HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1934)

HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1934). Director: Roy Rowland.

The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy in the same movie! Along with Jimmy Durante, Lupe Velez (the Mexican Spitfire), Polly Moran, Arthur Treacher, and Mickey Mouse. Including an animated bit called the "Hot Chocolate Soldier." Durante plays the great "Scharzan," whose jungle movies have taken a dip at the box office. His rival, "Liondora" (George Givot), isn't doing so great either, and both of them hope to get a prize pride of lions to appear in their films with them. Somehow this all leads to a great big Hollywood party with chorus girls singing the snappy title tune (the darn thing sticks in your memory whether you want it to or not!). Best bits are scenes between Lupe Velez and Laurel and Hardy, and the interplay between Durante and Polly Moran as a wealthy patroness of the arts. Some of the gags are real groaners. The Three Stooges are autograph hunters and Laurel and Hardy think they own the aforementioned lions.

Verdict: Fun, but if only the material were as good as the cast! **1/2.

THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES

Hercules shows off muscles to Curly

THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES (1962). Director: Edward Bernds. 

The Three Stooges work in a drug store and have befriended a tall if nerdy scientist named Schulyer Davis (Quinn K. Redeker). Davis is working on a time machine, and when the stooges fiddle around with it they, Davis, and his fiancee, Diane (Vicki Trickett), all wind up back in Ithaca in 900 B.C. Greece. Their untimely arrival causes Ulysses to lose the battle against Odius (George N. Neise) with the added help of a rather unpleasant Hercules (Samson Burke). 

The stooges with the phony Herc

The rather brave stooges manage to free Ulysses from prison but for their efforts are turned into galley slaves. This enables Davis to develop muscles that put him on a par with Hercules. After escaping from the ship, Davis masquerades as the demi-god and gives him the reputation of a decent and honorable fellow. But he still has to face the real Hercules in the arena and get his girlfriend away from the odious King Odius. Odius happens to greatly resemble the stooges' boss, Mr. Dismal, back in the 20th century. 

Two-headed cyclops wants to make a meal of Moe

Well, what can you say about The Three Stooges Meet Hercules? You can say that for a full-length Stooges movie it is rather ambitious and has a more complicated storyline than the usual slapstick outing. Moe (Moe Howard) seems even a  bigger bully than usual in this picture, and although Joe DeRita is more than okay in the film, he is not my favorite Curly. Larry Fine (Larry) is as funny as ever, however. Redecker and Trickett are acceptable without making that much of an impression. 6 ft. 4 Samson Burke was a body builder and professional wrestler who turned to acting; he is fine as an unsympathetic and mean-spirited Hercules. George Neise specialized in sleazy and unlikable characters, but he is not notable in this. The movie is not tedious and it has amusing moments, but it couldn't be considered a "laff riot," either. The stooges have been funnier elsewhere, but this flick is not without interest for fans. 

Verdict: If the stooges are not your cup of java, tune out! **1/2.

THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT

Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Joe DeRita

THE THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT (1962). Director: Edward Bernds.

"The arrow's pointing half-way -- I don't know if it's half full or half empty!"

Needing a place to stay, the Three Stooges (Larry Fine, Moe Howard, and Joe DeRita) answer an ad placed by a scientist named Danforth (Emil Sitka). Danforth has invented a kind of combination sub-tractor-copter-spaceship which hardly looks like it could get off the ground but at one point shoots the boys into orbit. A handsome Air Force man, Captain Tom Andrews (Edson Stroll of McHale's Navy) comes to look at the professor's invention, but spends more time looking over his daughter, Carol (Carol Christensen). Then there are a couple of Martians, who resemble Universal monsters, hovering about and planning an attack on the earth. A sub-plot has the boys being told that their cartoon show will be canceled unless they come up with a new approach and arrive at the studio by a certain time. The Stooges are fine, but even they need decent material, and even kids would probably find this a little too silly. Sitka isn't funny at all, so his casting is strange (even stranger is that he later became one of the stooges after Fine's death), Strangely, Sitka reminds one of Dustin Hoffman! Many jokes are repeated too often.

Verdict: Good-natured if really stupid. **.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK

Impossibly young Three Stooges in a party scene

TURN BACK THE CLOCK (1933). Director: Edgar Selwyn.

Joe Gimlet (Lee Tracy of Dinner at Eight) owns a drug store with his wife, Mary (Mae Clarke of Waterloo Bridge), and the two are getting by, but Joe reviews his status in life when he meets up with old friend, Ted (Otto Kruger), who married wealthy Elvina (Peggy Shannon). Ted wants to invest the Gimlets' life savings for them, but Mary is understandably wary. Getting drunk, Joe wanders off, gets hit by a car, and wakes up twenty years in the past. Now he can do his life over and marry Elvina instead of Mary, giving him all of Ted's wealth and power. Nice guy, huh? The fact that Joe is a jerk (although he does do some nice things) is one of the movie's main problems, as is the fact that Joe is played by borderline shrill Lee Tracy, who gives a good performance but is also as slick and somehow irritating as ever. Turn Back the Clock has a great idea but it becomes increasingly ridiculous, with a predictable wind-up. The Three Stooges appear as wedding singers in one scene and almost look like children. Clarke, Shannon and Kruger give very good performances, and the film is fast-paced and has a few directorial flourishes as well. Because of a similar time travel element, Repeat Performance has always been seen as a remake of this picture, but the plots are so different that that really isn't the case. Oddly, when Turn Back the Clock was remade as a telefilm with Connie Selleca, it used the plot of Repeat Performance instead.

Verdict: Nice idea; mediocre execution. **1/2.

ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES

ROCKIN' IN THE ROCKIES (1945). Director: Vernon Keays.

Shorty Williams (Moe Howard) takes over his cousin's ranch when he's out of town and creates a shambles with his pals Larry (Larry Fine) and Curly (Curly Howard) -- yes, it's The Three Stooges -- two aspiring singers named June (Mary Beth Hughes) and Betty (Gladys Blake), and the four Hoosier Hotshots, who also want a shot in show biz. Jay Kirby plays cousin Rusty, who's mighty perturbed to find a whole house-load of uninvited guests at his ranch. A few snappy musical numbers -- including the catchy title tune -- are interspersed with the Stooges' amusing hijinks. No world beater, perhaps, but in its own limited way it's certainly good-natured fun.

Verdict: A must for Stooge fanatics. **1/2.