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Higher Than a Kite (1943)

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Offline Paul Pain

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And to further the propaganda notes, later on in BOOBY DUPES, the show actually takes a slight potshot at even our own soldiers!
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Offline Svengarlic

Well, once again you guys have covered it all before I got to the thread. This one is in my top 10.

BTW, I'm pretty sure that "sawdust frankfurter" was a wartime reference to cheap, over sized dogs made with non-meat fillers.


Offline stoogerascalfan62

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I liked it when, as Moe eye-poked Curly, a horn sound effect was used.


Offline Shemp_Diesel

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I liked it when, as Moe eye-poked Curly, a horn sound effect was used.

That may go down as imo, the strangest eyepoke sound effect ever used. Clearly, the people in the Columbia effects department were still searching for that right plunking noise. I don't think it was until 1945 that they found it....

Talbot's body is the perfect home for the Monster's brain, which I will add to and subtract from in my experiments.


Offline Dr. Hugo Gansamacher

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The Stooges go to England to enlist in the RAF, where they are under the supervision of another American on an air base on which the commanding officer drives an American-made car with the steering wheel on the left. Makes perfect sense.

And now it turns out that the actor playing their supervisor is named "Duke York"? Go on with ya!

This short features one of Moe's great agonies, when he has his head stuck in the pipe—a bit of karmic balance for the punishments that he inflicts on his fellow Stooges, perhaps.

It's a lucky thing for the Stooges that the RAF uses giant hollow shells with hinged doors on the back for bombs, and that these shells provide sufficient cushioning to allow a trio of men dropped inside one of them from an airplane to crash through a house into the ground and emerge unscathed.

It's awkward, though, that an English bulldog costumed as a member of the US Marines would be on hand just when Curly is using a portrait of "Schickelgruber" attached to his posterior to effect the Stooges' escape from the Nazis. I suspect, though, that when the bulldog appears to be biting Curly's bum, its place is taken by Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.

As I mentioned last week, if you really think about it, Duke York isn't THAT big.  He's just big compared to most of the regular Stooge cast (including Vernon, Bud, and Stanley).

Here are some screen shots for comparison. Duke York is merely a head taller than the Stooges. I would guess that Vernon Dent was of about the same height. Dick Curtis makes Moe and Curly look as if they are standing in a hole.


Offline GreenCanaries

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Here are some screen shots for comparison. Duke York is merely a head taller than the Stooges. I would guess that Vernon Dent was of about the same height. Dick Curtis makes Moe and Curly look as if they are standing in a hole.

Duke York was 5'11" (going by his Wikipedia page), and Vernon was 5'9". Dick was 6'3".
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Offline Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80

Great Stooge short that seems to get better with each viewing and it's not often you get to see Moe take the brunt of the abuse for a change, I especially love the scene where one of the stooges (can't remember which) slides a crowbar down Moe's mouth and it lands right on his teeth! Another classic scene is Larry as "Moronika" (I've thought Larry made a very convincing woman), a scene where Moe asks Larry what he was doing, Larry replies that he's looking for the squeak and Moe gets abused with the car lifting object at least half a dozen times, the look on Moe's face afterwards is hilarious, as for Curly I've thought he still put on a great performance in this short as he did in many of the later 1943 stooge shorts (with the exception of "Phony Express")

Overall I give this short a 10/10


Offline Dr. Mabuse

A lively wartime effort that I somehow missed until its home-video debut in 1993. Larry enjoys some of the spotlight for a change . . . and we get to see Duke York sans makeup. Judging by the final shot, Del Lord made the most out of that European backlot street — which also shows up in "Wee Wee Monsieur" and "Dutiful but Dumb." Though somewhat disjointed, "Higher Than a Kite" delivers nonstop laughs with the Stooges in top form. Another reason why 1943 was the last solid year of the Curly era.

9/10


Online Larrys#1

This one is ok. First part when the stooges were fixing Kelly's car was really good. A very strong start. But then the second part got too WWII for my taste and felt it went a bit downhill in the second half.

7/10