Topic: Open Season for Saps (1944) - Shemp Howard

[metaldams]

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/276
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132392/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7rXPwX2mOvA

Watch a brief scene from OPEN SEASON FOR SAPS in the link above



      Sorry guys, no links to view the film online, hopefully most of you have this on DVD.  Columbia, for the most part, couldn't figure out what to do with Shemp solo.  They would, for the most part, either put him in one off ill fitted teams, like with El Brendel, or have him appear in Three Stooges or Charley Chase scripts.  This entry is the first of three of the latter variety, being a remake of THE GRAND HOOTER (1937).

      Charley Chase had a unique niche in that he was a screwball comedian who fit well into slapstick situations.  He was believable as a straight domestic husband, something this role calls for.  Shemp Howard is more of a pure clown and not suitable for this type of role.  Simply put, I don't find him and his wife to be a believable couple, so it's a shame they give Shemp a Role he does not belong in.  Shemp's best stuff is him with a flirtatious Christine McIntyre, an actress he had natural screen comic chemistry with, as we'd see over the years.  Interestingly enough, there's a scene where Christine plays guitar and sings while Shemp Stooges it up.  Shemp's mannerisms don't fit a believable husband character but are funny on their own.  In the original, Charley Chase is the one doing the singing, adding to the charm this kind of role requires. 

      No matter what version we're talking, the chase scene with the jealous husband is beyond cliche and tedious, lacking any type of wit.  Chalk this film up as a curio, but not very good.  There is at least one Charley Chase script that suits Shemp better in the future, so things do perk up.

4/10

[Paul Pain]

This short is far from good.  The opening scene is all right and typical solo Shemp screwball stuff, but it's all downhill from here.  You have to appreciate that surprise ending, though.  Joe Wilson must be the dumbest idiot ever.  Fortunately, every short after this is better even if they aren't on the quality as the original shorts they're ripped off from.  It feels like a short written for other actors, unlike so many other Columbia efforts where the plot we associate with the Stooges is nicely adapted to the non-Stooge actor(s).

The chase scene gets tiresome as it takes up about half of the short, and George Lewis just isn't that funny of a guy.  I'll be more generous...

5/10

[falsealarms]

This was a perfectly solid short, but that's about it. The Charley Chase version was probably better.

The husband and wife arguing over music kind of reminds me of Oliver Hardy and his wife in Unaccustomed As We Are, but that was done better.

[Shemp_Diesel]

The gimmick that gets used a lot in these Shemp solos is the jealous husband/boyfriend gimmick--or even sometimes the jealous wife. It may get a little tiring over the course of the Shemp solos, but in a lot of cases, Shemp still gives the material some sparkle.

This one isn't overwhelming, but it's not bad either. Nothing outstanding, but some funny scenes here and there...

5 out of 10....

[Kopfy2013]

Can't see it, can't comment on it....

[QuinceHead]

Is this one on the "Rare Treasures" DVD from Columbia?

For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead

[metaldams]

Is this one on the "Rare Treasures" DVD from Columbia?

For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead

Yes, as are all the Columbia Stooge solo shorts we will be discussing.

[Dr. Hugo Gansamacher]

Good pie-throwing at the end. Maybe they had Moe throwing them. 

Shemp Howard is more of a pure clown and not suitable for this type of role.  Simply put, I don't find him and his wife to be a believable couple, so it's a shame they give Shemp a Role he does not belong in.

Agreed. It's pretty difficult to conceive of what would induce a rather attractive young woman to marry Woodcock R. Sprinker, especially as she seems not to like him particularly. (By the way, the page on this site gives "Q." as the middle initial, but I remember it as "R.")

Edited to add: Oh, I see: the Shemp character in these shorts is Woodcock Q. Sprinker, but the judge mentioned in Hold That Lion is Woodcock R. Sprinker. Clearly two entirely different people!