0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
I wish I could give "In the Sweet Pie and Pie" a solid 10, but I agree with metaldams. The clumsy stunt doubling for Curly does bother me and there was no need for the "Hoi Polloi" stock footage (the short was long enough already). This brings up an issue regarding Jules White's early penchant for stock footage. It's one thing for Jules to recycle footage from a short he directed (such as in "Dizzy Pilots"), but to lift a scene from a Del Lord effort (and not give him credit) is really tacky. Famous Studios pulled this crap all the time in the late 1940s and early '50s by cannibalizing the Max Fleischer Technicolor two-reelers for their Popeye "cheaters." Another problem lies in the time span. When Jules utilized a "Dizzy Doctors" excerpt in "From Nurse to Worse," the footage was only three years old and it matched well. However, "Hoi Polloi" was filmed in 1935 and the six-year difference was painfully obvious. The same goes for the "Pardon My Scotch" scene Jules added to "Dizzy Detectives."There were no budget cuts in the early 1940s, which makes it regrettable that Jules recycled footage when it wasn't necessary. It's interesting to note that, with the exception of the closing scene in "A Ducking They Did Go," Del never used stock footage in his Stooge two-reelers. Happily, the prison scenes and iconic pie fight easily redeem these few missteps. 8.5/10
