http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/93http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039028/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HG7dmCjz534Watch the entire short in the link above
Getting pretty close to the end of Curly here, only four more shorts after this one. THREE LOAN WOLVES is an overall not great Stooge short, but it has one huge redemption that makes the score a bit higher than it would otherwise be, and that would be Larry Fine. Larry is an absolute joy to watch in this one. Earlier on, we get to watch Larry play guitar. Yes, he's really playing, and though it's a simple piece, he's charming to watch. Later on, Moe and Curly leave for lunch, leaving Larry solo for a few minutes, and absolute rarity in Stooge films. Well, OK, he's not completely solo, he's with Beverly Warren and a baby. He's perfectly respectable towards who he thinks is the mother, but things get really good when it's him and the baby by itself. I'm sure Larry is reading lines here, and this is all based on gut instinct and nothing logical, but I get the feeling Larry is not 100% acting and really enjoys being with this baby. If not, he does a great acting job. The storytelling and cooing towards the baby definitely shows a different side to Larry then we are used to seeing, and for a little trivia, it's not Max Bear he says, but Max Baer, who at the time was a character actor in Hollywood. Really a special scene.
As for the rest of the short, the page linked above correctly states there is a mother out there who has no idea where her child is, which is real sad when you think about it. Worse than that child who has to be raised by those dingbat parents in SOCK A BYE BABY, but I digress. There's the obvious shot at the end where the Stooges are reacting to being slapped by the kid, yet we don't see the slap.
Curly is not in the best of shape in this one, though he's not given much to do. As for Moe, I want him to be an irritable bully, but him going crazy with the baby's crying is too unlikeable for me. I don't know, only W.C. Fields can get away with that. Also, Curly giving the baby a gun as a pacifier? Yeesh!
This short does have the Stooge debut of Harold "Tiny" Brauer, one of the two men to appear in films with all four versions of the team, the other who will make his debut four shorts later. He does a good job as the gangster here. This is also Beverly Warren's only Stooge appearance, not counting conventions. As far as I know, she's still with us as of this writing, so hello out there if you're reading this. Speaking of her role in this, any lip readers in the audience?
Overall, a short that has a few character problems and a very awkward edit, but fans of Larry Fine, rejoice, this is one of the great porcupine's finest moments, pun not intended.
7/10