Moronika
Film & Shorts Discussions => The Three Stooges - Curly Years => Topic started by: metaldams on November 30, 2013, 10:36:12 AM
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http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/33
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030942/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
We move further into the Charley Chase era. Going forward I find his Stooge shorts to be more inconsistent, but up until this point, they have been fantastic. VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY is most famous for "Swinging the Alphabet," a song I have a feeling will get mixed reactions in this thread, but you can throw me into the thumbs up category. A fun little song and the kind of thing unique to the Charley Chase era. The idea of three grown men teaching a group of college girls the alphabet is funny in itself, but the fact the whole school is harmonizing along makes it that much sillier. I love the way Curly flirts with the girls and the shot of Larry with that blank expression on his face, just a great scene overall.
The rest of the shorts rocks the casbah as well. The super service scene is fantastic, my favorite bits being Curly wrestling with the gas hose, Curly covering up the nude statue on the car, and Curly remaining in his stand up sleep position as the car explodes. Also love the part where he's roasting on the fire and dives into the water. I also think I have an old movie crush on Marjorie Deanne.
A great short overall, definitely one of the classics.
10/10
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Well, I hate to be a downer, but I always found this to be one of the more overrated Curly shorts. It always seemed to me that people were giving this one high marks just because of the "Alphabet Song" which is a nice little diddy, I admit, but hardly the greatest thing the stooges ever did.
The whole short to me is average at best, the Super Service scenes didn't do a whole lot for me either, but I did get a good chuckle out of the football demonstration when the stooges tackle the old lady or was it just Moe. I haven't watched this one in awhile.
At any rate, I would say this is Charley Chase at his vanilla best & it would only get worse for him after this.
5.5 out of 10...
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This is a classic for me.
A 10 just for the Aphabet song and as stated - Curly flirting with the girls ... the blank stare of Larry ... also the fact of chorus, everyone smiling ... Larry and Curly dancing ...
Also I take something away from this that I have used ... if on stage and asked a question you do not know or you need time -- do what Moe did - ask "What do you think?"
The gas station scene - great ... Curly covering up the girl ... Larry realizing that something must be wrong because the gas pump keeps ringing when he does done entering what he thought was gas but he does not do anything ....
The fact that they felt like they forgot something .... 'Hey, where's Curly' ....I always feel I am forgetting something ... but not a human!
The football tackle .... The Student Body comment 'Your body would be great if you lost 20 pounds' ...
Obviously as you can tell one of my favorites.
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In case anybody else likes Marjorie Deanne...and as some of you know, I am the modern day Octopus Grabus. I have bad vision and am a freak for the redheads. >:D
http://2neat.com/magazines/images/LOOK-Magazine-1940-07-30.jpg
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In case anybody else likes Marjorie Deanne...and as some of you know, I am the modern day Octopus Grabus. I have bad vision and am a freak for the redheads. >:D
http://2neat.com/magazines/images/LOOK-Magazine-1940-07-30.jpg
I like the picture on the cover but I really wonder when Hitler stopped laughing at our army. ( Like the caption on the cover states )
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Here's another short that falls in the middle for me. It's not great and it's not terrible. I always wondered if the girls ad libbed when they sang Curly's a dope in the Alphabet song. In the story there is no way they should know his name is Curly. I've also heard that Curly really got burned when filming the fire pit scene. It's an OK short and I rate it a 7 1/2.
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This short became one of my Top-5 favorites, once I was able to see it in full -- possibly when AMC was showing the Stooges in the early part of this century. Long ago our local channel would start this short where the ice cream truck ran out of gas. Based on that, I thought that this was the longest short, yet it's at least 90 seconds shorter than "A Pain in the Pullman."
The Stooges as gas station attendants, Swinging the Alphabet (especially the girls doing the "Curly's a dope" thing), "Twenty minutes to a pound -- ha, ha, we'll be here a month" -- just classic. I give this the Storm Lucid bowling ball hook rating -- 9.5 out of 10.
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This is a favorite Curly short of mine for a variety of reasons.
I notice nobody has mentioned the "Curly choking on a cucumber" sequence yet... :laugh:
For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead
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I've also heard that Curly really got burned when filming the fire pit scene.
According to the goofs section in this site and other sources, that is true. That sure did look like a dangerous gag.
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This is one of my favorites. I always laugh when Larry is introduced as the professor and he sits there, stupefied. I enjoy "Swinging the Alphabet." When the girls sing, "Curly's a dope," I assume it's owing to a script change or mistake in the same way that a girl calls Curly Mr. Howard in "Movie Maniacs," even though she couldn't have known his name. I like it when Moe calls Curly a frozen dainty. When I found a recipe for Frozen Dainty recently, I laughed, recalling this short.
I could go on and on, but I'll just close by saying this one gets ten stars from me.
Let me add one thing: one of the many funny lines in this short. When the ice cream man pulls into the filling station, he asks the Stooges to fix his truck. Moe tells him where the tools are and suggests he do it himself, saying, "It'll save us from working on the job." That's great!
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Surprised at the amount of "ho-hum" reactions to this one. MYbe it's because it was my first short from the boys, but I think it's an absolute riot. The "Super Service!" sequence alone was enought to sell me on the merits of the trio.
I think the plot is fun, and the Stooges are wonderful as phony professors. Maybe the one knock against it is how oit of place Swinging the Alphabet song is (that and the real professors try to bomb a school?), but it isn't enough to kill it for me.
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I love the Super Service part. I did not like the song the first time I watched this episode. Having seen in 3 or 4 times now I have changed my mind. I love it. I can see why people wouldn't be down with it though.
Happy I found this board. Fantastic to be in contact with so many Stooge lovers. :)
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Happy I found this board. Fantastic to be in contact with so many Stooge lovers. :)
Welcome!
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One of my favorites; not #1, but close. Very funny from beginning to end. The Super Service part, Curly almost getting cooked, the Swingin' the Alphabet, the cucumber scene, and the basketball scene. Not a wasted moment in this episode.
9/10
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I just really love this short because of the Alphabet number and everything else. 9/10
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From the other posts on this one,am glad that I am not totally alone.This one really just doesnt make it for me,in fact,the entire Charlie Chase era doesnt.Not the worst Stooges short by any means,but vastly overrated.Am sorry that Charlie's tenure was cut short by his death at a very young age.Would have been better if someone had just told him,"You know,this just isnt working out very well".But I actually prefer the unnecessary sadism and mayhem churned out by Jules White and the others to this one.
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Absolutely impossible that the "Curly's a dope" line in the song is an ad lib, in the first place since it's perfectly apparent that the song is prerecorded and in perfect harmony. Everybody's lip synching here. I think that the line is just a cute little in-joke where Charley Chase breaks the fourth wall ever so briefly to give us a laugh. In general, I don't think there's very much ad libbing in any of these shorts, movie-making being so expensive that the actors were pretty much forbidden to ad lib. I think many of us agree that in certain tiny spots, the stooges muff a line or a bit of business, and ad lib a bit to cover it up, but it always seems fairly obvious when it happens...no Groucho-like gems getting ad libbed here. ( I also don't think Groucho was allowed to ad lib much in his movies, for the same reasons. ) Though I do think that when Curly-on-the-spit roars into flame and Larry yells " He's burnin', Moe!" THAT'S an ad lib, but so appropriate under the circumstances that it could stay in.
Does anyone besides me think that the brunette with the good facial bones in the girl-singer group shot bears a familial resemblance to Charley Chase?
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"Welcome to Mildew"
"Mildew has a lovely student body." "You wouldn't look so bad yourself if you lost 20 pounds."
Actually, the stooges were given TONS of room to ad-lib. The scripts were usually written at less time than necessary and given to Jerry Howard for him to fill in the gaps on his own.
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the stooges were given TONS of room to ad-lib.
Not at all. The majority of the scripts have been reviewed, they were tightly scripted in terms of dialogue and stage direction, and the films follow them closely. Ad libs were the exception.
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Coming back to this short, I must note the horribly difficult (and unscientific questions) the girls ask the Stooges, leading to the alphabet song sequence. As a senior in university studying a difficult science, I have great admiration for this short.
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Count me as one of the fans of this short--mostly on the strength of the explosions, first at the gas station ("It's murder! It's arson!") and then at the college ("There you are--that's what I call super service!"), with the three professors as victims both times.
"Oh, a frozen dainty!" I don't know why that line is so funny to me, but it's another favorite moment.
"Swingin' the Alphabet" is a surreal episode. I find it odd that some other voice has been dubbed in in place of Moe's, but we hear Curly plainly enough.
I believe that the transcript on the page for this movie (http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/33) messes up the joke about Moe saying Mrs. Catsby's name:
MOE: Now, Mrs. Cats.
CATSBY: Catsby.
MOE: Alright, Catsby! So wha—
CATSBY: Sufferin Catsby.
MOE: Alright Sufferin--- Hey! Will you quit heckling me?
Moe initially calls her "Mrs. Katz," not "Mrs. Cats": the joke is that he replaces her genteel (and gentile) Anglo-Saxon name with a common Jewish one. Then she gives her husband's first name, which, I am pretty sure, is "Sovereign," not "Sufferin," making her Mrs. Sovereign Catsby. Moe starts to transform this into "Sufferin' Catfish," which was a euphemistic exclamation of that era. Also, I believe that the German professor's name is "von Steuben," not "von Stupor."
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I made this little Three Stooges documentary so that I could show my friends and family ( BECAUSE THEY STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THE STORY OF THE THREE STOOGES WERE!) I included this short. It's just so darn funny. Curly at his prime. A fantastic silly song. Curly choking on cucumbers. It's just the best. And, yes, I have memorized Swingin' The Alphabet.
B-A. BA. B-E. BE B-I. BICKY BI. B-O. BO. BICKY BI BO. B-U. BU. BICKY BI BO BU.
( Also, I wonder if the " Curly's a dope" line was supposed to be in there...)
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ShempisAwesome, I modestly believe I have answered your question as to whether the lyric " Curly's A Dope " is an ad lib by pointing out, quite a few posts north of here, that it is in perfect harmony and obviously pre-recorded. It couldn't possibly be an ad lib. It is certainly meant to sound like one, though, and Curly's reaction to it is certainly meant to get a laugh because of that perception, but a careful viewing will reveal the techniques that went into that sequence, none of
which are ad libbed, since everyone in this entire sequence is lip-synching .
Remember that Charley Chase, the director of this film, was one of the greatest comedy directors, and his films, including these few stooge films that he directed, were full not only of big belly-laughs, but also little tiny bits like " Curly's a Dope ".
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And, Dr. Hugo, I myself believe that that is Moe's own voice in the overdub. It is surprisingly pleasant, I will admit, but I think that's him, as I think that's also Curly,even though his voice also sounds quite sweet. Remember that before they arrived in Hollywood they were Broadway stars, which you didn't get to be if you couldn't sing sweetly.
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Curly covering up the nude statue on the car
One of my favorite parts of this short; his little "tut tut" point at the end of that bit is great as well.
Another one, for me, is Curly in the water trying to catch up with Moe & Larry (combo of the look on his face and his strained position is priceless).
Also: I hate to be a "Negative Nancy," but I'm not sure that's Sam Adams as Feinstein. They look similar, but Feinstein's nose seems a bit thinner to me, and something about the voice (or from what I've heard of it in Dirty Work and the Columbia Musical Novelty Umpa) seems off - it's gruffer and not as "squirrelly."
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Dirty Work meaning the L&H Dirty Work? IIRC, there are only four people in that short. Is there another Dirty Work?
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Dirty Work meaning the L&H Dirty Work? IIRC, there are only four people in that short. Is there another Dirty Work?
Yup (4 performers = Stan, Ollie, Adams and Lucien Littlefield - 5 if Jiggs the chimp is counted)
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_231_Dirty-Work
Though it would've been interesting if "Jessup, the butler" appeared in the Norm MacDonald movie of the same name!!!
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I'll be damned. You'd think, hailing from Boston as I do, that I'd remember an actor named Sam Adams, but I swear this is the first time I've heard it. Like an idiot, I've always just thought of him as Jessup.
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Is the chauffeur Al Haskell (http://www.threestooges.net/cast/actor/2335) (PLAYING THE PONIES)? Thought I spied Claire Rochelle (http://www.threestooges.net/cast/actor/1201) as one of the students (she's at the top right corner with the other students watching the ersatz football game), but I am not 100% sure on that.
Also: when Moe is brooming the car, dusts Larry's bottom and Larry replies, "Thank you!" -- does anyone else think Larry sounds like Jon Lovitz and/or his "Master Thespian" character?
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http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/33
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030942/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
The rest of the shorts rocks the casbah as well. The super service scene is fantastic, my favorite bits being Curly wrestling with the gas hose, Curly covering up the nude statue on the car, and Curly remaining in his stand up sleep position as the car explodes. Also love the part where he's roasting on the fire and dives into the water. I also think I have an old movie crush on Marjorie Deanne.
10/10
I especially like, "WELCOME, welcome to Mildew!"
"We have a lovely student body." "Yours wouldn't be so bad if you took off about 20 pounds!"
"Von Stupid? You must mean him."
And when they tackle the old lady with the ball....I choke every time I see it!!
Hey you guys; can I post a picture? My Mom's high school graduation picture looks so much like Marjorie Deanne. That's why I love this short so much I think.
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I especially like, "WELCOME, welcome to Mildew!"
"We have a lovely student body." "Yours wouldn't be so bad if you took off about 20 pounds!"
"Von Stupid? You must mean him."
And when they tackle the old lady with the ball....I choke every time I see it!!
Hey you guys; can I post a picture? My Mom's high school graduation picture looks so much like Marjorie Deanne. That's why I love this short so much I think.
Yeah, definitely post the picture if you'd like, you never have to ask. I love old pics in general.
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Yeah, definitely post the picture if you'd like, you never have to ask. I love old pics in general.
Okay! Once I find it, I might need your help posting it. If I run into problems I'll come back and ask!
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"Swingin' the Alphabet" is a surreal episode. I find it odd that some other voice has been dubbed in in place of Moe's, but we hear Curly plainly enough.
My impression was that Moe's voice was also dubbed, at least at the beginning. Interestingly, The Three Stooges re-recorded this song with Curly Joe De Rita in 1959. According to the Wikipedia entry, some new lyrics were used, with the "Curly's A Dope" line omitted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging_the_Alphabet
Another interesting tidbit about this short, is that it's the only Three Stooges title in their long history to include the name of one of the Stooges, though I must confess, I've never quite got the VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY title, unless it has to do with the final gag. Perhaps, Columbia was at a bit of loss for one, and somebody thought it would be a funny name?
Love this one, in any case! I give it 9/10.
CHEERS! :)
[3stooges]
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My impression was that Moe's voice was also dubbed, at least at the beginning. Interestingly, The Three Stooges re-recorded this song with Curly Joe De Rita in 1959. According to the Wikipedia entry, some new lyrics were used, with the "Curly's A Dope" line omitted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging_the_Alphabet
Another interesting tidbit about this short, is that it's the only Three Stooges title in their long history to include the name of one of the Stooges, though I must confess, I've never quite got the VIOLENT IS THE WORD FOR CURLY title, unless it has to do with the final gag. Perhaps, Columbia was at a bit of loss for one, and somebody thought it would be a funny name?
Love this one, in any case! I give it 9/10.
CHEERS! :)
[3stooges]
Hello, Tony. I enjoy your contributions and I'm glad to have you aboard the good ship Moronika.
I remember that record, but I found it disappointing solely because it was Curly Joe, not Curly. I don't recall anything else about the record.
About the title, "Violent Is the Word for Curly:" it's a play on a 1936 Paramount film version of a novel titled, "Valiant Is the Word For Carrie."
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Hello, Tony. I enjoy your contributions and I'm glad to have you aboard the good ship Moronika.
I remember that record, but I found it disappointing solely because it was Curly Joe, not Curly. I don't recall anything else about the record.
About the title, "Violent Is the Word for Curly:" it's a play on a 1936 Paramount film version of a novel titled, "Valiant Is the Word For Carrie."
Thanks, Signor!
It's too bad we never got I'M JUST WILD ABOUT LARRY; SHEMP! SHEMP! SHEMP! (After Silent Comedian Harry Langdon's TRAMP! TRAMP! TRAMP!); or HAPPINESS IS A THING CALLED MOE! Naming the last after either Joe, of course, would have brought on instant litigation! ;)
CHEERS! :)
Tony
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Thanks, Signor!
It's too bad we never got I'M JUST WILD ABOUT LARRY; SHEMP! SHEMP! SHEMP! (After Silent Comedian Harry Langdon's TRAMP! TRAMP! TRAMP!); or HAPPINESS IS A THING CALLED MOE! Naming the last after either Joe, of course, would have brought on instant litigation! ;)
CHEERS! :)
Tony
Ah-ha! Well done, Mr. Bensley. Anyone who can make jokes like that is someone who already knew about the title to this comedy. You were asking why the word, violent, was chosen, not about the title itself. My mistake.
I'm especially fond of the Moe pun you made. :D
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One of my Top 10 Curly Classics and the high-water mark of the Charley Chase era. "Violent is the Word for Curly" is beautifully constructed from beginning to end — highlighted by the immortal "Swingin' the Alphabet" with plenty of super service along the way.
Economical as always, Columbia used the same gas-station set in Chapter Four of its classic 1938 serial "The Spider's Web" (co-directed by James W. Horne) — except it was called "Dennis Service Station" instead of "Acme." The gas-station segment runs from 101:46 to 104:17.
10/10
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Swingin The Alphabet, I'd say is the best musical number they ever did in the Columbia shorts
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I saw this one a lot when I was younger and may have ranked it higher at some point. I still think it's a classic and I agree that "Swingin' The Alphabet" is the best song they ever did in a short. Even after so many viewings, I still love it and rank it at #26 overall.
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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.
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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.
So, in Stooge terms, you’re saying it’s putrid? ;D
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So, in Stooge terms, you’re saying it’s putrid? ;D
If putrid means wonderful, then, yes.
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If putrid means wonderful, then, yes.
It soitenly does, nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!