Product Description

"Whoops, I'm an Indian" (1936, short number 18 in the Columbia series) certainly does not suffer from overplotting. With the townspeople after the Stooges for cheating at gambling, the team has to first catch fish (highlighted by Curly shooting his trout under water) and then pose as Indians. A very funny sequence results when Curly, dressed as a squaw, is married to and goes on his honeymoon with a rough woodsman. It is a pity that the scriptwriter did not give him a clever line like that of Stan Laurel in an identical situation: "But I don't love him." "Rockin' Thru the Rockies" (1940, number 45) also offers almost nothing in the way of plot. Instead we get a series of tried and possibly true routines such as the boys fishing through the ice, the bear who strays into the cabin and is mistaken for a blanket by Curly, and the menacing Indians. Only the final shot of their improvising a sail for their horseless wagon shows a glint of originality. "Cactus Makes Perfect" (1942, number 61) begins with a shot of the Stooges' mother (played by actor Monty Collins) using a wonderful method for getting her sons out of bed (a great sight gag), and for the first time we see where Moe gets his face-slapping genes. The scene in the bathroom is a riot; and in the next sequence, there is a terrific bit in which Curly not only makes noises like a calculating machine but actually has the figures emerge from his mouth on a strip of paper. (This would be repeated with Shemp in a later episode.) The scene in the mine is predictable but funny; the close-up of Curly being extricated from a wall with a crowbar is a little too realistic for comfort. And there is the typical nonending. Still, a very solid entry in the series.