http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/84http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037550/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 I'm going to get an early start this week, as I have Black Friday off from work.
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BOOBY DUPES will go down as the last Del Lord directed Curly short and he only has one more short left with Shemp, but that's not for another few years. From this point forward, the Hugh McCollum unit of the shorts department will belong to some young guy named Edward Bernds. I have to say, even though the later Del Lord shorts are not up to his own incredibly high standards, he ends his Curly run here on a pretty good note, as I do enjoy this short.
Like a few other Stooge films, including the short we'll be discussing in two weeks, BOOBY DUPES takes some ideas from a Laurel and Hardy film, in this case the classic TOWED IN A HOLE. The ideas are the fresh fish sales pitch and the idea of purchasing a boat and fixing it up. Naturally, Stan and Ollie get a chance to milk the fixing the boat gag at a much slower pace than The Three Stooges, while Moe, Larry, and Curly go for the quick, fast paced knocks. I appreciate both styles, though I have to admit Stan and Ollie's interpretation stands out much more in their filmography as special than the Stooge interpretation, which feels like standard Stooge fare, but hey, I like standard Stooge fare.
My favorite part of this film, however, is when they are actually in the water. This part has a beautifully bizzare, low budget feel to it. I love that fake looking fish that shoots water into Curly's face, and at one point, Curly does this gurgling noise that never fails to crack me up. Also, dig Curly's energy in this scene, two shorts later and this kind of performance would be unthinkable out of him. There's also Larry's out the blue "shut up" to Moe, one of those wonderful Larry moments that seem so random yet is perfect.
What else works? Well, I love Moe's mock nyuking towards Curly at the beginning before he demolishes Curly with the records (folks, you can't do slapstick with digital streaming and MP3's, another argument for physical product), and then there's that funny little rhythmic sequence they do at the beginning. Funny how bass and head don't rhyme. God bless the Production Code. Oh yeah, Rebel Randall is in this short too, and even though she appears in a couple of Shemp solo shorts as well this short, this is her only appearance with The Three Stooges and ummmmm....ye-ah, that about covers it. I need a cigarette, and I don't even smoke.
9/10