Topic: Roast-Beef And Movies

[Mark The Shark]

Just a question, I thought I had read something about this and maybe I did years ago in an old Journal, but I don't remember and a search of this forum comes up empty. But I'm curious about the "Roast-Beef" short which teams Curly with ethnic comic George Givot and telegram boy Bobby Callahan. I just wonder how those three guys ended up being cast together -- it seems I remember reading "somewhere" that those roles were originally supposed to belong to Moe and Larry but (1) I can't find any documentation of this, and of course, while this might seem obvious now, (2) in 1933-1934 they were not the iconic "Three Stooges" but three lesser-known performers compared to their later career. Also (3), why is Ted Healy not in this? Is this post-split? Are shooting dates for the M-G-Ms available? I remember reading (I think in "The Complete Three Stooges") that while "The Big Idea" was the last of the M-G-M shorts released, it has a low production number and might have been one of the first ones filmed. I guess I'm fascinated with this part of their career, which still might not be fully documented.

If Moe and Larry had been in "Roast-Beef," I wonder if it might have been a funnier film. I am not sure it would have mattered much.

[archiezappa]

If Moe and Larry had been in it, at least we could have understood the dialog. I never can quite understand what George Givot is saying.

[Tony Bensley]

1934 seemed to be MGM's year one for fictionalizing the 'behind the scenes' concept.  George Givot's performance does come across as a bit awkward to me, almost like 1929-1930 early talkie awkward, as I recall.

Speaking of behind the scenes, I sometimes wonder how the Three Stooges careers might have played out had Larry's Universal contract signing taken place before Moe Howard's signing with Columbia on that same day? 

CHEERS! 

[archiezappa]

1934 seemed to be MGM's year one for fictionalizing the 'behind the scenes' concept.  George Givot's performance does come across as a bit awkward to me, almost like 1929-1930 early talkie awkward, as I recall.

Speaking of behind the scenes, I sometimes wonder how the Three Stooges careers might have played out had Larry's Universal contract signing taken place before Moe Howard's signing with Columbia on that same day? 

CHEERS! 

Probably would have made features. Abbott & Costello would never have been in pictures. Stooges would not be as recognized today. The main reason they're still going strong is the fact that they made short subjects. You can slot those in a lot easier than features.

That's my 2 cents.

[Tony Bensley]

Probably would have made features. Abbott & Costello would never have been in pictures. Stooges would not be as recognized today. The main reason they're still going strong is the fact that they made short subjects. You can slot those in a lot easier than features.

That's my 2 cents.

Sounds plausible, especially the likelihood the Stooges would be less recognized today.  For one thing, there very likely wouldn't have been a late '50s revival, assuming the Stooges would have even cut the mustard in Universal Features, to begin with.  I do also wonder how the difference in workload at Universal might have impacted on Curly's health, as Feature Length comedies then rather tended towards padding of some scenes that often involved different players.  Would a longer lifespan for Jerome "Curly" Howard have resulted?

The mere idea of Abbott & Costello never being in pictures is a rather chilling one.  Heck, had the Stooges been successful at Universal, perhaps that could have caused a shifting of gears away from the Universal Monster pictures.  Who knows?

Of course, we would still have ROAST-BEEF AND MOVIES. 

CHEERS! 

[BeAStooge]

I do also wonder how the difference in workload at Universal might have impacted on Curly's health, as Feature Length comedies then rather tended towards padding of some scenes that often involved different players.  Would a longer lifespan for Jerome "Curly" Howard have resulted?

1934 - 1950, they worked only 5 - 6 weeks per year at Columbia doing the shorts.  That studio's demands had no impact on Curly's health, and ongoing tales to the contrary (i.e., the Fleming book) are myths.

Any workload that contributed to his self-destructive lifestyle/habits were the team's own personal appearance bookings, which took up an average of 20 weeks per year during their mid-'30s to mid-'40s height, with 1939 and 1940 the most at 6 and 7 months respectively.

[7stooges]

Well, how do you liiiiiike that?

This always feels like one of those questions we may never know the answer to. We're just left watching, and wondering what we're looking at, and why we're looking at it. The answer is usually that we have to see everything the Stooges did, good or bad.

Incidentally, I'm just noticing that Roast-Beef director Sam Baerwitz would go on to write some of the later Our Gangs for MGM. And directed one - a morale boosting musical for the servicemen titled "Calling All Kids."