https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138203/https://cinemacats.com/youre-next-1940/http://www.silentcomedymafia.com/viewtopic.php?t=991Some useful links above here. This one is in circulation, but I won't share the link to protect it.
Walter Catlett was one of many comedians whom, in an effort to boost comedic value of shorts, got paired with Monte Collins. Collins was Columbia's jack-of-all-trades who was used as the partner to many, including Catlett, Buster Keaton, and Tom Kennedy, with the last being the most successful of the pairings. In baseball, as metaldams can tell you, this is called the "utility player."
YOU'RE NEXT! is a macabre little comedy that should seem
very familiar to you. This short was reborn 6 years later as PARDON MY TERROR, which we will review in the future, and we know PARDON MY TERROR was the hodge-podge product that resulted from Curly's illness preventing this from being a Stooges script. It was finally perfected as WHO DONE IT? in 1949, which was recycled as FOR CRIMIN' OUT LOUD in 1956. We'll be visiting the 2nd of this quadrilogy soon enough as we compare these to their final form.
Now, this is an interesting little short on which we embark our new journey. On its own, it's not a terrible short, though I am not a huge fan of Walter Catlett, but he was a solid comedian. Instead we get treated to what is more a vehicle for Dudley Dickerson and Monte Collins. Roscoe Ates, John Murray, and Chester Conklin fill out the cast.
The short itself isn't too bad because it does at the very least have a coherent plot. The opening scene where we are introduced to "Pruitt & Slocum" severely lacks compared to the Stooge's version in every sense possible. Hearing Walter yell in the trash can for over a minute gets tiresome even though Monte does well-enough with getting it off. Monte could do physical comedy much better than he could do... well, he sometimes didn't do much else right at all, but he could do the physical stuff!
The scenes at the mansion do a decent enough job of providing the evil mad scientist them from SPOOKS!, but they lack the true horror of Phil Van Zandt tormenting a beautiful blonde as Roscoe Ates just sucks at acting scared. He stutters mostly without much else. His shtick is tired and old, and John Murray just isn't scary.
Dudley Dickerson is just plain wonderful in his role, but what a bizarre end to his character. I won't spoil it, but that was one of the most macabre scenes to ever show up in any Columbia Short Subject. This spoils what is otherwise a good ending.
I must mention the gorilla in the room. The gorilla actually works well here! Yes, I said it! I like the gorilla! There are some decent yucks, but it's not a fantastic short. Definitely, though, worth seeing if you're a seasoned Stooges fan and want to learn about what else Columbia's Short Subjects Department was brewing.
8/10