Topic: Stone Age Romeos (1955)

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/162
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048660/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9RnPM8lPv-s

Watch STONE AGE ROMEOS in the link above



      Basically, STONE AGE ROMEOS is a wraparound recycle job of I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE.  My theory of the reason of the wraparound is they didn't have access to the original caveman sets, just a guess on my part.  Anyway, lots of reused gags in the new footage, like Moe looking at Larry's head through a telescope and making jungle analogies, funny maps, the I can't see/I got my eyes closed routine,and another in a long line of endings where the boys get shot in the ass with a gun.

     I am noticing a continued theme of more violence and slightly more risqué humor in this mid 50's stuff, really makes me wonder how things would be if there was more new footage from this time.  Larry having a string pulled out of his head and dust being blown out is interesting, but Moe using scissors on Shemp's tongue made me wince out loud! Also, check out the map.  "Isle-liquor" is next to "Yule-liquor."  Too bad it's not located near the Greek island of Lesbos, a real place where a quarter of my ancestry comes from.  Yes, I have a sense of humor about it.

      Not bad to watch as far as entertainment, but logically, mostly reused gags, slightly more than half of this stuff is reused, and the ending is purely lame, so I give this a.....

6/10

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

I wrote way back when that Monkey's Uncle was the first short to jump the shark.  True, they made many good ones afterwards, but Monkey's Uncle set the template for all the later cheapos: glacial pacing, corny jokes, cheap sets, low energy, stuff that was supposed to be funny but wasn't even close, including the world's second-oldest joke...ugh.  Needless to say, this added footage adds nothing, and keeps the world's second-oldest joke.  Bleagh.  Worse to come !

[Shemp_Diesel]

Well, I think I have a slightly higher opinion than the Big Chief--as far as retreads go, this is passable; nothing really outstanding but nothing that will make you want to gouge your own eyes out either, like something we will see in about 2 weeks--*cough* Hot Ice...

Again, this is just one of your average rehashes--the new stuff is pretty good but feels like what it really is; just a meandering exercise to get us to the glut of recycled footage in the middle, and I think I side with Metal as far as the worn out gag about the stooges getting shot in the ass, then said shooter getting himself in the foot.

5 out of 10 pokes...

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Am I wrong, or are those doubles running away in the last shot?  And if so, were the stooges so over-the-hill at that point that they needed doubles for a nothing stunt like that?  The print I have is pretty decrepit, so it may be the real guys distorted by the bad print, but I really don't think it's them.  This may be a job for Green Canaries.
     And, by the bye, Cy Schindell is dead by now, but he STILL rules.

[Paul Pain]

Required reading before further posting: There will be a test.

Am I wrong, or are those doubles running away in the last shot?  And if so, were the stooges so over-the-hill at that point that they needed doubles for a nothing stunt like that?  The print I have is pretty decrepit, so it may be the real guys distorted by the bad print, but I really don't think it's them.  This may be a job for Green Canaries.

I'd say not.  In fact, it looks like one continuous scene done with two cameras.

     And, by the bye, Cy Schindell is dead by now, but he STILL rules.

This is inexorably true.

I'm going to be heavier on this one.  Why?  They cut out lots of plot-driving scenes from I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE.  There's no explanation for Moe's hair grease.  There's no more build-up to the duck scene.  Overall, they cut a lot of good stuff out whereas they could have done better by just completely removing the first couple of scenes and making the rest continuous, but they wanted that "documentary" feel.  It's more like Day in the Life of Ingagi.

The new stuff is meh.  The second half of the wraparound just sucks.  The boys race-walk-running is just lame.  They could have had the short end with a brilliant Stooge chase scene, but instead we get this drivel.  The first half isn't much better, although cleaning Larry's ears (complete with a nice build-up to it) and Moe chopping Shemp's tongue are pretty good.  This isn't quite as bad as things will get the next 4 months, but it's close.

4/10

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Even having Emil Sitka doesn't raise the new material very high. Cleaning out Larry's ear was the high point.

[Paul Pain]

Well, I think I have a slightly higher opinion than the Big Chief--as far as retreads go, this is passable; nothing really outstanding but nothing that will make you want to gouge your own eyes out either, like something we will see in about 2 weeks--*cough* Hot Ice...

Again, this is just one of your average rehashes--the new stuff is pretty good but feels like what it really is; just a meandering exercise to get us to the glut of recycled footage in the middle, and I think I side with Metal as far as the worn out gag about the stooges getting shot in the ass, then said shooter getting himself in the foot.

5 out of 10 pokes...

What a sucky short to get on your birthday.  And happy birthday!

[Shemp_Diesel]

Thanks for the B-Day wishes, Paul.

As far as the upcoming recycles go, I think I have a slightly higher opinion of Wham-Bam-Slam than most seem to do--meaning, I don't think it's horrible.

Hot Ice, on the other hand--as Frasier Crane used to say, "Oh dear God"...   

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

This is one case where the old footage is used in such a way as to try to completely change the meaning and context of it. It's not great, but it's better than another example yet to come...

[HomokHarcos]

I might have to revise my view on these later Shemp shorts. I watched them in order, so when I got to the remakes I was frustrated at just how much of the film was reused footage. But I watched this short recently and found it very funny. Now keep in mind in the theatrical era people didn't get to see the Three Stooges all the time, so the footage would have been new as the original film was shot years ago. There was a good chance that the audience had never even seen the original. Although I still wish they were making new content instead of these "remakes".

[Umbrella Sam]

I might have to revise my view on these later Shemp shorts. I watched them in order, so when I got to the remakes I was frustrated at just how much of the film was reused footage. But I watched this short recently and found it very funny. Now keep in mind in the theatrical era people didn't get to see the Three Stooges all the time, so the footage would have been new as the original film was shot years ago. There was a good chance that the audience had never even seen the original. Although I still wish they were making new content instead of these "remakes".

I think this is a very good point. Many of these remakes like OF CASH AND HASH and KNUTZY KNIGHTS probably could stand fine on their own if we didn’t know about the originals (I actually remember seeing a few remakes before even knowing they were remakes; CREEPS comes to mind). I still don’t think most of them were as good as the originals and a few were quite terrible (particularly PALS AND GALS and its ridiculously poor continuity), but some Stooges at least was better than no Stooges.

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Another Shemp recycle job.  I probably rate "I'm A Monkey's Uncle" higher than most, but this one just has too much old footage to get me excited.

#135. Stone Age Romeos