Topic: Three Little Twirps (1943)

[metaldams]

Watched "Three Little Twirps" last night and it still holds up — an improvement over director Harry Edwards' uneven "Matri-Phony." The circus setting works better for the Stooges than the Marx Brothers, since I consider "At the Circus" their weakest film. Has anyone noticed that the short awkwardly fades in while Moe, Larry and Curly finish harmonizing? A pity the vocal interlude was cut, since the short only runs 15 minutes.

8/10

Both of the Harry Edwards shorts have weird edits and fades, though more so Matri-Phony.

Harry Langdon is my guess for the reason why Edwards had a job at Columbia.  Edwards left around the time Langdon died.  That, combined with the Stooge and Vera Vague boycotts probably did him in.

A shame, he did good stuff with prime Langdon,

[Paul Pain]

Care to fill us in further on what you mea by the "Stooge and Vera Vague boycotts" are?  I know that Vera was one of Columbia's few starring comediennes.

[GreenCanaries]

Care to fill us in further on what you mea by the "Stooge and Vera Vague boycotts" are?  I know that Vera was one of Columbia's few starring comediennes.

The Stooges and Vera both found Edwards to be so incompetent that they refused to work with him again -- the Stooges after two shorts (MATRI-PHONY, THREE LITTLE TWIRPS), and Vera after one (STRIFE OF THE PARTY).

[fayremead]

This film appears to have inspired at least two cartoons by "MAD's Maddest Artist" Don Martin. In MAD  #73, September 1962, he gives us "The Veterinarian" -- who tries to euthanize a terminal-looking horse only to discover two men in costume. In "Late One Afternoon in the Dungeon" (#269, March 1987), prisoners are offered a job at a circus-like fair which sounds lucrative until they find that deadly weapons are to be thrown at them.

Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site https://www.madcoversite.com/mad073-16.html

[metaldams]

This film appears to have inspired at least two cartoons by "MAD's Maddest Artist" Don Martin. In MAD  #73, September 1962, he gives us "The Veterinarian" -- who tries to euthanize a terminal-looking horse only to discover two men in costume. In "Late One Afternoon in the Dungeon" (#269, March 1987), prisoners are offered a job at a circus-like fair which sounds lucrative until they find that deadly weapons are to be thrown at them.

We got our resident Mad expert now.  Good info and welcome to the board.

[I. Cheatam]

Beat it, Grandpa, we got no time for kibbitzers!

[Samurai]

Has anyone noticed that the short awkwardly fades in while Moe, Larry and Curly finish harmonizing? A pity the vocal interlude was cut, since the short only runs 15 minutes.

I never had prior to today, but you are absolutely correct. That wasn't a cold opening, it was sub-zero.

I also just noticed how odd the first scene ended with Curly. After he gets the bucket of paste on his own head, he removes the bucket and nothing else happens, except a cut to some recycled circus footage. There were other less obvious moments where editing probably saved the lack of direction. Del Lord should have stood up from the Producer's couch, and into the Director's chair.

Finally: EFFIE...EFFIE!

Man, was I all wrong about her. I always 'knew' it was a man in drag with a dubbed voice, and would have bet heavily on it. I also assumed Anita Sharp-Bolster was a joke name, like Sillius Soddus or Biggus Dickus (or Mahatma Kane Jeeves). Stills from 'Saboteur' (and other IMDB shots) sealed my new reality. Just another reason I come here. We are never too old to learn...although I'm damn close. 

[I. Cheatam]

Both of the Harry Edwards shorts have weird edits and fades, though more so Matri-Phony.

Harry Langdon is my guess for the reason why Edwards had a job at Columbia.  Edwards left around the time Langdon died.  That, combined with the Stooge and Vera Vague boycotts probably did him in.

A shame, he did good stuff with prime Langdon,

He directed Langdon's final film Pistol Packin' Nitwits (filmed in 1944, not released until April 4, 1945, seven months after Langdon's death) in which he was teamed with Swedish-dialect comedian El Brendel. As usual, Edwards' direction wasn't up to par and Columbia hired soundman Ed Bernds, who at the time was getting his feet wet at directing, to helm the rest of the picture. Bernds later admitted he was not proud of the finished product and dubbed it "A Columbia mistake." Brendel's contract with Columbia was also terminated after Langdon's death in October 1944.