sleep-at-your-desk type thing, but this woman has the most beautiful nightgown I've ever seen, with a sheer overskirt, anklestrap high heels, even a head decoration. It's like a two hour nap, is this necessary? I like this outfit waaaay more than the ugly turban thing she was wearing on the bus. She is also really too good looking for her husband. He is obviously a wife abuser; someone that violent isn't not hitting his wife. And, last but not least, someone with a sick stomach would never take aspirin. Anyway, those are my usual random thoughts on a Stooges short. I give this one a 6.

[Paul Pain]

Vaya usted, en esta calle, tres cuadras.  Da vuelta a la derecha; sigue usted dos cuadras.  A la izquierda, cruza usted la plaza, y entonces da vuelta a la derecha.  Sigue en esa calle y usted se encuentra un callejón.  No se mete en ese callejón.  Pero sigue usted en la calle, se encuentra otro callejón, pero tampoco se mete en ese callejón.  Da vuelta a la derecha, sigue usted en esa calle, y se encuentra usted con un rio.  Hágame el favor:  échese usted en el rio, y ahógar ustedes mismos."

Here's Paul Pain's transcription based on the Spanish he has learned over the years, better than Google translate's:

"You go, in this street, 3 blocks.  Turn right; you continue 2 blocks and turn to the left.  You cross the plaza and then turn right.  Continue in this street, and you will find an alley.  Do not enter this alley.  But you continue on this street, and you find another alley, but do no not enter this alley either.  Turn to the right, and you continue on this street, and you will find a river.  Do me a favor: lie down in the river and drown yourselves the same."

It's about the same as Dr. Hugo's, but I'm being a little bit pickier with some of the grammar because I found some errors in Lefty's closed captioning, but I would like to watch it before I say much more here.  Neat that he's actually speaking Spanish though!

[Larrys#1]

This episode may seem a tad slow at times, but it does have some funny, enjoyable parts such as the siesta bit and the jealous husband scene. The actor who played the jealous husband was great and was hilarious. Now, the actor in SAPPY BULL FIGHTERS on the other hand.... well that is another issue, but I'll get to that when reach that episode. By that time, I'll be older and wiser. The bullfight scene is very enjoyable to watch too.

Now an interesting question.... did Curly really drink all that water? It looks like that part was sped up to look like Curly drank it fast, but I always wondered if he really had to drink all that without stopping??

Anyways, this is an enjoyable episode. As I said, it can be slow at times, but still is a joy to watch.

8.5/10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

My guess is there was a tube coming out of the water jug on the off-camera side.

[VaudevilleFan]

Here's Paul Pain's transcription based on the Spanish he has learned over the years, better than Google translate's:

"You go, in this street, 3 blocks.  Turn right; you continue 2 blocks and turn to the left.  You cross the plaza and then turn right.  Continue in this street, and you will find an alley.  Do not enter this alley.  But you continue on this street, and you find another alley, but do no not enter this alley either.  Turn to the right, and you continue on this street, and you will find a river.  Do me a favor: lie down in the river and drown yourselves the same."

It's about the same as Dr. Hugo's, but I'm being a little bit pickier with some of the grammar because I found some errors in Lefty's closed captioning, but I would like to watch it before I say much more here.  Neat that he's actually speaking Spanish though!

I love how they did that to get us all thinking!

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

A short that I find to be really good but not great, also is it just me or did the eyepoke Moe give to Larry seem more painful than ever? That eyepoke there looked like it really hurt, there weren't really any classic scenes in this short but I did find it to be an enjoyable, above average stooge short to watch from the beginning to the end.

While this short isn't a classic but it is a masterpiece compared to its remake "Sappy Bullfighters", I give "Matador" an 8/10

[Dr. Mabuse]

Second-tier Stooges — highlighted by the classic bullfight and a memorable supporting cast. Interestingly enough, with the exception of Charley Chase's "The Old Raid Mule" (1938), all of Dorothy Appleby's Columbia two-reelers were directed by Jules White. The always-reliable Eddie Laughton plays two roles in this short. Uneven but fun.

7.5/10

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Another average Curly effort.  Never saw the attraction with bull-fighting in general, so that doesn't help.

#146. What's The Matador?

[Samurai]

I agree with Metal about it being an average Curly (and an average Curly is still more entertaining than 98.3% of all network sitcoms over the last 25 years). I also concur in that my favorite scene was with Sleeping Beauty/Tamale/Gordito...(especially Moe stating he probably eats soup with a knife).

I only knew enough Spanish to go down the street(s), turn right then left and end up in the river. I thank our intrepid interpreters for filling in the blanks.

I hope you enjoy this post too many.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

In the spirit of renaming stooge shorts ( ie Crash Goes The Hash becomes The Iceman Dumbeth ) I've flashed on an alternative title for this one, which is probably not even as good as the original, in fact I know it's worse, and definitely too hip for the room unless you're familiar with Parkinson's disease and it's treatment.  Nonetheless, in its way it fits, and remember you've been warned:  El Dopa.