Topic: Beer Barrel Polecats (1946)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/88
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038344/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1



      Now this should be an interesting one to discuss, as BEER BARREL POLECATS foreshadows what we'll be talking about on almost a weekly basis a year or a year and a half from now - Stooge shorts heavily using stock footage.  Back in the theater days, the old footage would be re released into new shorts years after the fact, so most of the general public did not know.  These days, we have regular television airings of these films, DVD releases, information on the Internet, and most damning of all, goobers like me who actually pay attention to this stuff and write about it.  I promise you folks, Jules White did not worry about what a guy who calls himself Metaldams would write about these shorts 50 or 60 years after the fact.  There were budgets that were getting harder to follow year after year, and by God, product had to be out there, or Harry Cohn would make Jules find work elsewhere. Hey, looking at things from that perspective, plus all the hours of entertainment the man is responsible for in my life, I forgive Jules for all the stock footage.

      The good news is about half of this short is new footage.  Some of these later Shemp shorts have about four or five minutes of new footage itself, so for a stock footage job, we're getting a generous dose of new Stooge antics.  The bad news is the intertwining of old footage, (from IN THE SWEET PIE AND PIE and SO LONG MR. CHUMPS), is horribly done and would be done much more smoothly in the latter years.  One minute, the boys are to hang for merely selling a beer and sneaking a barrel into jail.  The next minute, the hanging thing doesn't get mentioned, but they all of the sudden need to find convict 41144.  Plot wise, unless if you good folks can kindly point me to something I'm missing, none of this makes sense.

      Ah, but then there's the new footage, which is actually pretty good.  I've always been a big fan of the gag where they all put the yeast in to make the beer.  It feels like one of those iconic moments, one of those moments even some casual fans who don't know this short has stock footage should be aware of.  It's a fun premise where the boys get to try something (make homemade beer) and make a complete mess in a household setting.  That's what I enjoy in my Stooges, slowly built up mayhem, and the sight of beer suds in multiple containers throughout a kitchen is a fun sight to see.  By the way, is Moe saying, "Eggs Benedict," when he's putting the beer in the containers?   That's what it sounds like to me, and what is the significance?

      I enjoy the new footage, but like so many other future shorts, a lot of this isn't really necessary because, you know, we've seen it all before.  Interestingly enough, if you look at this short's rating on threestooges.net, it is the lowest rated Curly short.  I wouldn't personally go that far, but I can understand someone feeling that way, for obvious reasons.

5/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

I was going to remark about the use of stock footage when we got into the Shemp years and how Jules White was ripping folks off & how in that day and age, long before TV repeats and VCRs and DVD players, how folks probably didn't know they were getting gypped by all those lame ass remake shorts. Seems like I don't have to harp on that point now.

As for Polecats, I'm in agreement Metal, that most of the new footage is quite good. I would even say very funny stuff--the building blocks for what could have been a decent short are there. Maybe the funniest stuff is when Curly is singing after Moe pokes him in the eyes and Curly's mop shots to Larry. Then Curly barking in Larry's face--for some reason, I always get a big laugh from that.

Of course, where this short eventually nosedives is when the stock footage is trotted out. The difference between the Curly of old in the stock footage and Curly in the new footage is jarring to watch, indeed.

Maybe if there had been some more new footage--like a scene where we see the stooges actually peddling their new hooch to the undercover detective, this might have been a decent short. Btw, Metal when the stooges are putting the beer in the containers, I think Moe is saying "Next on the deck"--but I could be wrong.

Overall, I rate it a 4 out of 10...

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Random observations for a random short:
     I believe Moe is shouting "next on the deck" and not "eggs benedict".  That's why Larry replies "comin' up!"
     Did I read that the shooting script reads pretty much like the finished project, in other words the stock footage is not there to cover up for Curly's not being able to shoot?
     For a short while maybe fifteen years ago there actually was a Three Stooges Beer.  It was a nothing beer, but the packaging was a hoot.  The slogan was "We all put the yeast in".  On the side was "Made with the patented 'Slowly I turn' brewing process".  The jokes and references were all over the carton, and the whole thing was very well done.  I bought one six and rather than drink it I kept the whole thing as a souvenir.  Any of my friends will tell you that my buying a six and not drinking it is very unusual indeed.  I've still got it around here someplace.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

This short makes dismal viewing for me. Metaldams has amply described the clumsiness which the plot has been stitched together out of old footage. The worst of it for me is that, in the new footage, Curly moves and talks as if half-anaesthetized and looks like a poor wax effigy of himself. When he gives the line, "A hundred and eighty-five bottles of beer!", he struggles to say the number (it comes out as "a hunnn eighty-five"), and he seems to have lost his character voice entirely. The initial violence in the kitchen is the sort of lame and perfunctory business that reminds me of why some people don't understand how anyone can find the Three Stooges funny, while the gag with the yeast takes two or three times as much screen time to execute as the humor of it merits. In the final scene, Curly's real decrepitude interferes with his representation of decrepitude. To me the only really good gag in the whole short is the exploding "goiter" of beer under Curly's overcoat, though the business in prison of knocking out the warden and trying to revive him with a bucket of sand is not bad. If this is rated lowest among the Curly shorts, I can see why.

     For a short while maybe fifteen years ago there actually was a Three Stooges Beer.  It was a nothing beer, but the packaging was a hoot.  The slogan was "We all put the yeast in".  On the side was "Made with the patented 'Slowly I turn' brewing process".  The jokes and references were all over the carton, and the whole thing was very well done.  I bought one six and rather than drink it I kept the whole thing as a souvenir.  Any of my friends will tell you that my buying a six and not drinking it is very unusual indeed.  I've still got it around here someplace.

I hope it also has some reference to Panther Pilsner.

[metaldams]

Well guys, I have to admit "hands on deck" makes much more sense, so thank you.  I also have to say "eggs Benedict" is much funnier.

[metaldams]

     For a short while maybe fifteen years ago there actually was a Three Stooges Beer.  It was a nothing beer, but the packaging was a hoot.  The slogan was "We all put the yeast in".  On the side was "Made with the patented 'Slowly I turn' brewing process".  The jokes and references were all over the carton, and the whole thing was very well done.  I bought one six and rather than drink it I kept the whole thing as a souvenir.  Any of my friends will tell you that my buying a six and not drinking it is very unusual indeed.  I've still got it around here someplace.

      Three Stooges Beer was big right around the time I rediscovered The Three Stooges in my life, and yeah, that was roughly fifteen years ago.  No doubt linked to this short, I had it once and agree, it was no big deal.  The packaging and gimmick was the whole appeal.

[Shemp_Diesel]

Just wanted to add that as light as the 2nd half of this short seems to be on new footage--I do enjoy the old and feeble stooges at the end. It kind of harkens back to Woman Haters; at least that's the vibe I get from it. Curly longing for that tall, beautiful beer, only to get poked in the eyes and thrown back in the clink--I like it, anyhow...


 

[falsealarms]

Beer Barrel Polecats starts off the worst year of releases for the Curly era. Aside from Curly's declining health, the 1946 releases were marred by several sub-par scripts like Three Troubledoers, Rhythm and Weep, Three Loan Wolves and Uncivil War Birds. Even a prime Curly wouldn't have made much of a difference in those bottom-tier offerings.

Beer Barrel Polecats wasn't as bad as some of what would follow later in the year, but it's only a middle of the road effort. The beer making scenes in the kitchen save the short and make it mildly memorable.

[BeAStooge]

Did I read that the shooting script reads pretty much like the finished project, in other words the stock footage is not there to cover up for Curly's not being able to shoot?

The final shooting script has no provision for stock footage, and is all-new scenes.

BEER BARREL POLECATS was a reworking of Laurel & Hardy's PARDON US (1931).  Scenes dropped were adapted from the L&H comedy, notably a prison classroom scene whose dialogue and bits of business was a virtual copy-job from PARDON.  The reason the scenes were dropped can be demonstrated with a brief timeline...

• Final shooting script (all-new) by Gilbert Pratt, dated April 4, 1945
• Mid-April 1945, Harold Lloyd sues Universal [successfully] over scenes taken from his comedies, and recycled by Clyde Bruckman in features including SHE GETS HER MAN (w/ Joan Davis) and THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (A&C).  Columbia Studios receives complaints from Lloyd over Bruckman's theft of his material for LOCO BOY MAKES GOOD; Lloyd will file a [also successfully] lawsuit against Columbia and Bruckman one year later.
• BEER BARREL POLECATS' scheduled 4-day production of April 25 - 28, 1945 is shortened to 2 days, and the "copied" scenes from PARDON US are dropped and replaced with stock scenes

The story of stock scenes used to compensate for Curly's failing health was an earlier supposition, now known to be incorrect.

[metaldams]

The final shooting script has no provision for stock footage, and is all-new scenes.

BEER BARREL POLECATS was a reworking of Laurel & Hardy's PARDON US (1931).  Scenes dropped were adapted from the L&H comedy, notably a prison classroom scene whose dialogue and bits of business was a virtual copy-job from PARDON.  The reason the scenes were dropped can be demonstrated with a brief timeline...

• Final shooting script (all-new) by Gilbert Pratt, dated April 4, 1945
• Mid-April 1945, Harold Lloyd sues Universal [successfully] over scenes taken from his comedies, and recycled by Clyde Bruckman in features including SHE GETS HER MAN (w/ Joan Davis) and THE NAUGHTY NINETIES (A&C).  Columbia Studios receives complaints from Lloyd over Bruckman's theft of his material for LOCO BOY MAKES GOOD; Lloyd will file a [also successfully] lawsuit against Columbia and Bruckman one year later.
• BEER BARREL POLECATS' scheduled 4-day production of April 25 - 28, 1945 is shortened to 2 days, and the "copied" scenes from PARDON US are dropped and replaced with stock scenes

The story of stock scenes used to compensate for Curly's failing health was an earlier supposition, now known to be incorrect.

      I remember reading about this in THE THREE STOOGES JOURNAL.  I was digging around all over the place for that issue to get a refresher, and while I have a bunch of issues, I could not find the particular issue I was looking for.  I'm glad you brought this up, so thank you.  The Harold Lloyd lawsuits and the fact scenes from PARDON US were initially slated to be where the stock footage is makes perfect sense.  It's not like in 1946 the use of excessive stock footage would be a regular practice like it would be from 1953 and forward.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

. . . I had it [Three Stooges Beer] once and agree, it was no big deal. 

Oh, snooty, eh?

[metaldams]

Oh, snooty, eh?

Where's an eye poke emoticon when you need one?

[Lefty]

First off, or should I say foist off, we have Curly's line flub, "You're boith crazy -- I put the yeast in!"  The closed-captioning shows "both" instead.  Maybe he wanted the upper boith -- you get less air.

Curly's declining health notwithstanding (or sitting), the regular footage of BBP is pretty good -- making the beer with the hopes and hoppies, the exploding "goiter barrel," sanding the warden, and at the end, we theoretically know what the Stooges would have looked like in 1986.

But even a 5-year-old could tell how different Curly looked and acted 4-5 years earlier in the stock footage, which still made no sense to be included in BBP.  That's what drags down the rating for the short.

Lastly, I was once given an empty bottle of Three Stooges Beer, which was probably empty in the first place.  Now all we need is 184 more bottles, and we're all set to make some.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Where's an eye poke emoticon when you need one?

Now you're using a bit of your brain!

I really needed a separate "Moe" to accompany my previous comment. I wish the site had separate icons for Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp. But where would demands end? People would then want little Vernon Dents to take cakes in the face and little Christine McIntyres to beat up the little "Cousin Basil" Shemps. . . .

First off, or should I say foist off, we have Curly's line flub, "You're boith crazy -- I put the yeast in!"  The closed-captioning shows "both" instead.  Maybe he wanted the upper boith -- you get less air.

I've noticed that flub too. In that moment, Curly sounds like an actor trying to fake a Brooklyn accent and getting it wrong. Of course, we know perfectly well that the Howards didn't have to fake anything when it came to Brooklyn accents! So something else must have happened. It never occurred to me before now, though, that he was just saying "berth" or "birth" in Brooklynese!

Lastly, I was once given an empty bottle of Three Stooges Beer, which was probably empty in the first place.  Now all we need is 184 more bottles, and we're all set to make some.

Empty in the first place? That's sabotoogie!

[Kopfy2013]

So I had a couple of people over yesterday and I proposed we watch the 'Stooge short of the week' ... my wife dismissed herself upstairs - women! and we watched this short.

There was laughter all around.  Huge laughter in fact.  That made me pause for thought that maybe I get too analytical and watch the shorts with a critic's eye.  At any rate I do like this short.  It may have been abetted by all the laughter that was around me, but it was pretty good in my opinion.  There are flaws for sure but I am going to give it an 8 because of the story line ... you pretty much can imagine that everything goes together except for that prisoner 41141 or whatever his number was.

The Journal number that Be A Stooge referred to is #135.  I went back and re-read that.  So it was not Curly's health as the mocked up scenes have very little Curly interaction and it was more the chance of getting sued.... one thing I do not remember --- were these deleted scenes shot or were they just scripted?

P.S. Last short for Eddie Laughton - yes in stock footage.  He was born same year as Curly and died same year as Curly.  Thank you Jon Solomon for this info.

[Kopfy2013]

Going to dig up my empty bottles of Stooge beer and check the labels .. .I think I also have the 6 pack holder......  I did drink the beer and as a youngster any beer was good beer.

[Paul Pain]

I like the original shots from this short a lot.  The plot is unique and takes the appropriate turns to make a good comedy reel.  Once the stock footage comes in, however, it turns to pot.  There are a lot of ways they could have made it work, and they failed badly. 

5/10

[metaldams]

So I had a couple of people over yesterday and I proposed we watch the 'Stooge short of the week' ... my wife dismissed herself upstairs - women! and we watched this short.

There was laughter all around.  Huge laughter in fact.  That made me pause for thought that maybe I get too analytical and watch the shorts with a critic's eye.  At any rate I do like this short.  It may have been abetted by all the laughter that was around me, but it was pretty good in my opinion.  There are flaws for sure but I am going to give it an 8 because of the story line ... you pretty much can imagine that everything goes together except for that prisoner 41141 or whatever his number was.

The Journal number that Be A Stooge referred to is #135.  I went back and re-read that.  So it was not Curly's health as the mocked up scenes have very little Curly interaction and it was more the chance of getting sued.... one thing I do not remember --- were these deleted scenes shot or were they just scripted?

P.S. Last short for Eddie Laughton - yes in stock footage.  He was born same year as Curly and died same year as Curly.  Thank you Jon Solomon for this info.

Ha!  So this short of the week thing is influencing dinner parties and social gatherings.  Warms my heart.

You're correct we sometimes get over analytical.  Like I stated, most people don't know any better about the stock footage or Curly's illness, and in a way, they're better off.  In other ways though, they're not, because I wear my Stooge geek cap with pride and look forward to writing about this stuff every week.  It takes all kinds of people to make this world go around.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Kopfy makes a good point, I think...you really can't watch these things alone, and I know we all do.  Even watching with two or three others always shows you where the real laughs are, which are not always where you think.  I'll always regret not being able to see these in a real theater.

[metaldams]

Kopfy makes a good point, I think...you really can't watch these things alone, and I know we all do.  Even watching with two or three others always shows you where the real laughs are, which are not always where you think.  I'll always regret not being able to see these in a real theater.

Amen to that, brother.

[Paul Pain]

Spoiling the party, but Eddie Laughton also appeared via stock footage in PEST MAN WINS and SAPPY BULL FIGHTERS

However, this was indeed the final short for both Bruce Bennett and Frank Mills (via new footage for Frank); neither had any major Stooge roles, though.

[Shemp_Diesel]

I was over at the main site & has the pokage on BBP been bumped up? I thought last night it was in the high 4 range--now it's up to 5 pokes. Not that I'm boint up about it--just something I noticed.

And while I'm here, I'll make mention of another small but good moment, when Curly pats his "goiter" and says "Be still my heart"...

[Kopfy2013]

I was over at the main site & has the pokage on BBP been bumped up? I thought last night it was in the high 4 range--now it's up to 5 pokes. Not that I'm boint up about it--just something I noticed.

Probably ones voted to get it over 5.

[Kopfy2013]

Spoiling the party, but Eddie Laughton also appeared via stock footage in PEST MAN WINS and SAPPY BULL FIGHTERS

I guess you cannot believe everything you read.  How could Jon mislead me like this?   

[Larrys#1]

This episode is a big mess. Not only does Curly's health look worse than the previous two episodes, but the editing was so sloppy. I have a feeling that the editors might have been drinking too many bottles of beer when they edited this mess.

I admit, the beginning scene with the stooges making the beer was pretty good. I enjoyed watching that. But once the stooges land in jail, everything falls to pieces. Firstly, the stooges are supposed to be getting hanged. Then, all of a sudden, they're not being hanged and are looking to breakout convict #41144. What the hell is this?? I know they are reusing footage here, but didn't the editors have a little brain when trying to piece these scenes together? It's as if they didn't care and just rushed this project in order to release another episode ASAP.

6/10