Topic: A Missed Fortune (1952)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/136
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044909/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1FACgS95I4w

Watch A MISSED FORTUNE in the link above

      Next time I review a remake, which I will be doing a lot of, I am going to make it a policy to watch the original earlier in the week.  It will give me an excuse to watch more Stooge stuff, and perhaps have more to say with a fresher comparison.

      I really like HEALTHY, WEALTHY, AND DUMB; the film A MISSED FORTUNE is remaking, and the latter ain't bad either.  A little lower on energy than the original, but hey, during the original they were entering their Curly prime.  Here, they are older, dependable veterans with Shemp, kind of like watching Big Papi these days.  Yeah, he ain't putting up '04 - '07 numbers, but he's still damn good (insert whatever other older athlete is more relevant to you in this scenario).

      The first five minutes of the original is all time classic stuff, and it's done very well here, too.  Love the way the camera slowly zooms in on Moe's face as he has the spoon stuck in his mouth, glue slowly dripping down.  Watching Moe shove a cloth filled with gasoline down Shemp's throat and then hammering it down to add an exclamation point is also very funny stuff. 

       As for the girls?  They're serviceable.  I'm not as down on Nanette Bordeaux as you guys, though intellectually, I can understand where you're coming from.  Her broken English is a bit fascinating to me.  This one lacks the brunette of the original stating how lonely she is in that way that makes me want to give her all my savings, and Suzanne Ridgeway, for most of her Stooge career, does what she is most known for...,being a pretty gal who does not utter lines.  Really, would it have been so hard to give her some line to say?

      Pretty much a straight remake of the original is the bottom line.  I guess I'll add it's always nice to see Vernon and that this was edited a Hell of a lot better than PEST MAN WINS.  You know, no clumsy pie fight footage we've seen a million times that spans decades.  I like this one, but I'll still take the original.

8/10

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Hmm, haven't I seen this one before? Well, some bits of it, soitenly.

"Burpo Pudding, what a treat: even good for tired feet."

Another thing that this one has got that wasn't in Healthy, Wealthy, and Dumb is the line in which the hotel manager invites the boys to call him personally if they need anything, and they reply by calling him "Personally." And it's Vernon Dent! But, alas, this is another of those roles in which he doesn't get to go full Vernon Dent on the boys.

I remember noting in the discussion of some much earlier short what difficulty Nannette Bordeaux had pronouncing her lines, and at the time I had the recollection (apparently false) that she got better at it later on. Now I see this one and she still can't do it. It's one thing to speak with an accent, which can be cute; another thing to slog through your lines as if every syllable required effort, which is what she does. She must have been either bone-lazy or as dumb as a bag of hammers (which are not mutually exclusive possibilities).

[Shemp_Diesel]

Metal, since you are taking the week off, does that mean the rest of us can't chime in on the short until you post your review? Just wondering....

[metaldams]

Metal, since you are taking the week off, does that mean the rest of us can't chime in on the short until you post your review? Just wondering....

Chime in whenever you want.

[Shemp_Diesel]

Well--when it comes to remakes--usually it comes down to if said remake surpasses the original. I think last week's short trumped the original, but in the case of Fortune, I would say it's equal to the original--not better or worse.

One thing that I've said before & I'll trot it out here again, the actresses from Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb made for the better "gold digging trio."

One thing I love about Fortune though, is the fact that Moe seems even crankier in this version--and a cranky Moe is always a good thing, especially the abuse he dishes out on Shemp after the collapse of Henry the 8th... 

Good ending too, with Moe and Larry taking each other out & Shemp sending us out with a few heep-heep- heeps.

Overall, I would say 8 out of 10 pokes...

[Lefty]

The beginning of this short was okay -- the "Burpo Pudding" slogan, the "Bunion Ache (", and Larry's lesson to Moe that hot water always melts glue.  Other than that, there really isn't anything here that was better than in "Healthy, Wealthy, and Dumb."  I guess the producers couldn't find someone who understood English better than Helene Olivene Veilleux, non?  Give Nanette some fraises des bois avec haricots vert.

[Paul Pain]

The first 13 minutes of this are pure hilarity.  Not even comparing it to its predecessor, we have laughs throughout.  The scenes in the apartment are great: glue, Bunion 8, etc.  The boys absolutely destroy a fancy hotel.  This short is mostly verbal humor, but Shemp is much better suited to this than Curly (not to say the predecessor isn't funny, but it isn't... It's also hilarious). 

Golddiggers in Stooge shorts suck 99% of the time, without fail.  The 1% comes from a much later short than this one.  If they're so darned rich they're staying in the Hotel Costa Plente, then $50,000 is chump change to them.  Now chimminypanzees, on the other hand, suck 100% of the time, without fail; men in cheesy gorilla suits, in contrast, are funny.  Nanette Bordeaux once again gives us a steaming pile of manure in form of worthless acting that would have been funnier done by Uncle Miltie in drag.

8/10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Agreed on Nannette.  Completely worthless in every appearance.

[Kopfy2013]

Too much stocked footage.  I give it a 3.

[JazzBill]

A middle of the road remake for me. Shemp once again does a great job as being the third stooge. But Curly was a hard act to follow on this one. I give it a 7.

[GreenCanaries]

This one lacks the brunette of the original stating how lonely she is in that way that makes me want to give her all my savings

Wouldn't you just love to be one of these gators, MD? 
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U238637ACME/earlene-heath-displaying-the-new-gator-fad

And yeah, Suzanne Ridgeway in a role that, like you've said in the past, she basically inherited from Judy Malcolm. And Judy, in turn, probably inherited it from Elaine Waters.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Big Papi good.  A Missed Fortune bad.

[Paul Pain]

I'm not as down on Nanette Bordeaux as you guys, though intellectually, I can understand where you're coming from.  Her broken English is a bit fascinating to me.

Nope.  Uncle Miltie in drag would be better because not only is her acting putrid but her phony voice is also putrid.  I have known lots of Frenchies, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that her accent is exaggerated.

Wouldn't you just love to be one of these gators, MD? 
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U238637ACME/earlene-heath-displaying-the-new-gator-fad
Elaine Waters.

I have... other... thoughts about her... minus the gators, of course.  Woo woo woo!   

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Where's our page for Listen, Judge? I've got a long comment all written and have nowhere to post it!

[metaldams]

Where's our page for Listen, Judge? I've got a long comment all written and have nowhere to post it!

I skipped a week, so that will be up next weekend.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

I skipped a week, so that will be up next weekend.

That's disappointing, but thanks for letting us know.

[metaldams]

Big Papi good.  A Missed Fortune bad.

That's seriously signature worthy!

[metaldams]

Wouldn't you just love to be one of these gators, MD? 
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U238637ACME/earlene-heath-displaying-the-new-gator-fad

God bless the Internet.

[metaldams]

That's disappointing, but thanks for letting us know.

Yeah, just needed a week off.  I mentioned this in the introduction to weekly episodes discussion thread, I just edited in the A MISSED FORTUNE review this week after most of you guys already made comments.

[BeatleShemp]

I love this short, and it's pretty good as far as remakes go.  The thing that sticks out for me, is that in the original, the girls found out that the Stooges were broke at the end, but here, that's omitted, and the only explanation I can think of for them knocking the Stooges out at the end was because of the multiple soakings.  Anybody notice that?  Other than that, I really liked this short.

[luke795]

I like this better than the original.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Poor, deluded boy.

[Shemp_Diesel]

Hmmm, don't remember if I ever chimed in with my own feelings about Nanette, but I always found that accent of hers to be quite sexy. I know I've thought of her as one of my favorite stooge babes.

Wee madam, their is mouses in the houses...

[metaldams]

Hmmm, don't remember if I ever chimed in with my own feelings about Nanette, but I always found that accent of hers to be quite sexy. I know I've thought of her as one of my favorite stooge babes.

Wee madam, their is mouses in the houses...

I’m with you, I wouldn’t say no either.

She was only 45 when she passed - from pneumonia.  Way too young.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Not the worst Shemp by any means, but a low-energy remake with some poorly matched stock footage.  However,  "A Missed Fortune" boasts a more satisfying conclusion than "Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb." Vernon Dent is always a plus.

6/10