Topic: Slaphappy Sleuths (1950)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/126
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042975/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

http://www.emilsitka.com/slaphappysleuths1950.html

Read Emil Sitka's diary entry in the link above (interesting behind the scenes story this week)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eZTxOelqjpM

Watch SLAPHAPPY SLEUTHS in the link above.



      Don't have much to say about this one.  To sum it up, it's a good short that should be enjoyable to any Stooge fan, but we've seen this all before.  The opening scene with the painted eyelids is from HORSES' COLLARS, the car servicing from VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY, walking Shemp like a dog similar to FROM NURSE TO WORSE, and fighting gangsters and eventually sticking the boss's head in a vice?  Done in about a zillion shorts.  We are at short number 126 now, it has to be hard to be original every time.  To the writers credit, they did get original with some shorts over the next few years before the stock footage took over, just not this week.

      I will give special praise to the car servicing scene.  I love the overall messiness of the scene, the oil and popcorn making a fun combination.  The boys and Emil Sitka have great energy here and it's the best scene of the short.  I love Larry's relaxed demeanor as he's pumping air into the tires and Emil Sitka's appearance is fascinating.  Usually, he is made up to look like an older man, but here, he actually looks like he could be in his mid thirties, which in real life, he was.  Also want to mention the "mammy" line, no doubt one which will frighten the PC police.  This short was not on the 130 short syndicated package 15 years back and was not released in any home format until all the shorts were released on DVD in the 8 volume collection.  I can't say definitively, but my guess is the mammy line, and Moe's blackface, might have something to do with it.

      SLAPHAPPY SLEUTHS is like any AC/DC album since the mid 80's.  You're glad it exists, but you've heard it before. 

8/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

Not sure I have much to add this week--I'm usually very high on any short that has Moe, Larry and Shemp playing detectives, but this one falls a bit below the standards of a Who Done It? or even the later Tricky Dicks.

There are some nice gags here, and I've always liked how the crooks seemingly drove their car to an apartment as bloodhound Shemp goes on their trail.

A nice short, but nothing compared to the greatness that will come next week...

6 out of 10...

[GreenCanaries]

Emil's face here is perfection.

Also, watching some of these shorts, it occurs to me just how big Joe Palma's eyes were. He could get almost as bug-eyed as Harry Semels.

(And that concludes my random thought at this instance of ~3:30am EST in the morning.)

[Paul Pain]

I will share with y'all two things of significance: Gene Roth and the Three Stooges.

Gene Roth as Fuller Grime gets the brutal violence of having a Swiss army knife jammed into his rear end.  Shemp destroys a table to make a toothpick out of it... this leads to Shemp's sandwich, which is just something to chuckle at, not laugh, but still fun.

On the Stooges, did anyone else notice that Moe and Larry look like they have some kind of stiffener in their shirts at 3:50?

How did they get that car in the apartment THROUGH the hallway...?

[metaldams]

Emil's face here is perfection.

Also, watching some of these shorts, it occurs to me just how big Joe Palma's eyes were. He could get almost as bug-eyed as Harry Semels.

(And that concludes my random thought at this instance of ~3:30am EST in the morning.)

That IS a great picture, Emil rules in this one.  That face would make a great avatar for someone.

[Paul Pain]

That IS a great picture, Emil rules in this one.  That face would make a great avatar for someone.

Unfortunately, that feature is still broken.

[JazzBill]

I seem to feel pretty much the way most every else feels about this one. Nothing new or original going on here. I had a few chuckles but no laughs. The one thing I wonder is how many shorts is Emil Sitka in where he isn't made to look like a older man ? In this short he looks a lot younger than I thought he really was. I rate this short a 6.

[falsealarms]

I've always enjoyed the short, but one thing that hurts it is the cheapness of the gas station set. Compare that to VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY, where they used an exterior set that had more character and created more of an atmosphere.

[metaldams]

I've always enjoyed the short, but one thing that hurts it is the cheapness of the gas station set. Compare that to VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY, where they used an exterior set that had more character and created more of an atmosphere.

I did notice the obvious faked background scenery versus the nature of VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY, good observation.  Definitely a good indicator of the budget difference of a 1938 vs. 1950 short.

[Signor Spumoni]

How can anyone not love that face Emil Sitka makes in this?  It's great! 

Also, I would almost say that the supporting players steal the show here:  Emil, Gene Roth, Stanley Blystone.  And we get another appearance by lovely Nanette Bordeaux, always a treat.  Still, the aforementioned cheapness of the set and the lackluster plot make this less than stellar, in my opinion. 

This short employs the corny jokes of the time about gasoline with names to go with Ethyl.  The picture of Emil shows "Becky."  But note well the price it also shows:  twenty-six cents per gallon!   

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

As observed by Metaldams, the short contains several setups that were better done in other shorts. But it has its share of good stuff, notably Shemp's lunch in Fuller Grime's office. And the car whose oil trail leads to an apartment in which it is parked—without anyone ever remarking on the oddity of this.

Emil Sitka not made up as an old man: who is this guy? I've never seen him before! At least he got water put into his "raddiator," as he asked.

Stanley Blystone is still fearsome, despite appearing very old—although I am surprised to learn from the information on this site that, as he was born in August of 1894 and this short was filmed in April of 1949, he is only 54 years old here.

[Shemp_Diesel]

Unless I'm mistaken, this is Stanley Blystone's biggest part in a Shemp era short--of course, he had seemingly more roles during the Curly era & the infamous Sergeant MacGillicuddy is the first thing that pops to my mind.

And we're still a long way from what I think was his last appearance in Of Cash and Hash... 

[Lefty]

Regardless of the cheapness of the repetitions of earlier shorts, this one is still good to watch.

Shemp taking his lunch out of his coat pockets and putting them on the plate that was basically on his derriere -- "sandwich, potato chips, couple of olives, ..." -- and then Moe smashing it on him was probably the funniest scene.

Emil Sitka was definitely the MVP of the short, and that picture of him with that look after getting conked by the hood is priceless.

The petrol prices of 22, 26, and 30 cents seemed inexpensive back then, but I remember gas at 29.9 cents per gallon in the early 1960s, when my father would always say to the attendant, "Gimme $3 of regular."

I don't know about anyone else, but I would be reluctant to eat popcorn that was coming from a car with all that dirt, oil, and other liquids.

At the end, Shemp is smacking the bad guys with the money bags, obviously filled with coins -- no customers paid for anything with dollar bills? 

[Kopfy2013]

I like the short. All Stooge skits in one episode.  I was entertained but I was not laughing,  maybe a smile or two.

I will give it a 7

[GreenCanaries]

That IS a great picture, Emil rules in this one.  That face would make a great avatar for someone.

Welp, I've finally done the deed!

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Not much to say about this one.  A pretty average Shemp effort, with some good spots here and there.

#129. Slaphappy Sleuths