Topic: Studio Stoops (1950)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/203
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043010/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7gljUNR-EfI

Watch STUDIO STOOPS in the link above



      One of those happy surprises.  STUDIO STOOPS is one of those shorts that has not left a strong negative or positive impression on me over the years, it was just there.  When you have 190 of these things, that's bound to happen.  I just got finished watching this short and I really enjoyed it.  My overall impression is good combination of thrill comedy, action suspense, and slapstick. 

      The thrill comedy angle is obviously Harold Lloyd inspired.  Usually, hanging from building stuff in sound films fail to match the dramatic stomach falling to my feet realism I get watching SAFETY LAST, and STUDIO STOOPS is no exception.  Still, for a sound film thrill comedy, I've seen much worse.  The whole angle of Shemp hanging by a rope and Moe, Larry, and Christine trying to save him is milked very well and does add some nice comic tension, so I do praise this scene.

      The suspense angle plays into the thrill comedy, and Kenneth MacDonald, as usual, makes a convincing gangster.  The storytelling in general is very good here.  No gratuitous gag sequences that distract from the plot.  Here every gag, every thrill, it all ties into the boys trying to save Christine or Shemp and getting Vernon the cop onto the scene once the plot gets underway.

      Best comic scenes?  Love the little exchange after Larry uses the word "adversary," Larry really shines there.  "Open the door!"  I definitely laughed at that part.  The typewriter gag was great at the beginning, especially the way Shemp types for so long after Moe dictates the word "and" and reads back a warbled maha routine bit!  Vernon reacting with Larry is great.  Vernon makes a believable comic threat and it seems like it's been a while since we've seen him in a role this good.  As for Christine, I like watching her play the pompous actress in the beginning.  She appears in lots of stock footage shorts in the future and in one or two of them appears in new footage revising old roles, but this will sadly go down as her last original role in a Stooge short.  Criminally underrated, I can't think of any comic actress in these old slapstick comedies I like better.  Yes, I like Thelma Todd, she was great at what she did, but Christine was more diverse.  A very talented lady, she really enriched just about any short she was in.  Her regular presence will be missed going forward.

      Also would like to add, Shemp's suit and beret looks like something a later in life Groucho would eventually wear!

9/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

A very good short, and perhaps one of the all-time great exchanges when Stanley Price comes in & remarks about being "Brown from the sun" and Shemp's "That's too bad, are you peeling." 

8 out of 10....

[Paul Pain]

I strongly enjoy this short.  The blend of comedy and comic tragedy is beautiful here.  This short gets full 10/10 marks from me, and the GOAT is just down the road from us.

In the beginning, who else could better get mistaken for professionals than the Three Stooges?  And they never, ever, point out that the person is mistaken and just take over the office.  Shemp does great as the secretary, even sitting on Moe's lap.  Moe then receives a typewriter carriage in his skull.

Kenneth MacDonald is, as always, perfect at being a slimy crook.  He keeps it slippery here, and no one could be more deliberate and cold-blooded than he was.  The plot is heavily driven by this.  He takes a lot of abuse in this one.

Vernon Dent is a perfectly irate police detective.  Poker is more important than the possibility of crime, particularly when the Three Stooges are the ones reporting the crime.  That is worth a pie in the face.

Shemp hanging from the ledge makes for great dramedy.  He just non-chalantly talks to the operator and remarks about how "the green light's with me."  Not that that does any good when you are splat, but ignoring phsyics... Yes, it is not exactly LIBERTY, but the acting is nevertheless good, although first time watchers of this may feel much like Ollie did in LIBERTY... Lastly, gravel in the eyes is probably extremely painful.

Larry is a champion with the verbal joke of the short with the exchange about their adversaries and the infamous reply when someone who cannot speak asks for help and he repeats their grunts.  How does he manage to pound the snot out of Kenneth MacDonald in the elly-vatt-or?  Larry really gets put to good use here.

Moe is Moe here, and there is not much to say except that that is always a good thing.  His calm reply to Shemp's phone call though is worth a laugh.  "He just stepped out... SHEMP!"

And Christine McIntyre: beautiful, talented, and ready to smash a vase over the villain's head.  Columbia wasted her talents.

[metaldams]

I strongly enjoy this short.  The blend of comedy and comic tragedy is beautiful here.  This short gets full 10/10 marks from me, and the GOAT is just down the road from us.

In the beginning, who else could better get mistaken for professionals than the Three Stooges?  And they never, ever, point out that the person is mistaken and just take over the office.  Shemp does great as the secretary, even sitting on Moe's lap.  Moe then receives a typewriter carriage in his skull.

Kenneth MacDonald is, as always, perfect at being a slimy crook.  He keeps it slippery here, and no one could be more deliberate and cold-blooded than he was.  The plot is heavily driven by this.  He takes a lot of abuse in this one.

Vernon Dent is a perfectly irate police detective.  Poker is more important than the possibility of crime, particularly when the Three Stooges are the ones reporting the crime.  That is worth a pie in the face.

Shemp hanging from the ledge makes for great dramedy.  He just non-chalantly talks to the operator and remarks about how "the green light's with me."  Not that that does any good when you are splat, but ignoring phsyics... Yes, it is not exactly LIBERTY, but the acting is nevertheless good, although first time watchers of this may feel much like Ollie did in LIBERTY... Lastly, gravel in the eyes is probably extremely painful.

Larry is a champion with the verbal joke of the short with the exchange about their adversaries and the infamous reply when someone who cannot speak asks for help and he repeats their grunts.  How does he manage to pound the snot out of Kenneth MacDonald in the elly-vatt-or?  Larry really gets put to good use here.

Moe is Moe here, and there is not much to say except that that is always a good thing.  His calm reply to Shemp's phone call though is worth a laugh.  "He just stepped out... SHEMP!"

And Christine McIntyre: beautiful, talented, and ready to smash a vase over the villain's head.  Columbia wasted her talents.

Paul, another good review, I think you're more inspired than me this week.

LIBERTY, like SAFETY LAST, is another great example of the realism in thrill sequences in silent films versus talking comedies.  Lots of talking comedies use really weak back projection shots, which I hate.  That's not an issue here, just lots of mid level shots.  You're right though, the acting is good, and the situation with the rope is really creative and done well, so I enjoy this one.

[Lefty]

Studio Stoops is one of my favorites.  It's great from start to finish.  The best part for me has always been the typing scene -- ".... June 22nd."  Kenneth MacDonald was at his villainous best, Vernon Dent did a good job as an anti-hero law enforcement individual, and after being snooty in her opening scene, Christine McIntyre was "fabamundo" as usual.

One thing not mentioned in prior reviews here was Shemp taking a bunch of junk from the ashtray and saying, "I'm the Sandman," when throwing it in Joe Palma's face.

I never gave a thought about Christine not having any original roles after this short, even with her new stuff in remakes.  Yes, Columbia dropped the ball on this one.

And just to make sure, was that Jean Willes whom Shemp dropped in on on the balcony after being saved near the end?

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

I don't have much to add to what others have said here. Fine Stooge-on-Stooge violence in the opening scene, and then the exchange between Moe and Larry regarding the "carriage" is a real treat. (I laugh out loud when Moe brains Larry with it and tells him, "There's your carriage—and next time hold your horses!") And it's always a pleasure to see Larry get to take some initiative in moving the action along, as he does here in provoking the cops (who, by a typical Stooge coincidence, are holding their poker game in the very same hotel) to pursue him to the room.

About a year ago, I had my first viewing of Safety Last. Acrophobia has grown on me over the years, and I was in such a state of physical discomfort throughout the entire climbing sequence that I regretted having chosen to see the movie (it was being shown in a movie house and I was attending with a friend, so I could not simply leave or switch off the video player). I much prefer the more unrealistic treatment of such perils that we see in the Stooge shorts, however much inferior the comedy!

[Signor Spumoni]

I agree with what folks have written so far.

 The "Brown, from The Sun" joke always gets me.  I once saw a variation of this joke in a comic book where a reporter says, "I'm Redd, from The Sun," and someone replies, "Really?  You should wear a hat."

It amuses me that Kenneth MacDonald was the perfect villain in this and other shorts, then ended up in a recurring role` as a distinguished judge on "Perry Mason."  I guess he reformed somewhere along the way.

I hope it isn't nitpicking to mention the ashtray scene where Shemp says, "I'm the Sandman."  Before there was gravel in those large, standing ashtrays, there was sand, which is what Shemp throws at the villain.  The sand sometimes attracted young children, who saw it as a sandbox of just the right height - - till Mom or Dad intervened.

As a Larry fan, I really enjoy watching him in this short.  The "adversary" segment is great, especially the way it ends with, "Open the door."  I also love the way Larry is inspired to get the police to follow him and rescue Christine and the other Stooges.  As an aside, I think it would be fun to have a selection of shorts shown together with the theme, "Saved By Larry," or, "Larry, The Hero," or some such.

[JazzBill]

This is a well done short. Plenty of sight gags and one liners in this one. The Shemp hanging out the window on a telephone gag was done by Buster Keaton in 1941's "So You Won't Squawk". The supporting cast is all top notch. Kenneth MacDonald plays a great heavy. It's too bad he wasn't in more Stooges shorts. This is one of the better later shorts and I rate it a solid 9.

[metaldams]

I don't have much to add to what others have said here. Fine Stooge-on-Stooge violence in the opening scene, and then the exchange between Moe and Larry regarding the "carriage" is a real treat. (I laugh out loud when Moe brains Larry with it and tells him, "There's your carriage—and next time hold your horses!") And it's always a pleasure to see Larry get to take some initiative in moving the action along, as he does here in provoking the cops (who, by a typical Stooge coincidence, are holding their poker game in the very same hotel) to pursue him to the room.

About a year ago, I had my first viewing of Safety Last. Acrophobia has grown on me over the years, and I was in such a state of physical discomfort throughout the entire climbing sequence that I regretted having chosen to see the movie (it was being shown in a movie house and I was attending with a friend, so I could not simply leave or switch off the video player). I much prefer the more unrealistic treatment of such perils that we see in the Stooge shorts, however much inferior the comedy!

I too liked the carriage bit.  People usually say all The Three Stooges do us hit each other, but usually there's some nice set up that leads to the slap.  The bit you mentioned is a nice example.

Your SAFETY LAST experience, while I am truly sorry to hear about how miserable it was for you, speaks to the relative realism of that classic building climb.  Whether one prefers realism or not depends on taste and tolerance, but that is an interesting story.

[Kopfy2013]

So far one of my favorite Shemp films.  I agree with what everybody has said to this point. However I do not like the last 10 seconds going into the bathtub.

 I give it an 8

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Nice to see the unanimity of positive opinions about this one, and, FWIW, I add mine.  This for me is the last very good Stooge short.

[metaldams]

Nice to see the unanimity of positive opinions about this one, and, FWIW, I add mine.  This for me is the last very good Stooge short.

I feel there are definitely some very good Stooge shorts over the next few years, so a counter opinion will be welcome.

[Paul Pain]

Nice to see the unanimity of positive opinions about this one, and, FWIW, I add mine.  This for me is the last very good Stooge short.

The GOAT is yet to come!

[metaldams]

The GOAT is yet to come!

I'm interest in what you think that is, but I'll wait.

Oh, and so's the horse.....twice!

[Lefty]

The GOAT is yet to come!

As Major Hochstetter would say, "Baaaaaaaaaa!"

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Reading thru the comments, I see once again that I'm in the minority (no surprise).  This one has its moments (Shemp on Moe's lap, Vernon Dent beating Shemp, Larry's "Open The Door" line and of course the lovely Christine), just not enough to sustain the rest.  Things are certainly improving, but IMO we're still not anywhere near the "classic" territory yet.

#157. Studio Stoops

[Paul Pain]

Just watched this one, and it's still as good as it was 6 years ago when I wrote my review.

[Larrys#1]

Hard to explain why, but the little maha raja bit from Shemp when he was reading what he typed on the typewriter always has me laughing hysterically. His delivery was pricey. Shemp gives a great performance here! Overall, I really thought this was a really good episode!

9/10