http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/125http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043042/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1http://www.emilsitka.com/threehamsonrye1950.htmlRead Emil Sitka's diary entry above
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AM6Q65JtzCcWatch THREE HAMS ON RYE in the link above
Only 125 shorts in! Geez! Anyway, this week, we discuss THREE HAMS ON RYE. The charm of this one is The Three Stooges in a back stage setting and getting to see the boys ham it up like the title suggests. Watching Moe recite a line of Shakespeare and then get into a Shakespeare reciting paint brush battle with Larry is really cool, and I have a feeling the boys got a kick out of doing that. It's also really funny in context because they think their ham acting is going to impress the ladies, who in reality think they are total dorks. Oh well, to be, or not to be? Well, if you're a dork, be a dork, don't apologize, and The Stooges deliver. Shemp's French love making with Nanette Bordeaux is great too. You know, between this and HUGS AND a MUGS, those two had great screen chemistry together. Also always get a laugh at the way Shemp pronounces "thespian," rhyming with "lesbian" the way he says it. Speaking of the girls, this time is one of the last Stooge appearances of Judy Malcolm. She fascinates me as a pretty girl who appears in so many shorts and does absolutely nothing but look pretty. Her distinguished mantle will soon be taken over by Suzanne Ridgeway.
The rest of the short is just standard Stooge fare, always energetic, always fun, but missing that all time great scene to make it stand out. I do love some of the slapstick exchanges between Shemp and Moe in this one. Shemp definitely tries to outsmart Moe on a few occasions, I especially love using the bowl over the head to block the eye poke. Larry's facial expression at the beginning of the short as he gets a paintbrush in the face is priceless! Props also to Larry and the black banana bit.
I suppose they were aiming to make the cake/cushion gag scene as the stand out, but this old warhorse, while tolerable, has never been a favorite of mine. Don't know why, I guess it just lacks wit and the idea of coughing feathers, unlike say, an oyster spitting in a guy's face, leaves little room for character interpretation. Still love watching the boys and Christine ham it up as Southerners. Interesting tidbit is that one of the two gentlemen with the boys is Danny Lewis, father of Jerry. Supposedly, they had trouble getting him to do the feather routine, and his close-ups are noticably weaker than that of the other actors.
8.5/10