Topic: Beer and Pretzels (1933) - Ted Healy and His Stooges

[Paul Pain]

https://threestooges.net/filmography/episode/200
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023789/



Well, well, well, you knuckleheads, I am alive after all!  I wasn't dead in a ditch like I thought I was.  But I digress.  Let's finally talk about BEER AND PRETZELS.

Oh, what a strange short this is.  As is true of most, if not all, the MGM Healy-Stooges shorts, this is just a filler comedy so MGM can use up some film clippings excised from other productions.  But this time at least it's a smooth integration, whereas NERTSERY RHYMES felt disjointed.  Unfortunately, once again, the film clippings and song-and-dance take up half the film, but this time it's done right in a row so that it's sandwiched by good comedy fun.

There's a good mix of familiar routines: slipping on the floor, Curly being pushed as a tough guy, the descending slaps, etc.  All solid routines have a first appearance, and these we see in their earlier incarnations, later done better when the boys were without Toxic Ted.  The comedy is solid, and this is definitely a must-watch for any seasoned Stooge fan, but it's clear that they were better-off without Healy.

6/10

[metaldams]

      The potential is there but BEER AND PRETZELS never seems to gel.  Being MGM, God forbid they make a straight forward comedy short.  We have to have the music and dance stuff in the middle and it begs the question, what the Hell is Bonny wearing?

      Ted’s character is a leader not as charismatic or explosive as Moe would be in the future.  He’ll do anything to get ahead and has an eye for the ladies, that’s his character.  I just don’t see a headlining kind of guy like he was billed as all those years - I think MGM was right to eventually use him as support, which he worked in quite well.  Those three guys under him, that’s another story.

      The boys don’t really get a good extended sequence, but all shine for brief moments.  Moe will get the occasional hit in and explode - especially well before the climatic fight.  Larry gets some salty dialogue, Curly gets some good facial expressions and they all get nice bits as waiters dealing with customers.  The charisma and talent is there, but it’s the equivalent of listening to The Beatles with Tony Sheridan.  It’s proto-Stooges.

      I do like the business of them all getting thrown out of the theater and how it comes back to that in the end, plus Ted’s “electric lights” bit with the ladies.  I said earlier this short doesn’t gel, those two things are the exception.  The climatic fight at the end is nice too.  Really, throw away the music, make a nice and focused extended comedy sequence in its place and BEER AND PRETZELS  would be good.  As it stands, it’s a curio with good moments.

[Dr. Mabuse]

My favorite Stooges-Healy short, which isn't saying a helluva lot. Nevertheless, it's an agreeable 20 minutes. The best moment is Curly playing the spoons while joyously upstaging Healy, whose abrasive persona brings nothing to the table. Apart from distributing the Hal Roach shorts, I'm glad MGM didn't get into the two-reel comedy business.

6/10

[metaldams]

My favorite Stooges-Healy short, which isn't saying a helluva lot but it's an agreeable 20 minutes. The best moment is Curly playing the spoons while joyously upstaging Healy, whose abrasive persona brings nothing to the table. Apart from distributing the Hal Roach shorts, I'm glad MGM didn't get into the two-reel comedy business.

6/10

Curly playing the spoons is definitely a great bit of business that I neglected to mention.  I agree with your MGM statement with two reel comedies.  There are MGM films I like, of course, but this is a studio that took itself way too seriously, more so than the other studios.  I get the feeling two reel comedies with pure laughs and no extra bells and whistles they viewed as beneath them.

[Umbrella Sam]

Well, at least the musical numbers are better incorporated than they were in NERTSERY RHYMES, and I actually did kind of like the number by the trio working at the bar. To NERTSERY RHYMES’ credit, though, at least the set up worked out so Ted and the Stooges could have equal screen time. Here, there are times where the Stooges seem to be in the background while Ted is in the forefront...and, no, I don’t think he’s funny on his own.

Most of the musical numbers are pretty dull and the comedy is also not the best...until the last 5 minutes. After that, this does become a consistently good comedy. The Stooges imitating Ted and the way they handle the customer who bribes them are really funny, and I laughed way too hard at Ted inadvertently throwing the salt at Moe, and Moe’s reaction to it. Prior to that last 5 minutes, I did like them all slipping after running into the restaurant, and I kind of liked Curly’s bit with the spoons. Besides that, though, it’s really only the last 5 minutes that stand out to me. But, hey, that’s more than I thought I would get coming into this, so it’s good that at least there’s that.

6 out of 10