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The Three Stooges - Curly Years / Re: Violent is the Word for Curly (1938)
« Last post by J_Kasumi on Today at 01:53:51 PM »If putrid means wonderful, then, yes.
So, in Stooge terms, you’re saying it’s putrid?
If putrid means wonderful, then, yes.
So, in Stooge terms, you’re saying it’s putrid?
When comparing the DVD releases of Marx Bros movies like Duck Soup vs. their Blu-Ray releases, I’ve realized that Blu-Ray CAN do so much!
The worst thing that a Three Stooges short can be is not entertaining — or even worse, boring — and that pretty much sums up Cuckoo on a Choo Choo for me.
Like Daddy Dewdrop said, any time the boys are split up/don’t work as a semi-cohesive unit, the short usually suffers — and boy, does it suffer! (Although not as much as the audience does…)
And also like Daddy Dewdrop, I’ve never found the “comedy drunk” character funny whenever one shows up. I had a couple of alcoholic relatives when I was quite young, but they were distant enough that they didn’t have much direct impact on my life (aside from my mother’s rigid disapproval of them). For whatever reason, I’ve always been a natural-born teetotaler (probably from seeing people my age act like complete asses when they were drunk, plus I can’t stand the taste of most alcoholic drinks), so I’ve never seen the appeal of drinking. (But that being said, the older I get, the more I understand why so many people DO drink…)
Anyway — sermon over! Like I said, I’ve never found the “comedy drunk” a funny character (a lot of them crop up in Bewitched, a sitcom practically swimming in hard liquor), so for as good as Shemp is at portraying one, his performance leaves me cold. And don’t get me started on Larry’s take on Marlon Brando — I feel bad for his fellow retirees at the Motion Picture Country House who were constantly subjected to it in the facility’s movie room at Larry’s request!
Even though this short is at the bottom of my “Shemp List”, I still rank it higher than the four Fake Shemp shorts…
For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead
When comparing the DVD releases of Marx Bros movies like Duck Soup vs. their Blu-Ray releases, I’ve realized that Blu-Ray CAN do so much!
For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead
I'm happy with my DVD set. Blu-ray can only do so much.
So... Violent Is The Word For Curly ...truthfully, I do find this short enjoyable. The opening bit of super service is classic, as a great intro to our beloved boys. The plot goes at a good clip until Mildew, then, it increases in speed, but, in a good way. I always crack up at how the Stooges are treated as if they're super smart intellectuals, which we know they're not. But, it's nice to see them try to be super smart. Swinging the Alphabet is a great and catchy song. I could go on and gush to the nth degree, but, I won't. That would just be overkill. I give it a ninety nine out of ten pokes.
This short is... BAD!! Now, do I think it's the worst of the Joe era? No, but, it's a serious contender for not just one of the worst during the Joe Besser era, but, one of the worst Stooge shorts ever made, period. While there are a few decent gags, it doesn't save this short for me. While I have made it a personal point to watch every one of the one hundred and ninety shorts at least twice. This is one I can't see myself watching again. While Cuckoo on A Choo Choo from 1952 is my least favorite Shemp short, since posting my initial thoughts, I've only slightly softened on it, because on a second rewatch, it's bad, but, it's not 'Oh my god, what the hell did I just watch!' kind of bad. Fifi Blows Her Top borders on that line. Very closely. The stock footage is a let down, as it's from shorts I'd rather watch. The only thing that keeps me from completely not rewatching it again is the few gags that are decent. But, it's not one I'm actively seeking out. I'd rather see a short subject starring Metaldams and Paul Payne. At least the two moderators of this forum would most likely make something more enjoyable than this. On my scale of pokes, which goes from 0 to 190 (Ha! See what I did there! With 0 being skip, no questions asked, unless bored and want to have a glass of wine with and nitpick the hell out of it to 190 being top tier Stooge short firing on all cylinders.), I give this a 9. Not the worst, but, not that good either.