Spook Louder (1943)

metaldams · **Reply #50 on:** May 24, 2016, 10:59:04 AM

Just watched Harold Lloyd's I DO (1921), recently. Let's just say he had a haunted balloon attached to him as well.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #51 on:** June 20, 2016, 10:39:24 PM

I love this. Here we are two years later, and this one, just about my favorite, is still getting comments, the latest from the mighty Metaldams. Here's one more comment from me, that I forgot amongst the general mayhem: how does a meathead like Curly know Rachmaninov's Prelude?

Paul Pain · **Reply #52 on:** June 21, 2016, 08:08:51 AM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on June 20, 2016, 10:39:24 PM

how does a meathead like Curly know Rachmaninov's Prelude?

I wondered that myself, but I love the Prelude. In an eerie twist, Sergei died just 5 days before this short was released.

Also just noticed that the butler was none other than Charles Middleton, who, relative to this site, served as the commandant of the French Foreign Legion in BEAU HUNKS and THE FLYING DEUCES.

MrsMorganMorgan · **Reply #53 on:** June 23, 2016, 03:07:43 PM

I'm just making my way through the shorts I've missed....I've always thought this one was exceedingly poor story-wise and somewhat execution-wise. First of all, the secretary is wearing the dress that Mary Ainslee is wearing in "In the Sweet Pie and Pie" during the scene when the Stooges shoulder-throw the gals. And if Richard Fiske hadn't been in the service by this time he definitely would have played the reporter. Anyway, things start out bad with Symona wearing that ugly dress (which was unlike her; she used her own dresses in the shorts and usually they were attractive). The story is sad and poor; usually anything told in flashback is. There are fun moments; the Yo-Ho clock, that fat little white kitten, Moe in the rocking chair making those awesome noises and then that scream of ages when his hair flies straight up (Giggles McFlintstone reused this, does anyone think?). And Curly with a balloon hooked to the back of his jacket is better than anyone else doing anything with a balloon. But come on; calling Curly a Jap spy? What the hell are the three guys doing in costume? Even Blystone saying, "Why do you suppose we're wearing these costumes?" doesn't excuse it. And the pies; that is the dumbest-ass plot development there ever was. The whole thing makes zero sense. Why was the reporter so obsessed with knowing who threw the pies? Who cares? No one who made this short cared so neither should we. I give this a 4. Terrible piece of crap and the only reason it's not a zero is because the Stooges are in it!!

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #54 on:** July 08, 2016, 01:01:38 AM

Mrs. MM, I love you and I love to see you back,and I knew you when you were Tiska Taska Baska, but I can't leave your comment for last: Who cares? I care, and this one kills me. Plot? Feh. Common sense? Feh. Unscary villian costumes? Feh. Cracks me up, this one does. Want a masterpiece, watch All About Eve. Just jotting this answer has inspired me to go watch Spook Louder again. Right now. I love it.

Paul Pain · **Reply #55 on:** July 08, 2016, 04:48:42 AM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on July 08, 2016, 01:01:38 AM

Mrs. MM, I love you and I love to see you back,and I knew you when you were Tiska Taska Baska, but I can't leave your comment for last: Who cares? I care, and this one kills me. Plot? Feh. Common sense? Feh. Unscary villian costumes? Feh. Cracks me up, this one does. Want a masterpiece, watch All About Eve. Just jotting this answer has inspired me to go watch Spook Louder again. Right now. I love it.

I got a chuckle that, of all movies, you chose All About Eve, a movie from the same time that is everything the Stooges aren't!

Play Liebesträume, Big Chief. AGAIN!

MrsMorganMorgan · **Reply #56 on:** July 29, 2016, 12:01:56 PM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on July 08, 2016, 01:01:38 AM

Who cares? I care, and this one kills me. Plot? Feh. Common sense? Feh. Unscary villian costumes? Feh. Cracks me up, this one does. Want a masterpiece, watch All About Eve. Just jotting this answer has inspired me to go watch Spook Louder again. Right now. I love it.

I'm sorry; I guess I missed the purpose of these reviews; I thought they were to air our opinions about whether the shorts are good are not. And pardon me again if I'm wrong, but plot and something making sense or not has a lot to do with whether something is good or not. But I guess I'm wrong. Though we are all fans of the Stooges and hold them in high regard I think it's a stretch to call any short a masterpiece so no, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to say if I think something sucks I'll tell you I think it sucks and I'll tell you why I think it sucks. Big Chief, this one sucks with ice cubes. And I think I write awesome reviews.

As Bette Davis would say buckle up Big Chief. We're in for a bumpy ride~

Paul Pain · **Reply #57 on:** July 29, 2016, 02:55:08 PM

Quote from: MrsMorganMorgan on July 29, 2016, 12:01:56 PM

I'm sorry; I guess I missed the purpose of these reviews; I thought they were to air our opinions about whether the shorts are good are not. And pardon me again if I'm wrong, but plot and something making sense or not has a lot to do with whether something is good or not. But I guess I'm wrong. Though we are all fans of the Stooges and hold them in high regard I think it's a stretch to call any short a masterpiece so no, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to say if I think something sucks I'll tell you I think it sucks and I'll tell you why I think it sucks. Big Chief, this one sucks with ice cubes. And I think I write awesome reviews. As Bette Davis would say buckle up Big Chief. We're in for a bumpy ride~

AGAIN!

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #58 on:** April 06, 2018, 01:43:12 AM

O K , it's a year and a half later, and I've surfed this thread a few times since, and after due consideration I'm bummed that this one, given how downright jolly most of the discussion was, and on such a funny flick, one of my personal very favorites, ended on such a sour note. The final dispute seemed to be between Mrs Morgan Morgan and me, somehow, so, Mrs. M M ( or Tiska Taska Baska, as I used to whisper in your ear on those mad nights on the Venetian gondolas ), please forgive me if any of my witty comments offended, or caused you to disappear from our conclave. You may notice that some of us have doubled back to make additional comments on previously discussed Stooge classics. I think I speak for everybody on this site when I invite you and your glamorous opinions back.

TwoOunceBrain · **Reply #59 on:** April 13, 2018, 07:21:03 PM

I wonder why this short was not part of TBS' Three Stooges Fright Night marathon they did in the early '90s. I think it would be a better replacement short for Three Pests In a Mess, since the latter is not really a scare comedy.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #60 on:** May 04, 2019, 06:10:47 PM

Am I on?

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #61 on:** May 04, 2019, 06:20:52 PM

Ooooh, how about that, I think I'm on. Just want to let you know that this past week I watched two W C Fields movies that I'd never seen before, and Lew Kelley is in both of them! And in both of them he plays a cop. In The Old Fashioned Way ( which turns out to be terrific ), he plays a sheriff who's the hammy singer's boyfriend, and in Man On The Flying Trapeze ( not as great as the other ) he is the neighborhood watch cop who tries to bust the two burglars but instead ends up getting drunk with them. Oddly, he's not billed in Old Fashioned Way, though his part is bigger than it is in Trapeze, where he is billed.
I still can't figure out why some of my posts go through and others don't.

metaldams · **Reply #62 on:** May 04, 2019, 07:10:18 PM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on May 04, 2019, 06:20:52 PM

Ooooh, how about that, I think I'm on. Just want to let you know that this past week I watched two W C Fields movies that I'd never seen before, and Lew Kelley is in both of them! And in both of them he plays a cop. In The Old Fashioned Way ( which turns out to be terrific ), he plays a sheriff who's the hammy singer's boyfriend, and in Man On The Flying Trapeze ( not as great as the other ) he is the neighborhood watch cop who tries to bust the two burglars but instead ends up getting drunk with them. Oddly, he's not billed in Old Fashioned Way, though his part is bigger than it is in Trapeze, where he is billed.
I still can't figure out why some of my posts go through and others don't.

For prime Lew Kelley, I suggest the 1942 Bela Lugosi Monogram cheapie, BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT. Lew gets to upkeep an underground graveyard with zombies and drug addicts, yet he didn't get nominated for anything.

I'll have to rewatch those Fields films for Lew, but I'm usually too busy checking out W.C. I love both those films you mentioned and along with IT'S A GIFT and YOU'RE TELLING ME, make up what I feel to be Fields best body of work. THE BANK DICK is the only Universal film I think that is as good as those prime Paramount four. In TRAPEZE, Kathleen Howard as Field's wife is almost as good as he is, and for Ed Wood fans, one of the wrestlers is none other than Tor Johnson!

Fields has a body of work barely bigger than the Marx Brothers and I always wanted to do it, but the interest doesn't seem there.

Also bizarre how you can post on some threads and not others. I really wish I had an answer.

metaldams · **Reply #63 on:** May 04, 2019, 09:27:21 PM

So I was just about inspired to watch THE OLD FASHIONED WAY and yes, Lew Kelley does have a big role in it! Amazing he wasn't billed. He needs a new agent,

metaldams · **Reply #64 on:** May 05, 2019, 10:16:50 PM

For some news linked to this short.

http://moronika.com/forums/index.php?topic=6476.msg54884#msg54884

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #65 on:** July 27, 2019, 06:16:13 PM

O K, here's a treat: speaking of Lew Kelley, and thence The Old Fashioned Way
and thence W.C. Fields, I've just discovered a you tube clip of George Gobel singing The Fatal Glass of Beer. It's slightly longer than Fields"s version, but conveys the same sense of idiotic melancholy. I think the youTube clip is titled George Gobel Comedian. NOW comes the important part: that clip will lead you to a clip called George Gobel The Audience Rose with a Hey Diddle Diddle. This is fantastic, especially if your'e my age and used to see Gobel only on game shows and talk shows in the '70's and wondered what exactly he did. He always played the part of a washed-up country singer, and was so amusing and believable at it that it was easy to buy into it. Then out of nowhere this supposed old-timer shows up on the ( late '60's ) Johnny Cash show. walks into the belly of the beast and blows the roof off the joint. It's truly heart-warming and the audience, Johnny Cash's audience, the toughest country audience in the world, goes nuts. Truly, give yourselves a treat and watch this.

metaldams · **Reply #66 on:** July 28, 2019, 06:54:44 PM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on July 27, 2019, 06:16:13 PM

O K, here's a treat: speaking of Lew Kelley, and thence The Old Fashioned Way
and thence W.C. Fields, I've just discovered a you tube clip of George Gobel singing The Fatal Glass of Beer. It's slightly longer than Fields"s version, but conveys the same sense of idiotic melancholy. I think the youTube clip is titled George Gobel Comedian. NOW comes the important part: that clip will lead you to a clip called George Gobel The Audience Rose with a Hey Diddle Diddle. This is fantastic, especially if your'e my age and used to see Gobel only on game shows and talk shows in the '70's and wondered what exactly he did. He always played the part of a washed-up country singer, and was so amusing and believable at it that it was easy to buy into it. Then out of nowhere this supposed old-timer shows up on the ( late '60's ) Johnny Cash show. walks into the belly of the beast and blows the roof off the joint. It's truly heart-warming and the audience, Johnny Cash's audience, the toughest country audience in the world, goes nuts. Truly, give yourselves a treat and watch this.

joe strubachincoskow · **Reply #67 on:** August 18, 2019, 08:15:10 AM

This episode contains the best Moe scream ( seeing the devil outside the window - I think it must have had an equal effect on the editors as they recycled it when Curly's ballon pops) in my collective recall.

Dr. Mabuse · **Reply #68 on:** February 28, 2020, 05:27:51 PM

The first Stooge two-reeler with a flashback structure and the only short to feature the great Charles Middleton (in a disappointingly small role as the butler). Middleton also had a supporting role in Columbia's "Batman" serial around this time. No classic, but lots of fun.

7.5/10

metaldams · **Reply #69 on:** February 28, 2020, 05:41:40 PM

Out of all the reviews, this one has the most views. When the second volume of Mack Sennett films comes out on blu-ray, THE GREAT PIE MYSTERY will be on it. Supposed to be similar to SPOOK LOUDER, would love to see how much.

Dr. Mabuse · **Reply #70 on:** October 20, 2021, 07:58:00 PM

I revisited "Spook Louder" tonight and noticed a continuity error involving Charles Middleton, who appears in a scene at the 6:00 mark — then disappears at the 6:36 mark before the scene ends.

Daddy Dewdrop · **Reply #71 on:** December 22, 2021, 06:50:20 AM

I've always been a fan of the "scare" comedies, so I like one a bit more than most around here. It's not classic Curly, but still a fun one to watch from time to time.

#93. Spook Louder