Topic: Flying Saucer Daffy (1958)

[Paul Pain]

Can't you just imagine Rod Serling narrating this short?

[Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum]

This is the last Stooges short filmed, but for whatever reason it wasn't the last one released. Given the split between Joe and the others, this kind of plays as half Besser solo film and half "Two Stooges" outing.

What may be most remarkable about this one is the amount of abuse Joe takes. It's certainly the most he gets in any Stooges short. If one wanted to make the case that Besser really didn't avoid taking slapstick, at least in the long run, this would be the short to use. He gets:
- A cake in the face.
- Slammed with a door (off-camera).
- In quick succession (from Moe): 2 double-handed slaps, an eyepoke, a punch in the belly, and 3 nose flicks.
- A bottle broken on his head.
- In quick succession (from Auntie): 2 double-handed slaps, an eyepoke, a punch in the belly, and a kick in the rear (that puts his face into a punch bowl).
- A duck falling on his head.
- In quick succession: 2 punches in the belly (from Larry), a bop on the head (from Moe), and 2 simultaneous punches in the face (from Larry & Moe).

Note that this is the first short, in release order at least, where Joe takes an eyepoke.

At first Joe plays the "he-Cinderella" in a whiny and annoying manner, but as the short progresses he starts getting some good moments:
- Has no nuts to give the squirrel so he tosses it some chewing gum.
- "You do everything I tell you to."
- "Coming!" (crash!)
- Sneaks some money from the wheelbarrow as it gets pulled away.
- "Not so haaaard!" (after being pinched by himself)
- Loses everything that he's just wrapped in the blanket.

Some other good moments from the short:
- Auntie: "Water?! Don't ever do that to me again!"
- Moe accidentally lights his nose instead of his cigarette.
- Auntie lifts her diminutive date for a kiss.
- Moe: "Get us a lawyer! A cheap one!"
- The card given to Joe by the space girl: "Phone: Bleep-Bluep-Blop"

Miscellaneous observations:
- Like some other Besser-era shorts, this has a title that seems to have had no thought put into it.
- Joe's out of the blue "You're a doll!" makes no sense and is a big hiccup in the short. It's like something got missed so Joe just skipped to the next thing he remembered.
- Gail Bonney is great as Auntie. She's easily the fourth star of the short.

[Tony Bensley]

I agree that FLYING SAUCER DAFFY plays more like a Joe Besser solo than a Three Stooges vehicle, and in my opinion, a pretty good one.  Ironically, Joe takes the most abuse in this short by far, and in my opinion, his character is at his most sympathetic and appealing throughout Besser's 16 stooges shorts stint!

Knowing that this was the final Three Stooges short produced (And indeed, the very last short subject for Columbia before that department was shut down!) I can't help but wonder whether some of the casting and party scene setup might have been intentionally geared toward this being the last farewell, so to speak?  I think it's a nice thought, at any rate!

This was veteran actor Billy Engle's last film appearance (Although Billy lived until November, 1966.), according to his IMDB listing.

FLYING SAUCER DAFFY gets 7 out of 10 Besser Knockabouts! 

CHEERS! 

[Curly Van Dyke]

Regarding the Space Babes-Diana Darrin was a real Doll-Very Pretty and a Gorgeous Figure.She has a small part on a 1962 Perry Mason and looks
as Yummy as ever.
Bek Nelson, also a Blonde Beauty popped up in several Masons-Anyone ever seen her "Girlie Whirl" short with Muriel Landers?

[Woe-ee-Woe-Woe80]

I give "Daffy" an 8/10, definitely one of the best of the Besser shorts, I agree Gail Bonney was hilarious as Moe & Larry's mean mother, I also liked seeing Bek Nelson and Diana Darrin as the space babes being there for Joe Besser, this is one short I like better as an adult than I did as a child.

[metaldams]

I give "Daffy" an 8/10, definitely one of the best of the Besser shorts, I agree Gail Bonney was hilarious as Moe & Larry's mean mother, I also liked seeing Bek Nelson and Diana Darrin as the space babes being there for Joe Besser, this is one short I like better as an adult than I did as a child.

Glad you like this one as well.  Gail Bonney, ironically, was younger than Moe and less than a year older than Larry in real life.

I’ve been rewatching the shorts in order over a long period of time and I’m now ready to dive into DVD volume 8.  I’ll be posting the occasional comment about Besser shorts and late a Shemp’s I’m sure.

[Daddy Dewdrop]

Coming in at #178 on my countdown is "Flying Saucer Daffy".  Who would've ever thought to cast Joe Besser as Cinderella?  Certainly not me.  Actually, Besser's not the problem with this one.  Moe and Larry are especially mean and the overall tone of this short is too dark for a Stooges film.  It's more weird than funny.  I do love those alien babes though (hubba-hubba)!

#178. Flying Saucer Daffy