Topic: Of Cash and Hash (1955)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/159
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048440/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KpOB_bQnr2E

Watch OF CASH AND HASH in the link above



      I attend to agree for the most part plotting wise this one does better, crime scene wise, at least, than SHIVERING SHERLOCKS.  However, as Paul Payne points out, Christine McIntyre just gets thrown in suddenly as an excuse so they can match the old footage.  She had no advancement to the plot.  Really, minus the brief closing, there's no really great comedy in these new scenes, and since SHIVERING SHERLOCKS isn't one of my favorites to begin with, I can't rate this one too high.

      Really, the closing shot of an overly hyped up Shemp kissing Christine on the cheek is the highlight, and a nice way to kiss Christine goodbye from our story, if you will.  Easily the greatest of all Stooge actresses, she will be missed, both her beauty and talent.  Bud, Vernon and now Christine are all gone, Emil being the only great one left, and he stays until the very end. 

      Next week, an original, followed by the CITIZEN KANE of recycles, so at least we get a couple of weeks of fun.

6/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

Of Cash and Hash is interesting to me, because I would say it's the only case where a "Shemp recycle" tops the original. Unlike so many of these recycles, it seems like some thought was put into the plot of this one to try and fill in some of the holes left in the original & actually create new scenes that are actually funny--as opposed to some remakes like last week's Fling in the Ring, or even some of the rehashes that are still ahead *cough, Hot Ice* cough*.

Again, the new footage at the very beginning with Kenneth McDonald and Frank Lackteen is good and actually serves a purpose, to explain why the stooges end up hiding in the trash can. The lie detector scene in the old footage is still funny, then we get back into some more new footage & Stanley Blystone in what I'm sure was his last stooge short--I'll have the cream chip beef on toast.

If I had a quip with this particular short, it would be the same problem I had with the original, in that I'm still not that wild about the part where the boys go to the deserted house and start running from the crooks. Again, "scare comedy"--to me--was not the stooges strong suit.

7 out of 10....

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

I agree that it was an improvement to include in this version the actual armored-car robbery that the boys merely mention in the original. Daring, too, to try to pick up loose threads and tie them together with actions.

It doesn't make much sense to me that the robbers stop to shoot it out with the guards rather than just continue running away with the loot, or that the Stooges remain standing where they are once the shooting starts rather than run away from the line of fire (not into it, as Larry does). But on the plus side, we get to see Shemp get his pipe shot out of his mouth.

The 1930s police cruiser that turns into a 1940s one when it stops looks even more anachronistic now that we're in the 1950s.

Too bad that in this version, we don't get to hear Moe pronounce "Elite" as "ee-light." (He has now learned to say "élite.")

[Paul Pain]

So, who in the dickens is Gladys?  Nothing ever addresses this with any sort of basis.  The continuity errors in this short are hilarious.

I really fail to appreciate the new scenes in this one as much as I could because how the heck do the cops get into a shootout with TWO men and then somehow pin it on THREE guys who they can clearly tell, even at night, weren't the ones firing at them.  Those cops sure need to eat their carrots!

We say goodbye to Christine McIntyre, Frank Lackteen, Tommy Kingston (OK, who really gives a horse's patoot about him?), and Stanley Blystone as they make their final Stooge appearances.  We also suffer a great loss as Stanley Blystone passed away just two years after filming; he had been out of Stooge shorts for a while, but he was still gone too soon.

These things said, this is one of the better Shemp remakes, more up there with BOOTY AND THE BEAST as far as the quality of the new scenes.  Most of these stock jobs got thrown together in one day, which I think accounts for a lot of the common "bad acting" accusations given to these shorts.  We get some new laughs, such as the pipe being shot off.  So overall not bad.  This isn't a remake I will turn away from.

It's a shame Kenneth MacDonald and Christine McIntyre weren't about 25 years of age instead of about 45 and 35, respectively, when they started their Stooge careers as they both were extremely talented, as shown my MacDonald getting into TV in the 1950s and 60s.

7/10

[Kopfy2013]

So long to Christine ... she was great ...  her roles really dropped the past couple of years --- budget cuts? she taking less work? combination?

Anyways, great job of editing and putting in new material ... instead of just putting in new material in beginning or in the end, there was new material interspersed throughout to make the short make more sense.

The new scenes did not add much to the laughter quotient however.

I give this a solid 7.

[Paul Pain]

Dang... only 5 posts on this one? 

[Shemp_Diesel]

Dang... only 5 posts on this one?

Has being stuck in "remake hell" killed the enthusiasm for the weekly debate or is this just an aberration? At any rate, I'm sure once we get to the "back of Joe Palma's head" and Mr. Besser, the debate will heat up again...

 

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

A far superior remake to the bland "Shivering Sherlocks", as a kid I used to get these two shorts mixed up and always preferred this one over "Sherlocks", in "Hash" the new footage was funny and plentiful, it also covered a lot of plot holes and the ending is far superior here than in "Sherlocks", I also loved Larry's "dessert" line, I've thought Christine McIntyre left off on a good note with this short considering she's been with the stooges since 1944.

I give this short an 8/10, it was everything I wish "Sherlocks" would've been.

[Daddy Dewdrop]

My countdown ranking - #88

[Shemp_Diesel]

I went over to the main site to look at some of the production notes, because I was thinking about Vernon Dent. I know his appearance in this short was all stock footage, but the new scenes for Cash were filmed in April 1954 & Vernon's last day of shooting for Knuzty Knights was January of that year.

I can only venture to guess that poor Vernon's health had unfortunately taken a turn for the worse in those 3 months. I know I remember the story about how at Shemp's funeral, Vernon was totally blind & had to be assisted up to the coffin to say goodbye to his old friend...