Topic: For Crimin' Out Loud (1956)

[metaldams]

http://threestooges.net/filmography/episode/169
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049222/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qzznkKX-09A

Watch FOR CRIMIN' OUT LOUD in the link above




      We've made it.  The last Shemp short released to feature some original Shemp footage.  I may be nuts, but I get results, gosh diddly darn it.  So what does this short have to offer?  A new introductory scene followed by just about nothing but old, classic footage from WHO DONE IT?  Oh yeah, one little new insert amongst the old.

      The new footage is there as a point to introduce the boys as detectives and just do some basic Stooge slapstick.  Must have taken two minutes to write.  The slapstick is fun, if not Earth shattering.  While Shemp does get involved, again, it's Larry who does more slapstick than Shemp, very common in these later Shemps.  Barbara Bartay is the only gag of note, and yes, her presence is a gag.  She looks more beautiful here than any other appearance, but her voice, which has been commented on by others and myself, gets garbled as manly in a voice over!  OK, not so much her voice, but her line readings, yet still, funny to see her voice as a gag.  There is one insert later on and the only point it serves is to show how much the boys have aged over the years.

      The old footage is what makes FOR CRIMIN' OUT LOUD wonderful as entertainment on its own merit.  All those classic scenes, like the camera scene, the poison drink scene, the light to dark fight...the new footage over the past few years contains no scenes this great.  It's mostly standard slapstick.  A reminder of what we've missed.

      As far as Stooge shorts, we say goodbye to Shemp.  Yeah, we revisit him four more times, and Joe Palma gets his most memorable role, but Shemp, you were the man. 

7/10

[Shemp_Diesel]

Well--for all intents and purposes--the last "real" Shemp Howard Three Stooges film. I would say the only points worth watching is the opening section, which I think goes about 5 or 6 minutes and is all new. There's one small 3 second clip later in the short that is a new insert--but hardly worth mentioning.

As for the opening--good standard stooge material; not better than Who Done It?, but it has its funny points, like Larry with the hot tube down his pants, Moe dishing out punishment--as usual--and Barbara Bartay's small gag.

As far as recycles go, this is slightly better than the doldrums we've had the last few weeks, but still nothing earth shattering. Again--for my money--the last "real" Shemp film. I've heard stories that Shemp actually died with a smile on his face. Whether or not that's true, I don't know--at any rate, Crimin' is a decent farewell for one of the undisputed legends of comedy.

5 out of 10 pokes...

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

I guess you'd call this minimally invasive butchery, but the shift in gears to the old footage is jarring anyway.  At least it's 90% original.  God, when I was a kid I dreaded when one of these remakes would come on.  And this is a masterpiece compared to the next four.  I'll gut it out.

[Paul Pain]

Required reading: WHO DONE IT? thread

For the second week in a row, we say, "Good bye, Shemp."  But this time it's for real.  It's hard to believe that he really passed away 61 years ago.

This isn't that bad among the Shemp remakes.  The opening scenes are quite good, including the infamous "'D' for 'dandruff'" line, which always gets a chuckle out of me and actually is in my lexicon of go-to jokes. 

The rest of the new scenes are pretty good, and we're spared hearing Barbara Bartay's accent with a voice over... even Jules White and Felix Adler caught on to the fact she had no comedic talent.  In fact, according to IMDB, this was her last acting role period.  That slap in her face aside, one would think she would have been perfect as an actress in Cold War era films given that thick accent; given what we've heard of her, she'd make a great Commie-Czech spy sent to infiltrate the Eisenhower administration, no?

Fear not, folks, for we shall see the return of another thick-accented actress without talent in September...

Back to this, the other highlight of the new footage would have to be Emil Sitka's instructions on how to get to the house.  I was surprised to see metaldams' rating, as I assumed this would be dogged as a remake, but as remakes go it's actually pretty.  The only real blemish here is that it's a bit too heavy on the stock footage.  These things said...

7/10

[Lefty]

FCOL does have good new footage.  That "'D' for Dandruff" line was a definite highlight.  At least the stock footage was from a good Shemp short.  The only problem was, for those who had not seen "Who Done It?", was when we see Emil Sitka and the Stooges crying, from having to hear those "singing commercials."  I guess Schaefer Beer wasn't among them.   

Anyway, R.I.P., Shemp.  Then, "rip" Fake Shemp.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

A few minutes of new material spliced on to a cut-down version of Who Done It? (with the addition of a new appearance of Emil Sitka spliced into the telephone conversation in the latter to fit it with the new opening)--not bad. For me the high point is Moe's punishment of Larry and Shemp with a "See that?" that goes awry: two head conks in one gesture for the other two, but the motion carries Moe's hand around to give himself a poke in the eyes. Hey, it's an original variation on old tricks!

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Hey, Lefty -

Shaeffer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one
Shaeffer pleasure doesn't fade even when your thirst is done
The most rewarding flavor in this man's world
For people who are having fun
Shaeffer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one!

[Lefty]

Hey, Lefty -

Shaeffer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one
Shaeffer pleasure doesn't fade even when your thirst is done
The most rewarding flavor in this man's world
For people who are having fun
Shaeffer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one!

Chief,
Yes, I remember it well, along with three other themes the beer had in the mid to late 1970s.  Also, they changed "this man's world" to "this tough world," as the beer must have been a favorite of women by that time.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Red Sox?

[BeatleShemp]

This is a remake that I enjoyed very much, despite it being 90% stock footage.  I think that Felix Adler has always been the better screenwriter in the Jules White shorts, and I think his new setup was pretty funny. It was funny to see Moe dishing out some good abuse in this one. The best bit was the lone moment where Moe does the around-the-world double-head bop-self-eye-poke. He never did it again and it was pretty funny here. Going to give it a 7/10.

[Kopfy2013]

Oh yeah, one little new insert amongst the old.     

Actually some of these later shorts have some merit because of the great original material they used.  However, I still am falling asleep alot watching these.

That being said, when is the little new insert? ... at what time or plot area is this as I missed it.

I give this a 7

[Shemp_Diesel]

I was skimming through this short on Dailymotion & noticed a slight continuity error: In the new scenes in the opening, when Emil Sitka actually shot some new footage (he earned his paycheck for this short  ), he mentions that he went to his niece's estate.

No big shakes, unless you remember the old footage & the fact that it was Mr. Goodrich's palatial home in Who Done It? (My furniture, be careful).

Just another example of how I study these films way too closely, sometimes. And on another note, since I'm a baseball fan & one who still recognizes 755 as the Home Run Record, should I say 73 for Shemp is the real number for his Stooge tenure?   

[Daddy Dewdrop]

I actually find this one a tad better than the original ("Who Done It?").  I think they tightened things up a bit and that's a good thing.

#99. For Crimin' Out Loud

[Allen Champion]

Another artistic desecration of the vastly superior original by Jules Blite.   "Put your shirt on, Jules, stop farting, and STOP SHOWING BUSTER KEATON HOW TO BE FUNNY!!"