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Micro-Phonies (1945)

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Offline QuinceHead

In this short, the Stooges were the Milli Vanilli of their day!  :laugh:

One of my faves, and easily the best post-stroke Curly...

For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead


Offline Larrys#1

I'm surprised so many people here know Signor Spumoni's name. Did you guys cheat and find the name on the filmography page or was the guy's name mentioned in the episode? I've seen this episode countless times and for the life of me, I don't recall his name ever being mentioned during the episode....


Offline Larrys#1

How emotionally incontinent would a musician have to be to use his violin to bash someone over the head? But so consumed with anger is Signor Spumoni that he says to the victim (Moe), "You break-a my violin!"

I've always wondered about that. Yes, the stooges broke his glasses, but they didn't break his violin. He broke it himself by bashing it on Moe's head. I dunno, but I think the guy is a little crazy...


Offline Kopfy2013

Talking about Gino ....
Niagara Falls


Offline Signor Spumoni

I'm surprised so many people here know Signor Spumoni's name. Did you guys cheat and find the name on the filmography page or was the guy's name mentioned in the episode? I've seen this episode countless times and for the life of me, I don't recall his name ever being mentioned during the episode....

I've not seen this short in a long time, but I believe his name is mentioned early on when he and the Stooges meet, and later when he is introduced at the party when he's going to sing.  But I can be wrong about that.  All I know for sure is that I knew his name long before I found this site.  When it came time to choose an identity to use here, it was between Signor Spumoni and one other. 

I always laugh when I watch the Stooges fire cherries into Gino Corrado's mouth as he tries to sing.  He makes me believe it's really happening. 

Thank you, Kopfy, for the picture of Gino's grave!


Offline Larrys#1

I've not seen this short in a long time, but I believe his name is mentioned early on when he and the Stooges meet, and later when he is introduced at the party when he's going to sing.  But I can be wrong about that.  All I know for sure is that I knew his name long before I found this site.  When it came time to choose an identity to use here, it was between Signor Spumoni and one other. 

I always laugh when I watch the Stooges fire cherries into Gino Corrado's mouth as he tries to sing.  He makes me believe it's really happening. 

Thank you, Kopfy, for the picture of Gino's grave!

Interesting because I don't remember. I do remember one part when Mrs. Bixby address him as Signor, but never mentions Spumoni..... but I could be wrong and my memory may not be correct.

I agree on the cherry throwing bit. It was hilarious. I like this better than the grape throwing bit in PARDON MY SCOTCH.


Offline Signor Spumoni

Interesting because I don't remember. I do remember one part when Mrs. Bixby address him as Signor, but never mentions Spumoni..... but I could be wrong and my memory may not be correct.

I agree on the cherry throwing bit. It was hilarious. I like this better than the grape throwing bit in PARDON MY SCOTCH.

I just watched this again on youtube.  My apologies to you Larrys#1; you are correct that no one ever says the name, Signor Spumoni.  He is addressed only as Signor.  Moe and Larry are introduced as Signor Grosso and Signor Gusto even though they never state their names to Symona Boniface.  So I don't know how I knew my namesake's name, just that I knew it before I found this site.

I agree that the "Pardon My Scotch" grape-throwing isn't as funny as the cherry-throwing in this short.  I put that all down to the reactions of Gino Corrado, especially when he appears to choke on some of the cherries.   

I forgot how many funny things this short has.  I like Moe's radio announcer bit.  [By the way, I, too, remember the Serutan/Nature's ad.  :)]  I notice that it's Fred Kelsey who whacks Signor Spumoni with the wrench.  All the Stooges do at that point is to be social inferiors who burst into Signor's room and run around him and underneath things while yelling.  Fred Kelsey is also his social inferior, but he has some authority, which is, I assume, why Signor breaks his violin over Moe's head and not over Fred's.

This has one of my favorite Larry lines, "Reminds me of the reform school." 

This is also a very good looking short for having been made in 1945.  Other shorts of this time from the Stooges and from other performers often look bare bones.

This was the favorite Stooges short of the late comedian and fellow Stooges fan, Bernie Mac, and I can see why.  I like Chester Conklin's drunken pianist who claims to have written the "sextet from Lucy," as the Stooges call it  I like watching Larry lip-sync because he appears to be at least somewhat familiar with the piece.  I like seeing the obviously fake records being thrown at the end of the short (notice the records are light on one side and black on the other side).  The pacing is good in this short, and the comedy proceeds from personalities and circumstance.  Later shorts seem to rely on the notion that a Stooge can do or say anything stupidly just because he is a Stooge, and that doesn't amuse me.  Yes, we must suspend our disbelief for a number of things, but so must we do for many comedies by many comedians and clowns.



Offline Paul Pain

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I was just watching PARDON MY SCOTCH this morning... Ver geharget!
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Offline Tony Bensley

A lot of comments are made regarding Curly's decline, especially in his last 12 shorts.

However. regarding Moe, it is in MICRO-PHONIES that I first noticed the bags under his eyes were more prominent.  To be fair, perhaps stress from dealing with his younger brother having recently suffered a stroke could have been a contributing factor?

Regarding the short itself, I haven't much to add comment wise, except that I found it hilarious.  I especially enjoyed the Stooges Radio performance bit, and the added twist with the lip syncing.

For me, MICRO-PHONIES scores a 9/10.

CHEERS! [3stooges]


Offline Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80

Very good Stooge short, it's nice to see Curly rallying back in this short despite the health issues he was having at the time, Curly appears to be a lot healthier and more energetic here than he did in the previously released short "If A Body Meets A Body" was well as "A Bird In The Head" (which was filmed before this short but released after), thankfully this was the short that saved Edward Bernds's career as a director/writer and I've thought he worked better dealing with Curly's struggling health issues than Jules White did during the last dozen Curly shorts.

As for Moe he didn't seem to be as grouchy as usual and doesn't deliver much punishment to the other stooges after they leave the radio station

Overall I give this short an 8 out of 10.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2023, 06:27:08 PM by Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80 »


Offline Dr. Mabuse

I have a slight preference for "Three Little Pirates," but "Micro-Phonies" is a genuine Curly Classic. Edward Bernds knocks this one out of the park, with Curly splendidly rising to the occasion. The last Stooge appearances of Gino Corrado, Lynton Brent (stock footage notwithstanding), Chester Conklin and Bess Flowers.

9/10


Offline Daddy Dewdrop

One of the better "sick Curly" shorts, but not a classic, IMO.

#113. Micro-Phonies


Offline Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum

I've been trying to remember where I'd heard that "spelled sideways" joke before, and I finally remembered. In the early '70s there were commercials for kid's TV dinners from Libby, with a character called "Libby the Kid": "That's Billy the Kid spelled sideways! Sort of."

the Gritto-spelled-sideways reference is a joke about an actual product from back then called Serutan, a laxative whose slogan was "Serutan spelled backward is Nature's".
I remember advertisements for Serutan from seeing them on the Lawrence Welk show when my mother watched it. They also advertised Geritol quite a bit.  As an aspiring cartoonist in my teens, I once drew a comic satirizing the show, with a running joke being their frequent mentions of those two products. One part had the characters saying, "Seturan spelled backwards is Natures! Geritol spelled backwards is Lotireg!"
"Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day." -- Samuel Goldwyn