http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/145http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046010/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0bftY4evuHEWatch LOOSE LOOT in the link above.
The milking of HOLD THAT LION! continues with LOOSE LOOT, the 145th Stooge short I'm reviewing. Mother! Gotta say, this one actually has more original footage than stock, something we won't see much of in the future. Last week, with BOOTY AND THE BEAST, it was a straight one reel of new footage followed by old. Here, the majority of old footage is the first reel while the second reel is all brand new. The big difference, and this sets a precedent for future stock footage jobs, is that amongst the old footage, bits of new footage are added in to advance or change the plot so the newer footage makes sense.
As for the new footage, from a strictly logical point of view, it's just disjointed slapstick, very much like a mid teens Keystone/Sennett comedy. But like the best of those said comedies, the comic energy more than makes up for lack of substance. The joy of this new footage is watching the joy Shemp had waving a sword while chasing the showgirls out of the room, or the joy the boys take in giving poor I. Slipp the slapstick treatment as his head is caught in the door. The shot of Moe getting pummeled between the cushion and door is one of the handful of great claustrophobic Stooge shots, and Tom Kennedy getting his hand swollen times ten is beautifully cartoonish, recalling PUNCH DRUNKS, if you can remember that far back. The ending where they dive into the picture frame is very Buster Keatonesque, recalling Keaton going into the film screen in SHERLOCK, JR.
The boys show great energy in the new footage, and again a shame the economics of the two reel industry had to prevent them, in still relatively good years, from giving us more good new footage.
7/10