http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/124http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042940/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmn-C_kdJnYWatch SELF MADE MAIDS in the link above.
Oh joy, it comes to this. Until now, the lowest rated short from me is HALF SHOT SHOOTERS, which I just find too sadistic, even for a Stooge short. That said, I can understand how somebody can disagree. If you find humor in that type of sadism, it's not a bad short. For me, personally, I just don't care for it. That was a 3/10. In 2009, I wrote a halfway decent review of this short and gave this a 4/10. I was much too kind, this is a 2 and the weakest short to date. As a tribute to the stock footage shorts coming up, I am going to use stock review paragraphs from 2009! When the stock review is done, I will tell you when it's 2015 again.
Interesting experiment in which Moe, Larry, and Shemp play all the roles, but I think the short fails because there's simply too many Three Stooges type characters. Great Three Stooges scenes usually involve the boys as themselves wrecking havoc on each other with Home Depot's inventory or playing off straight men or other unique characters. In SELF MADE MAIDS, the boys act like themselves, which is fine, but as women and babies, they also act mysetriously like The Three Stooges, and it gets to be overkill after a while. Moe as the father doesn't act like a Stooge, per se, but he's too small in stature to be taken seriosuly as a threat. Vernon Dent was more convincing as an angry father in SCRAMBLED BRAINS.
Buster Keaton played all the roles in the first half of THE PLAYHOUSE much more convincingly. He played several character types and played each role convincingly and really showed off his versatility as an actor. The Three Stooges play all the roles in the same manner, and the entire short seems one dimensional as a result. This is a shame, because other experimental shorts of the early 50's like HE COOKED HIS GOOSE and CUCKOO ON A CHOO CHOO show the boys able to tackle non-Stooge like parts.
The gags themselves are pretty lame as well. The bugs in the flowers and foot tickling scene take little imagination. The only thing I really like about this short is Larry's Jimmy Durante impersonation. Easily one of the top 10 worst Stooge shorts.
OK, it's 2015 again, the Red Sox are a worse team now. Anyway, back to the point about each part acting Stooge like, I stand by what I said. I always maintain The Three Stooges are funniest in a straight, or at least somewhat straight world. Whenever the entire world is Stooge like, I stand by my overkill statement. See my review for CACTUS MAKES PERFECT for more on this subject, though CACTUS MAKES PERFECT is obviously a much better short, disappointing more so for being made in the early 40's great run than any merit on its own.
One other personal taste thing I'd like to add. I'm not a fan of films where the main premise is men in drag. It's OK for small doses, but again, I'll use the world overkill when it comes to an entire premise of a movie being based on men in drag. I don't even like SOME LIKE IT HOT and TOOTSIE, and the dopes at the National Film Registry say those are the funniest films ever. One more thing I want to say, because I feel like a downer now, and it's that the chase scene is dreadful, stunt double lameness.
Interestingly enough, this week's Laurel and Hardy film is BRATS. Stan and Ollie play multiple roles in that one too, so talk about coincidence. Later on, there's also TWICE TWO as well. My opinion on those films? You'll have to tune in.
2/10
PS: Yes, there are a few shorts ahead rated lower.
