OK, let’s get the Curly health timeline out of the way first. I view ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES as the last Stooge film where Curly was in somewhat reasonable health, if not good health. Shot in December 1944, we’re still in the time frame where Curly, obviously well past his WE WANT OUR MUMMY era peak, is still much better than he was a mere three months later in IF A BODY MEETS A BODY and the other shorts going forward. IDIOTS DE LUXE was shot two months before this. So this is what I consider the last of the past his prime but still somewhat normal Curly era, which was around 1943 - 1944. January 1945 is when things really started going down hill and the medical help escalated, according to bios.
Years ago, when we were doing one Curly short a week, I almost included ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES as an entry. The Three Stooges are top billed in this one but then again - not really. In reality ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES is very much a variety show/ensemble piece type b picture where no one is truly the star. Not one person in the cast is billed above the title, it just so happens when it’s time to list the cast members, The Three Stooges are mentioned first. I agree with that billing arrangement because this isn’t really a Three Stooges film or anyone else’s film for that matter. Just a picture where they try to do more than one thing and don’t 100% succeed at any of those things.
We have singing cowboys, a bare minimum plot that is just enough to get through, a couple of pretty girls who also sing and are involved in bare bones romances - one of them being with Moe, of all people; and yes, Three Stooges comedy. The latter I will talk about the most but as far as the other things, nothing overly offensive and only two things really stood out for my tastes. Gladys Blake’s “Upstairs, Downstairs” number is a bit on the sexy side and later on, when the swingin’ and singin’ cowboys are doing their musical number, an electric guitar solo is played. My interest perked up during these two non Stooge moments because I like pretty girls and I like guitars, but these are only fleeting moments. I do have to wonder how certain members of the public back in the day felt about these kind of films when they try to shoehorn so many elements in barely over an hour. The more elements you throw in, surely you’re going to lose a portion of the audience for a portion of the film. How many people truly like all this stuff? What interests me of all these elements won’t interest most others and vice versa.
Now one thing on this board I know we are all interested in and at least I wish the producers and writers would have done justice to is The Three Stooges. When it came to the shorts, it took the Joe Besser era to give Moe his real life haircut and to split him from the team in certain shorts. Throw these guys in features in the forties and the confusion is ahead of schedule by more than a decade. For all the people over the years who wish The Three Stooges made some features with Curly, ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES is living proof as to why it’s good this did not happen and we got those ninety seven shorts instead. It’s not until the final third of the film The Three Stooges are truly a team and even there, there’s only a few moments where the focus is truly on them and not some other element of the variety show we have on display here.
The set up is Larry and Curly are always teamed and Moe, until later on, is separate from them. In the beginning, Moe is trying to con Larry and a Curly out of their money like Bud Abbott would do to Lou Costello. Moe plays it way too straight here, lacking Abbott’s energy, comic seediness and a well written script where humor can derive from such a situation. There is also a scene where Larry and Curly try to get on a horse and fall down that completely lacks energy - the normal energy being an angry Moe, who is absent here. Instead we have them speaking in an uncharacteristically gentlemanly manner to each other that flat out doesn’t work. Oh, and then there’s the mining scene where Larry is taking turns smacking a spike into the ground and then on Curly’s head. So far, so good. Moe even shows up. Nice! But then, the goodness ends there as the spike bit doesn’t develop into a great slapstick scene at all like it would in a two reelers. As for Moe? Why involve him in the comedy when he can speak to another character while this is happening so the plot can be advanced? What, you mean that’s not what you want to see? Same here. Oy vey.
About forty eight minutes into this sixty seven minute film, Moe finally emerges, drags Curly and Larry into a room by physical force and then they pose as termite exterminators and harass a straight man in the process of harassing each other at the same time. These few precious minutes are easily the highlight of the film. The movie lights up when the real Three Stooges finally are on screen and I wish we could see more of this. Of all the ninety seven shorts, even the very worst has more classic Stooge moments than this sixty seven minute feature. An interesting movie, at least, and the closest we will get to a starring feature with Curly as the third Stooge. However, a big disappointment because they were not used close to their full capacity. It’s been years since I’ve seen them, but I remember SWING PARADE OF 1946 and TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM, features where The Three Stooges are blatantly not the stars, getting more good comic moments than this. I will revisit these at some point and when I do, you can be sure I’ll review them.
