Product Description

"Beer Barrel Polecats" (1946, short number 88 in the Columbia series) should never have been released. It begins, promisingly enough, as a rewrite of Laurel & Hardy's where the Stooges decide to brew their own beer and Curly sells a bottle to a policeman. However, because of Curly's failing health, once they are in prison, Columbia decided to tack on the last half of "So Long, Mr. Chumps" (1941) in which the three have promised to get a certain person out of jail. Viewers not having seen the earlier film will be utterly baffled by the sudden introduction of new plot material without a discernible link. "Three Smart Saps" (1942, number 64) also concerns their efforts to get into prison, with obvious references to O' Henry's . This time they have to release their father-in-law-to-be who is the warden of a prison that the corrupt administration has made into a country club for thieves. The best part of this short is Curly's absurd dance steps, made possible by his real-life skills as a ballroom dancer. And the ancient routine of the formal-dress suit that slowly comes apart gets its umpteenth treatment in the same sequence. "Monkey Businessmen" (1946, number 92) concerns another phony establishment, this time a sanitarium, through which they are chased by the heavies for most of the film. Another item rare in this series is the actually believable acting of the tall, attractive nurse (Jean Donahue) as she seeks for words to announce the boys' arrival at the sanitarium. The mayhem of the opening sequence in which the team tries to act as electricians is quintessential Stooging and good fun as such.