"A Gem of a Jam" is an enjoyable Three Stooges comedy directed by Del Lord. It may not be the best short the boys ever did, but I feel it has quite a fair number of great moments.
Among my favorite scenes in this short are the following (don't read on if you haven't seen it): Moe uses an x-ray fluoroscope (or, as Larry says, "flower-scopee") on Curly and notices a fish swimming inside Curly's stomach. So Moe grabs a line and some bait and goes to work. Shortly before that, Curly throws an electrically shocking device down Moe's back, causing him to jump around and yelp in pain. Larry and Curly figure him to be dancing and join in, as they had done in several other shorts. And finally, best of all, African-American supporting actor Dudley Dickerson is hilarious as the night watchman who is scared to death of Curly, who looks like a ghost when he accidentally trips into a tray and covers himself with plaster. He ends up scaring away Moe and Larry as well; they never recognize him!
It disturbs me to find so many talented African-Americans placed in unfair, stereotypical film roles back in those days, but we Stooge fans should all be grateful to Dudley Dickerson, who made the most out of his roles with the Stooges and often stole the show with his humorous bits of slapstick.
Among my favorite scenes in this short are the following (don't read on if you haven't seen it): Moe uses an x-ray fluoroscope (or, as Larry says, "flower-scopee") on Curly and notices a fish swimming inside Curly's stomach. So Moe grabs a line and some bait and goes to work. Shortly before that, Curly throws an electrically shocking device down Moe's back, causing him to jump around and yelp in pain. Larry and Curly figure him to be dancing and join in, as they had done in several other shorts. And finally, best of all, African-American supporting actor Dudley Dickerson is hilarious as the night watchman who is scared to death of Curly, who looks like a ghost when he accidentally trips into a tray and covers himself with plaster. He ends up scaring away Moe and Larry as well; they never recognize him!
It disturbs me to find so many talented African-Americans placed in unfair, stereotypical film roles back in those days, but we Stooge fans should all be grateful to Dudley Dickerson, who made the most out of his roles with the Stooges and often stole the show with his humorous bits of slapstick.