Topic: Dizzy Pilots (1943)

[Shemp_Diesel]

I had some more musings about the use of stock footage--but I think I'll save it until we get into the meat of the Shemp years. Then I'll feel free to cut loose...   

[Paul Pain]

Watched this and enjoyed it immensely.

[metaldams]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PCyiPdF23Q0/R-Z7XQhrseI/AAAAAAAAAJA/yPba3-vs6fE/s1600-h/Judy+with+3+Stooges.jpg

[Larrys#1]

This is a pretty good episode. My minor complaint with it is that I thought the part where Moe gets stuck on the painted rubber dragged on a little bit longer than I expected. But the rest of the episode is very funny. I especially like the part where Curly wants a "contract" and the part where he corrects Moe's English because he wants him to "saw the garage." Very funny bit. And the part where the stooges test their plane is hilarious. It always bugs me though that if Curly didn't break the wire with his foot, they probably would have passed the test flight. The stooges were so close, but managed to mess things up as they always do. It's a shame that budget problems during this time caused them to reuse the army footage, but it was edited very nicely into the story. I actually saw this episode before BOOBS IN ARMS and had no idea that was reused footage until I saw BOOBS IN ARMS later on.

Great episode.

8.5/10

[BeatleShemp]

I used to watch this one a lot.  Yeah the rubber scene dragged a bit.  I have always loved the Moe/Larry scenes while Curly or Shemp are doing there own stuff, but I also have an immense fondess for Curly/Larry scenes as well.  And the bit with the rope where Curly snagged Larry with it cracks me up every time.  It's a scene that I rewind all of the time.  Very similar to the bit in Pardon My Clutch where Larry gets snared by the rope in that's being tossed over the load.  The rifle/shotgun part was a hilarious exchange.  The logic.  Classic.  This one rules.  9 out of 10.

OOh, and when Curly smashes Moe's hand in the vice.  He just drops everything because Moe said "Now."  Another funny part.

[Tony Bensley]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/74
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035814/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Another WWII short......kind of, sort of.  If you notice the letter the boys receive about their military deferment for one month to give them time to work on their plane, it is from The Republic of Canabeer, not the U.S. Government.  This I believe goes back to PresidentWardRobey's theory about the dream sequence in I CAN HARDLY WAIT and for what we know as fact concerning some naval scene in Abbott and Costello's IN THE NAVY.  If you're going to make the armed forces, war effort, or government look comical, make sure it's some way divorced from reality or in this case, blatantly stating it's not the United States.  Governments in general tend not to have a sense of humor about themselves, but enough of my political observations.

Anyway, for the most part this is a typical cartoonish Jules White short, and in this case I view it as a good thing.  The image of Moe in the gas inflated burning rubber floating in the air to me is one of the all time great Stooge visuals.  I don't have too much else to say about the actual comedy other than I find it to be well paced and satisfying. I'll give props to Larry's going steady line, a rare homosexual reference in a 1940's film.  Innocent by today's standards, of course.

I will show some disappointment with the use of stock footage from BOOBS IN ARMS.  The ending itself felt slapped together.  If you click on the link above to the threestooges.net page on this short, you will see a photo of Judy Malcolm and the never to be seen in a Stooge short Sethma Williams pictured with the boys and listed as being in a deleted scene.  I can't help but wonder if their scene was shot and deleted in place of the stock footage?  Who knows, I can come up with a million conspiracy theories, but I have no facts on the issue to back anything up.

8/10

I noticed that in the recycled footage from BOOBS IN ARMS (1940), Curly's "I won't do it, he don't pay my salary, it's a guy with a beard!" (A then very obvious Uncle Sam reference!) line comes perilously close to shattering the "Divorce from Reality" where any U.S. references are concerned!  Perhaps the only reason that it slipped by was due to the scene having already been previously approved by the Production Code?

CHEERS! 

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

Great episode but was a little disappointed when they've decided to add footage from "Boobs In Arms" towards the end of the episode considering how great this episode was, the scene where Moe goes up like a balloon is one of my all time favorite Stooge moments and the methods Curly & Larry use to get him down are a classic! This short also features one of my favorite Larry moments where he was asking Moe & Curly if they're going steady, of course Moe slaps him for that line!

Overall I give this short a 9/10 (would've been a 10/10 if it wasn't for the "Boobs In Arms" footage).

[Percy Pomeroy]

Solid short. Not one of the greats, but very entertaining nonetheless. 8/10.

My favorite bit, that has not been mentioned, is when Moe orders Larry to roll him a cigarette in an open cockpit plane. A quick thinking Larry hands Moe a cigar instead.

[Dr. Mabuse]

The high-energy "Dizzy Pilots" should have ended at the 14-minute mark. Jules White's tacked-on stock footage is reminiscent of "Dizzy Detectives" — another potentially great short marred by unnecessary padding.

8/10

[metaldams]

The high-energy "Dizzy Pilots" should have ended at the 14-minute mark. Jules White's tacked-on stock footage is reminiscent of "Dizzy Detectives" — another potentially great short marred by unnecessary padding.

8/10

Agreed.  Both shorts seemed long enough as is without the stock footage.  Really makes no sense why it had to be added.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

It was a great short even with the used ending.

[metaldams]

It was a great short even with the used ending.

My job is to nitpick. 

Look, you’re ultimately right. The stock footage in itself is entertaining and doesn’t take up the time it would in the later Shemp years, but there’s still a part of me that wishes new footage could have been there.  The new footage we do get in itself feels almost complete.  But yeah, ultimately the goal of this short is to entertain, and it more than does its job.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

As you know, I am not a fan of the rehashes, and much less so as they became routine, but this one was good the first time around and is still good the second time around.  Plus the first fourteen minutes are so great that the rerun ending is forgivable,  at least to my taste.  It does make me wonder, though, what the technical glitch was that caused the rerun - they were very rare at that point. 
     Plus, I have no idea why I'm suddenly able to post again.

[metaldams]

As you know, I am not a fan of the rehashes, and much less so as they became routine, but this one was good the first time around and is still good the second time around.  Plus the first fourteen minutes are so great that the rerun ending is forgivable,  at least to my taste.  It does make me wonder, though, what the technical glitch was that caused the rerun - they were very rare at that point. 
     Plus, I have no idea why I'm suddenly able to post again.

Well, in this thread, I do mention and post a picture of the boys with Judy Malcolm and another actress from this film.  Maybe their scene had to be cut and the stock footage made up for it.  I have theories - maybe a Harold Lloyd gag was used around the time of the court case? - but I know of no definitive reason.

Glad you can post again.  I really wish I had an answer to the tech difficulties.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

We'll never know, I guess, unless one of the Stoogeum  Napoleons finds an original script.  And it's very nice to be back, I've been  plugging away all along with little success - if I disappear again, it's because I know as much about computers as I know about Zimbabwean lacrosse.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

God, I can't believe that posted.

[GreenCanaries]

I've recently begun thinking that Judy Malcolm and Sethma Williams actually never had anything to do with the film at all, but were only in the still photos for publicity purposes. I have seen some other Stooge stills (I think one I'm thinking of right now is from SO LONG MR. CHUMPS, but I can't find the picture at this moment) that see the boys posing with girls whom I don't remember being in the finished film.

Plus, the 3S.net page for this film mentions that the script never specifies what Judy and Sethma had to do with the film.

[metaldams]

I've recently begun thinking that Judy Malcolm and Sethma Williams actually never had anything to do with the film at all, but were only in the still photos for publicity purposes. I have seen some other Stooge stills (I think one I'm thinking of right now is from SO LONG MR. CHUMPS, but I can't find the picture at this moment) that see the boys posing with girls whom I don't remember being in the finished film.

Plus, the 3S.net page for this film mentions that the script never specifies what Judy and Sethma had to do with the film.

Well, I can guarantee you my Harold Lloyd guess was wrong - he didn’t sue until 1946.

You may be right in that it was just a publicity shot they were there for and nothing more.

[Paul Pain]

I watched this one this morning and must say I notice some little things a lot better on my 3rd ever viewing of this short.

First thing was Larry. He makes some great faces while Moe and Curly create chaos during the early parts and during the flight scene.  Once again, Porcupine is an unsung hero.

Second thing was that they used hydrogen on Moe.  This was a clever little bit on the part of production, correctly noting that hydrogen is violently explosive for when Curly shoots Moe down.

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Another average Curly effort.

#107. Dizzy Pilots